CCL Computers selling some cheap decent OEM PSUs!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

These are not that bad TBH. They are OEM FSP jobbies:

http://www.cclonline.com/product/982...t-OEM/PSU0486/

http://www.cclonline.com/product/763...W-PSU/PSU0307/

http://www.cclonline.com/product/853...t-OEM/PSU0371/

I managed to get the first a few days ago for around £14 delivered. Of the three it is the only which has official 80+ certification. I opened it up to have a look inside of course!!



Internally it looks exactly the same as the FSP Blue Storm II,except it uses Teapo and CapXon capacitors instead of OST and CapXon and has more SATA connectors. It could be the OEM version of the Blue Storm Bronze 400W:

http://www.dvhardware.net/article40666.html

This is actually better than what you see in the Corsair VS series.

The PSU has 4 SATA and 5 molex power connectors too. The only thing it does not have is the newer 8 pin additional ATX power connector. You do have a 20+4 ATX pin power connector and a 4 pin ATX power connector. There is one PCI-E power connector.

I actually managed to find a review for the second PSU:

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...WvvZesTIpzS-_Q

Although it lacks 80+ certification,it is nearly 80+ Bronze efficient(!) and actually uses mostly Teapo capacitors.

I have not seen any review of the 500W PSU,but I suspect it is this 80+ Bronze one:

http://uk.hardware.info/productinfo/...rm-bronze-500w

Now,if you were to spend £40 to £50 I suspect you could get a better PSU,but even the 500W PSU is well under £30 delivered.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Gigabyte PSU in this review is essential the same model as the 400W PSU:

http://www.behardware.com/articles/7...-45-euros.html

[Pob255]

Here you go cat a psu round up that looked at the GLN
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cas...8_5.html#sect0
And yes the blue storm is based on the GLN, although I think they have a few uprated components

The FSP FSP400-60GLN has good characteristics but a very limited selection of cables and connectors. It is going to be interesting for people who need a PSU with active PFC and a full range of input voltages for as little money as possible.

it's a rather old design, I'm guessing the 500w 80+ bronze one (which ccl doesn't have) is the same but with uprated components to get the increased efficiency for a bronze rating.
the lacking connectors are a big sign of on older desing

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It looks a solid PSU and it looks like they moved over to Teapo for the primary. Still for the price,they are not too bad at all! Supposedly the HCN series is the same as GHN but is only for use with 230V. They look all to be 80+ and maybe even near to Bronze standard!

[merdat]

Aye, looks good buy for £22.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Here you go cat a psu round up that looked at the GLN
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cas...8_5.html#sect0
And yes the blue storm is based on the GLN, although I think they have a few uprated components
it's a rather old design, I'm guessing the 500w 80+ bronze one (which ccl doesn't have) is the same but with uprated components to get the increased efficiency for a bronze rating.
the lacking connectors are a big sign of on older desing

Its not exactly the same PSU though as it the 80+ version which has a different listing on the FSP website,which has different capacitors and also my one had 4 SATA connectors and 4 molex connectors. If you look at the review models they all have less connectors.

[mekeirc]

Looks like a great buy. I couldn't say I would be comfortable with buying such a PSU, but for commercial prebuilts this is good news.

[dooji_wooji]

It looks a solid PSU and it looks like they moved over to Teapo for the primary. Still for the price,they are not too bad at all! Supposedly the HCN series is the same as GHN but is only for use with 230V. They look all to be 80+ and maybe even near to Bronze standard!

Just received my FSP400-60GLN from CCL only to find that it doesn't have an 80plus rating.

CCL have quoted the Part No: 9PA4005502 which is the FSP400-60GLN(80). I have received exactly the same as what you have pictured above i.e. FSP400-60GLN (without the 80 in parentheses) and this PSU has the Part No. 9PA4001811

A bit annoyed about this as he main reason for the purchase was the rating...and of course the price!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Just received my FSP400-60GLN from CCL only to find that it doesn't have an 80plus rating.

CCL have quoted the Part No: 9PA4005502 which is the FSP400-60GLN(80). I have received exactly the same as what you have pictured above i.e. FSP400-60GLN (without the 80 in parentheses) and this PSU has the Part No. 9PA4001811

A bit annoyed about this as he main reason for the purchase was the rating...and of course the price!

It does not make much difference as even the earlier version was technically 80+ efficient:

http://www.behardware.com/medias/pho...IMG0024532.gif

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/other...fsp400-eff.png

Internally the 60GLN and Blue Storm II are the same,and have exactly the same rating on the rails and the latter was rated as 80+ efficient.

Moreover,the newer PSUs we have got have more SATA power and molex connectors it seems.

The capacitors brands have also changed,and so has the rectifer(GBU606 as opposed to GBU605) and the coil used is different.

[Kumagoro]

It seems to me anything with active power factor correction is likely to be 80+ efficient. And the few duffers there might be around well be close.

[Konstantin1]

Amazing for the price, can't believe I paid £140+ for a Seasonic X-750 when it first came out.

[Pob255]

Active power factor makes the power factor efficiency very low not the overall efficiency.
Cheaper units can be made out of a more expensive unit and vis-versa, by just swapping out the core components for weaker or stronger ones and adjusting the PWM controller chip programming acordingly.
Just because the blue storm II was 80+ doesn't mean this one will be, swapping out components esp the transformer and transistors and/or diodes can have a big effect of the overall efficiency rating, weaker components while still able to supply the needed currents to remain in spec, will be working harder to maintain it and produceing more heat there by lowering the efficiency of the unit.

It's common practise for PSU manufactors to come up with one base design/pcb layout then use it in multiple models/varients by just changing the components in it.

Non of this make them bad units of course, but if they are not listed as 80rated then they've probably not passed the 80plus rating or been put forward for it for the simple reason that they haven't passed.

Good example here was the original Corsair CX430w, it didn't have an offical 80plus rating because it couldn't quite pass it, while exceeding 80plus at 50% load (82%) it was slightly under at 20% and 100% load (78-79%) which is why the V2 was exactly the same inside with just a few improved components to push the efficiency rating up enough to pass the 80plus testing and that was it only difference between original and V2 was uprated components to give an across the board ~2% efficiency boost.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Active power factor makes the power factor efficiency very low not the overall efficiency.
Cheaper units can be made out of a more expensive unit and vis-versa, by just swapping out the core components for weaker or stronger ones and adjusting the PWM controller chip programming acordingly.
Just because the blue storm II was 80+ doesn't mean this one will be, swapping out components esp the transformer and transistors and/or diodes can have a big effect of the overall efficiency rating, weaker components while still able to supply the needed currents to remain in spec, will be working harder to maintain it and produceing more heat there by lowering the efficiency of the unit.

It's common practise for PSU manufactors to come up with one base design/pcb layout then use it in multiple models/varients by just changing the components in it.

Non of this make them bad units of course, but if they are not listed as 80rated then they've probably not passed the 80plus rating or been put forward for it for the simple reason that they haven't passed.

Good example here was the original Corsair CX430w, it didn't have an offical 80plus rating because it couldn't quite pass it, while exceeding 80plus at 50% load (82%) it was slightly under at 20% and 100% load (78-79%) which is why the V2 was exactly the same inside with just a few improved components to push the efficiency rating up enough to pass the 80plus testing and that was it only difference between original and V2 was uprated components to give an across the board ~2% efficiency boost.

The CX430W was essentially a CWT 380W DSA PSU overrated IIRC. The DSA 380W was 80+ rated IIRC.

The 460W version was over 80% efficient when tested,but that was only rated for use in 230V environments,hence it was not certified,at least according to the JG forums.

AFAIK,80+ certification means 80+ efficiency at both 220V/230V and 100/110V.

To get the PSU certified it probably costs more anyway,so they probably have not bothered,with an older design,especially if it does worse under 110V conditions.

However,since we use 230V here,they are for all intents and purposes 80+ for our usage.

The reviews posted so far are from Sweden,France and Russia which use 220V/230V.

However,if you at the review units,the internal parts have changed over time(rectifiers,etc). At each version,you found the number of cables changed and one or two of the internal bits changed too.

The ratings are exactly the same as the Blue Storm II. If you looked at the reviews,even the older V2 version of the FSP400-60GLN PSU,at over 20% load is over 80% efficient in all reviews. If you look at the rectifiers,diodes,coils,etc,in the newer examples they are actually slightly better than the ones used in the older ones.

[watercooled]

That's a sleeve bearing YL fan isn't it?

Teapo aren't as bad as people say AFAIK, for PSU use anyway. Capxon on the other had I'm not so sure about, might not be a problem depending on where they're used though.

It does look like an older group-reg, minor-rail-heavy design, but it's what you'd expect for the price. One more thing though, are there any MOVs? I can see what I think are Y caps on the input, but can't make out what the blue components on the PCB are?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I was looking at the JG FSP Blue Storm II review:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story3&reid=84

It appears the range has no MOV!! I managed to take pictures of some of the diodes.

Finally, a shot of the heatsinks and attached silicon. On the left, we have the PFC sink which uses two Fairchild G52's I couldn't find any info on, and a Philips PJm0636A4 diode I also couldn't find any info on. Thanks a lot, Google. Moving to the middle heatsink, we have the two primary switching transistors, also a pair of G52's in a double forward arrangement. Pretty standard now among high efficiency units. Last, on the right we have the secondary heatsink. 12V is handled by a pair of MBR3060CT Schottkys good for 60A at up to 60V between them, while 5V appears to be regulated using yet another pair of G52 transistors. 3.3V is supplied by a pair of MBR3045CT Schottkys good for 60A combined up to 45V. More than enough gumption for this unit.

It seems the 12V in this PSU is using a pair of MBR3060CT,the 3.3V a pair of MBR3045NT (?) and I can't see the what the 5V is using.The middle heatsink has a pair of G50C diodes. The PFC section is using a pair of p14nk50zfp which is described in this review:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic...y-Review/882/4

The rectifying bridge is the GBU606 which can supply 6A.

I will try to get the pictures up!!

The sad thing is the VS series Corsairs have worse secondaries it appears. It also seems that systems from Novatech and Scan are using them. CCL sell the same PSU under their own brand:

http://www.cclonline.com/product/996...upply/PSU0505/

[watercooled]

I couldn't criticise it too harshly for no MOVs, while I think they should be included considering their importance relatively negligible price, even some fairly high-end units seem to be omitting them now. Not really a problem provided you're using a 'surge protector', OFC as long as it's not a dangerously cheap one which will allow the MOVs to catch fire when they wear out...