Archives
Contact Us
Contests
Downloads
Forums
Guides
History
Links
Mailing List
News
Reviews

Antec
Cooler Master
Futuremark Corp
Geeks.com
Gigabyte
Kingwin
Mushkin
OCZ
Patriot Memory
Plextor
Raidmax
Sapphire Tech
Seagate
Sigma

     Installation / Testing / Results

     Installation of the Real Power 450 went as easy as any other power supply, unit we got to the video card. As I mentioned about the Molex connector, the easy grip tab will require some manipulation, or you can just use the "Y" cord that came bundled with your video card. The cable length and connector arrangement is very smartly designed so there isn't miles of unused wires. The Watt meter fits into a 3.5 inch drive opening and there is a very small set of wires that needs to be connected to the power supply. Again, this wire is very smartly designed with plenty of length and with a small diameter gauge as to not promote cable clutter.

Test System Specifications

     Using SiSoftware Sandra's Motherboard Information module, the above information is displayed. At 0% CPU utilization the +12 Volt line is very low yet the +3.3 and +5 Volt rails are exactly where they should be. The voltage set in the BIOS for the CPU is 1.6 volts. I would call 1.58 volts to be close enough due to the amount of fluctuation as a CPU draws more or less power depending on its current processing load. While the CPU utilization meter may read 0%, Windows processes and services vary the utilization rate almost constantly.

     One of the built-in features of Motherboard Monitor is a high/low page that shows the above information. Current, lowest, and highest readings from the many sensors and in our interest, voltage levels. The sample rate of Motherboard monitor has been set to 10 seconds and was monitoring the system from 4:00 AM to about 12:33 PM with a total of 3073 readings. During the first hour, the system was used very little - performing only minor net surfing. The remaining seven hours were spent crunching on a Prime95 Torture Test. The utility voltages of +3.3v and +5v are within +/- .03 of their target voltage. Ther 12 volt rail averaged 1.02volts higher than the intended setting.

     The Human Computer Interface (HCI) is one of the most unique mods that I have seen bundled with a power supply. The HCI is simply an analog style meter that indicates the total power in Watts (Voltage x Current = Watts / Power) that the Real Power 450 is producing. Indicator marks are ticked off every 100 Watts with the red line at the 400 Watt mark. This small meter fits within the 3.5 inch drive bay of your PC enclosure and has its own small wire to connect it to the power supply. The gauge is illuminated with a soft blue light and the swing needle has a fairly quick response time. The needle shown in the picture above is indicating just over 200 watts of power with the system specs referenced above. Software running at this time was: Prime95 in a benchmark run, 3DMark 2003 in a benchmark run and a hard disk defrag being performed, all simultaneously. The Real Power 450 still has plenty in reserve to meet even this systems demands.

     Conclusion

     The 12 volt power supply readings certainly peaked my interest. Sandra says one thing and Motherboard Monitor says another. Being at the mercy of a motherboard's onboard sensors isn't always the best way to see things as they really are. So, a multi-meter came into action and I re-measured the power output across a Molex connector that was on a power wire-bundle that was in use, across a CD-ROM. The voltage with only normal system processes in action (system mostly idle) read 12.31 and when a Benchmark routine was begun, to put stress on the system, the voltage dropped to 12.29.  The 5 volt side of the connector showed the same minute change, actually increasing from 5.01 to 5.05 volts when the benchmark routine was initiated.  I call that a passed check.

     The Real Power 450 has a lot going for it. The easy grip Molex kits built-in are a very nice touch, and the power meter certainly adds its own touch of class. Solid power performance that, given the power meter readings, still has plenty in reserve. The power is obviously clean enough to keep an Overclocked Pentium-4 chugging along. The only thing I would like to see included on future revisions of this power supply is a manual adjustment knob to raise and lower the speed of the fan. Since the fan is controlled automatically by a thermal sensor, you will still get higher fan RPMs when the need arises, but having a manual over-ride is never a bad idea either.

Club Overclocker Rating
Innovation:	9.5 out of 10
Performance:	9.5 out of 10
Quality:	10 out of 10
Stability:	10 out of 10
Compatibility:	10 out of 10
Overclocking:	N/A
Software Pack:	N/A
Value:	9.0 out of 10
Overall Rating 9.5
Skill Level
Project Skill Level (10 being hardest)	3 out of 10