550W FSP Supersonic 80Plus (FSP500-60APN)

[juandelacruz]

I'm in the market for a new PSU, preferably one that is 80 Plus certified to save on electricity and this one has caught my eye, just Php1950 at Rising Sun (http://www.rsun.com.ph/view_item.php?item=PSU501).  It is not 80 Plus certified but the manufacturer's website (http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/english/1_product/2_detail.asp?mainid=1&fid=176&proid=655) claims efficiencies of 82%, 85%, and 82%.  What do you guys think?  Can I believe those claims?

[juke]

FSP is bang for the buck brand, go for it.

[reel]

there are rumors that FSP makes Gigabyte's power supplies (Odin)

[barurutor]

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=PSU_manufacturers

[axelj96]

Hmmm, 2K na 550W FSP sa RSun !

Am also looking for replacement power supply for my son's computer which has a dying HEC 550AB.
I'll be adding to the post if the OP doesnt mind ....

The 550W FSP (now 2K petot) from RSun has this specs:



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while the 500W HEC Raptor-R500 V. 2.2 with 120mm Fan (cost is 2,200), RSun link - http://www.rsun.com.ph/view_item.php?item=PSU122 , has this specs:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


The PS is going to power a normal clocked AMD rig with a 4850 vidcard.

Personally, i think any of the two will do, and have used both FSP and HEC in my computers and found both brands are good.

I just want to get your thoughts as to which of the two is a better buy ....

[juandelacruz]

@axelj96, I took a look at the HEC Raptor as well and I'm leaning towards the FSP Supersonic.  I'm mainly interested in the higher efficiency.  Based on my calculations, I could save from Php200 to Php300 per month from my electricity bill replacing my current HEC PSU with an 80 Plus PSU and that's just for one PC.  The 80 Plus PSU will basically pay for itself in about a year (or less if I sell my present PSU).

Well, if FSP is a good brand then I think I'll order one FSP Supersonic on Monday from RSun.

[axelj96]

@juandelacruz,

Thanks for the info, tipid nga considering my son's computer is almost 24/7 .
dito sa kinalalagyan ko ngayon, it's either FSP or Gigabyte, so I usually use and recommend FSP (mababa sustained power ng Gigabyte compared to the FSP ones, mas mabigat din FSP PS compared sa Gigabyte).  so far ok naman.

the only difference i noticed is that i am using the blue colored FSP models. The one in RSUN seems to be part of their OEM product line. anyway, the specs are ok, will inform my son to get the FSP instead of the HEC.

[Capcom]

@axelj96, I took a look at the HEC Raptor as well and I'm leaning towards the FSP Supersonic.  I'm mainly interested in the higher efficiency.  Based on my calculations, I could save from Php200 to Php300 per month from my electricity bill replacing my current HEC PSU with an 80 Plus PSU and that's just for one PC.  The 80 Plus PSU will basically pay for itself in about a year (or less if I sell my present PSU).

Well, if FSP is a good brand then I think I'll order one FSP Supersonic on Monday from RSun.

ano ba yun PC specs nyo ? parang anglaki naman ng 200-300 savings , para lang sa switching to a higher effeciency psu ^ ^

[splerdu]

@axelj96, I took a look at the HEC Raptor as well and I'm leaning towards the FSP Supersonic.  I'm mainly interested in the higher efficiency.  Based on my calculations, I could save from Php200 to Php300 per month from my electricity bill replacing my current HEC PSU with an 80 Plus PSU and that's just for one PC.  The 80 Plus PSU will basically pay for itself in about a year (or less if I sell my present PSU).

Well, if FSP is a good brand then I think I'll order one FSP Supersonic on Monday from RSun.

ano ba yun PC specs nyo ? parang anglaki naman ng 200-300 savings , para lang sa switching to a higher effeciency psu ^ ^

Very possible, IMO.

Let's say 200W idle power, which is good ballpark figure for mid-high-end PCs these days and is easily verifiable on many review sites.

at 80% efficiency, actual power draw will be 250W
at 75% efficiency, 266.66W

so 16.66W saved
16.66W * 24HRS = 399.84 Watt-Hours / day
* 30 days = 11.995 kWH
* P7.90 / kWH = 94 pesos per month

If he is consuming 400W average, then that's close to the P200/mo figure estimated.
Also, if the efficiency gap between the current PSU is bigger, say 70% old vs 90% new then that's P600/mo easily.

It really depends on how crappy his current PSU is, and how much use the computer gets throughout the day but overall I'd say those figures are quite realistic.

[juandelacruz]

^Yep, I guesstimated as much.  Also, if you use your PC in an airconditioned room, your aircon doesn't have to work as much so more savings there.

[calvin]

that very possible for people like us who keep the rigs running 24/7 (and menyeks too =) who need to keep their menyekboxes(torrent) up and running... he he he )

[splerdu]

+1
Makes my recent PSU purchase (CM Silent Pro M 600W) feel rather rewarding. Reviewed at 91%, 92% efficiency at full load and 50%, respectively. It's pricey, but I figured it'll pay for itself in the long run considering my rig is on 24/7. If I'm saving 600-800/mo as per the estimated figures above, it'll pay for itself in less than a year, despite the 5k price tag.

[motion55]

Let's say 200W idle power, which is good ballpark figure for mid-high-end PCs these days and is easily verifiable on many review sites.

at 80% efficiency, actual power draw will be 250W
at 75% efficiency, 266.66W

so 16.66W saved
16.66W * 24HRS = 399.84 Watt-Hours / day
* 30 days = 11.995 kWH
* P7.90 / kWH = 94 pesos per month

If he is consuming 400W average, then that's close to the P200/mo figure estimated.
Also, if the efficiency gap between the current PSU is bigger, say 70% old vs 90% new then that's P600/mo easily.

It really depends on how crappy his current PSU is, and how much use the computer gets throughout the day but overall I'd say those figures are quite realistic.

What is not obvious in the above calculations is while the savings may be 94pesos/month, the electricity bill is 250W*24*30*7.90 or 1422 pesos/month. My recent Meralco bill puts the cost per KW-Hr at over 10pesos/KWHr

I bought an Energy Logger from Alexan. It can read power consumed and store consumption patterns for several days. I also have a couple of FSP epsilon 500W 80plus PSUs. I assume it is similar in design to the Supersonic although it is more expensive at over 3K.

Here are my observations.

The idle power consumption of my I5-750 rig with one hard drive is about 85W. I has an 9600GT non-green. Everything is stock. I don't play games but I estimate that the consumption will shoot up to 200W when gaming. So this is half the estimated average above.

I also measured it before changing the mobo from a C2D E7500. The old rig with the same video card had three HDDs and idled at 110W. The difference may be in the reduced hard drives but I think the speedstep on the I5-750 is superior to the the one on the E7500.

Yes, I have been buying only 80plus rated PSU to save on power. But you can save as much power by switching to newer more efficient CPUs. I have an older E6400 rig and the processor seems to run hotter.

That old E6400 rig also used an FSP epsilon 500W PSU (used slightly longer than 1 year). One day it won't power up and the fan LEDs that normally stay constantly lit when powered up, were flashing indicating an unstable voltage. I replaced the FSP with an HEC cougar 550W and the motherboard would now boot. But I had also to replace the mobo because some parts of it like the PS2 keyboard would no longer work. After that experience, I somewhat lost faith in the FSP brand.

Last weekend, I had the PSU checked out by a PSU repair expert and after testing and replacing a couple of suspected caps, he can't find anything wrong with it. I tried it once more and it would now boot the E6400 rig.

[juandelacruz]

What is not obvious in the above calculations is while the savings may be 94pesos/month, the electricity bill is 250W*24*30*7.90 or 1422 pesos/month. My recent Meralco bill puts the cost per KW-Hr at over 10pesos/KWHr

I don't really get the point of this but 94 pesos/month is still 94 pesos/month for practically no effort. At 10 pesos/KWHr that's 119.95 pesos/month saved.

Yes, I have been buying only 80plus rated PSU to save on power. But you can save as much power by switching to newer more efficient CPUs. I have an older E6400 rig and the processor seems to run hotter.

Yes, I agree (one reason I keep looking at the TDP of processors) but we're talking about PSUs.

But I had also to replace the mobo because some parts of it like the PS2 keyboard would no longer work. After that experience, I somewhat lost faith in the FSP brand.

Ouch. My sympathies.  It is the reason why I started this topic.  I wanted to know if FSP was reliable and juke, reel and axelj96 seem to think so.  Now I'm crossing my fingers and knocking on wood.

[juke]

Just for your info, why FSP is a good brand? I read somewhere that if they have a new product to be introduced, the current model of a certain wattage psu is rebadged as the lower end model number. In short, their specific model gets an upgrade when a newer same-wattage psu is released in the market.

[motion55]

I don't really get the point of this but 94 pesos/month is still 94 pesos/month for practically no effort. At 10 pesos/KWHr that's 119.95 pesos/month saved.

You have to think it through to see it. That is why it is not obvious. It don't think it will be 94 pesos a month because the calculation requires running the PC at full speed (250W) 24/7 for every month. The PC may handle that but it is unrealistic to expect a person to sustain it even if it is gaming for example. And secondly why try to save 94 pesos a month when you have to spend 1422 pesos to attain the "savings"?

Yes, I agree (one reason I keep looking at the TDP of processors) but we're talking about PSUs.

It is still ON topic. I am trying to put the 16W power savings of the 80plus PSU in proper perspective. You can spend the same money trying to switch from a 75% efficient PSU to 80plus by switching to a more efficient CPU. You can't have a meaningful discussion of the advantages PSU efficiency if it is not compared to alternate means of improving efficiency.

The major reason I switched from a less efficient PSU to the 80plus FSP was not only to save on the electricity bill but my desktop sits on a warm corner. I can feel the warm exhaust from the system unit. Initially I thought the exhaust was warm because the power supply was not efficient. After I switched to the FSP 80plus, I did not feel the exhaust was significantly cooler. Today, I switched from an old E6400 Allendale 2GHz proc to a more efficient E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz proc. And the exhaust is significantly cooler. And this is confirmed by the 10C reduction in temperature of the CPU core.

[dta]

somewhat off-topic:
motion55, how is the Energy Logger used and around how much does it cost?