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Power Supply Up
Close:
As
you can clearly see from the power supply, Mushkin has used a very nice
looking black finish. The finish is so shiny that is was extremely
difficult to find a decent angle to take a picture from without getting
glair or reflection. Maybe I can get Mushkin to paint my car?
Here you can see the modular power connectors. The power connectors are
color coded to help take out the guess work of connecting cables.
To top things off, Mushkin
has their logo pressed into the power supply chassis. Nice touch.
You
wouldn't know it by looking at the packaging, but this Mushkin power
supply comes with some pretty sweet features such as RailFusion,
ActiveShield Technology, Power Factor Correction, and Enhanced Thermal &
Acoustic Design. Let's take a look at these features.
Special Features:
RailFusion
The
Mushkin power supply is equipped with "RailFusion". When high draw
devices such as dual video cards exceed the maximum allowed current per
12v rail (20A), this feature combines the rails to avoid overcurrent
shutdown. The green LED on the back of the power supply (as seen above)
will illuminate when the RailFusion is active.
ActiveShield Technology
The
580AP FSU incorporates active protection for installed components. These
protection measures include:
- Overvoltage
Protection
- Undervoltage Protection
- Undercurrent Protection
- Overtemperature Protection
- ShortCircuit Protection
Power Factor Correction
Facilitated with the universal input 90VAC ~ 250VAC active PFC with the
PF value. 0.96 at 115V or 230V with the EN 61000-3-2, class D standards.
Enhanced Thermal & Acoustic Design
Under light load, the fan speeds are reduced for quiet computing
(22-23.5dBA, 900-1060RPM up to 50% load; 32dBA 1700RPM under full load).
When loading is increased, the fan speeds are increased for proper
temperature regulation.
Testing:
For
testing we'll be using ClubOC's water cooled rig that started with Swiftech's
Quiet Power P180 water cooled chassis. Then we added the EVGA 680i motherboard, an Intel C2D E6700, Mushkin
Extreme Performance XP2-8500 DDR2, and a pair of EVGA GeForce 7600GT
video cards. This is a very nice platform for testing. Here are the
hardware details:
|
Hardware |
Model |
|
Motherboard: |
EVGA nForce 680i SLI |
|
Motherboard BIOS Version: |
NF68P23 |
|
Platform Drivers: |
nForce
680i v9.53 |
| CPU |
Intel
C2D E6700 |
|
Memory |
Mushkin Extreme Performance
XP2-8500 5-5-4-12
2Gb Kit |
|
Video Cards |
2x EVGA GeForce 7600GT
Running in SLI |
|
Video Card Drivers |
NVIDIA Forceware v93.71 |
|
Hard Drive |
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9
SATA 80gb |
After testing many power supplies, we've decided to not trust windows
based voltage monitoring utilities. These utilities seem to vary power
readings from program to program. Therefore we'll be taking our power
readings using a digital volt meter. The +3.3v, +5v, and +12v power
lines will be monitored for 5 minutes each. We're looking for exact
power readings and possible power fluctuations under a full system load.
Here is how the results look:
|
Voltage Line |
Low |
High |
Average Voltage |
+/- Percentage |
| +3.3v |
3.38v |
3.38v |
3.38v |
+2.4% |
| +5v |
5.10v |
5.10v |
5.10v |
+2.0% |
| +12v |
12.15 |
12.34 |
12.25v |
+2.8% |
While monitoring the
power we viewed a power fluctuation of about .2 volts in the +12 power line.
The +3.3v and +5v power lines did not fluctuate at all. According to
the power supply manual, the +3.3v, +5v and +12v power lines have a
fluctuation limit of +/-5%. So even at .34v over, the 12v line is
still within limits.
In my opinion, the Mushkin 580AP power supply is the best looking
power supply that any of us here at Club Overclocker have tested in
our nearly 10 years of existence. It is also one of the highest
quality units I have ever seen anywhere. Mushkin has gone above and
beyond what I expect to see in a power supply. It is obvious the
people at Mushkin have really put a lot of time and effort into the
580AP to ensure they have the best power supply on the market today. I
would have to say they have done an extremely good job at meeting this
goal. The only way I could see Mushkin improving this product is by
fine tuning the power lines for a more exact power output. Other than
that, this is one heck of a power supply. At $140, the price is just
right compared to other power supplies with the same features. If
you're looking for an ultra high quality, modular power supply for
under $200, you really need to set your sights on Mushkin's 580AP.
Club Overclocker Recommended!
|
 |
|
Innovation: |
10
out of 10 |
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Performance: |
9.0 out of 10 |
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Quality: |
10 out of 10 |
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Stability: |
9.0
out of 10 |
|
Overclocking: |
N/A |
|
Software/Drivers Pack: |
N/A |
|
Value: |
10
out of 10 |
|
Overall Rating
9.5 |
|
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|
 |
|
Project Skill Level
(10 being most difficult) |
4
out of 10 |
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