Sansun Arctic 450W PSU

[W1zzard]

[PAGE=Introduction & Packaging]
Introduction
I would like to thank Sansun (http://www.sansun.de) for supplying me with the unit for review.

Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/package1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/package2.jpg)

Box contents:

Power supply unit
Power Cord
Cables


http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/contents_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/contents.jpg)

<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Connectors</th>
<th align="center">Main Power</th>
<th align="center">5.25&quot;</th>
<th align="center">Floppy</th>
<th align="center">4 Pin CPU</th>
<th align="center">SerialATA</th>
<th align="center">PCI-E Aux Power</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">ATX 20+4 Pin</td>
<td align="center">8</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
</tr>
</table>

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/cablelength.gif

[page=The PSU]
The PSU
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu4.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu5.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu2.jpg)
The color of the Arctic 450W is not beige, but almost paper-white. The openings on the sides will help airflow.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu6_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psu6.jpg)
On the backside of the PSU you find the connectors for the modular power cables. Depending on your needs you can go with a common configuration like ATX power, SATA power, PCI-E power and ATX12V. A stripped down system could also use merely the ATX cable, which is permanently attached.
Last year at Cebit I asked PSU manufacturers "Why do you make the ATX power cable removable on a modular PSU? You will always need it to run the system, and without plug you could drive down cost." - I never got a useful answer, except "it looks cleaner". Oh great, so it looks cleaner when you take it out of the package, but you paid extra for having small voltage losses at the connector. Good that Sansun didn't do this.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/cabling_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/cabling.jpg)
As you would expect from a quality PSU, all cables are sleeved.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/24pin_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/24pin.jpg)
Most modern motherboards use a 24 pin ATX power connector. If you have an older motherboard which has a 20 pin one, you can clip off the extra four pins.


[pagE=PSU Inside & Test Equipment]
PSU Inside
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside4.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/inside5.jpg)
Inside the PSU you find no serviceable parts or any trimmers to tweak the output voltages with. Opening your PSU voids your warranty, with this PSU there is no reason to do so.

Test Equipment

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/setup.jpg


The PSU is connected to an APC SmartUPS which supplies clean 220V input.
AC current is measured using a Peaktech 4010 desktop RS232 multimeter with 0.02A accuracy.
To measure DC output voltages of the PSU we use a 20-bit data acquisition system calibrated to 10uV accuracy.
Power Factor is measured using a generic Power Efficiency Meter.
Measurements for Ripple Voltage were obtained using a 30 MHz HAMEG Analog/Digital Oscilloscope.


http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/noisetest_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/noisetest.jpg)
Sound level measurements are performed with an IEC Type 2 Sound level meter and this setup.
It consists of three high-power resistors and a Socket A motherboard. The motherboard creates a small load which makes sure the PSU turns on (some PSUs require a minimum load). Since there is no hardware installed in the motherboard, its power draw is negligible. The three resistors create a static load of 320W (120W @ 12V + 50W @ 5V + 150W @ 12V) - a typical high-performance system. This setup is also used to determine the power conversion efficiency of the PSU.

[page=Performance]
Performance
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/sticker_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/sticker.jpg)

<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th colspan="9">Sansun SN-450W </th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>AC Input</th>
<td colspan="8">115V / 230V 10A, 50-60 Hz</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>DC Voltage</th>
<td align="center">+3.3V</td>
<td align="center">+5V</td>
<td align="center">+12V1</td>
<td align="center">+12V2</td>
<td align="center">-12V</td>
<td align="center">+5VSB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Max. Output</th>
<td align="center">28A</td>
<td align="center">32A</td>
<td align="center">18A</td>
<td align="center">16A</td>
<td align="center">0.8A</td>
<td align="center">2.5A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="center">200 W</td>
<td align="center">216 W</td>
<td align="center">192 W</td>
<td align="center">9.6 W</td>
<td align="center">12.5 W</td>
</tr>
</table>

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/psugraph.gif
Tested on: P4 3.0F @ 4.0 Ghz, 1.45V. ABIT Fatal1ty AA8XE, 1GB OCZ PC2-5400 EB, Radeon X850 XT, Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/ripple.jpg

Above image shows the Ripple Voltage measurement (5 mV per vertical division, 5uS per horizontal division). 15mV from peak to bottom is an average result. Ripple Voltage was measured at idle.

<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 12V</th>
<td align="right">44.70</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 5V</th>
<td align="right">3.46</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 3.3V</th>
<td align="right">6.74</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Power Factor</th>
<td align="right">0.99</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Ripple Voltage 12V</th>
<td align="right">15 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Power Efficiency</th>
<td align="right">71% (320W:448W)</td>
</tr>
</table>

Standard deviation is a statistical term, which tells how far away from the average the measurements are. In other words it's the average of the average.
A large standard deviation indicates that the data points are far from the average and a small standard deviation indicates that they are close within the average.

[PAGE=Fan Noise, Value & Conclusion]
Fan Noise
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sansun/Arctic450W/images/fannoise.gif

Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
The Sansun Arctic 450W is going for around $50, making it a bargain offer in its power range.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Very competitive price
PCI-E video card connector
Dual ATX12V connectors
Stable 5V and 3.3V lines, 12V line is ok
Modular
20+4 Pin connector
All cables are sleeved
Clean white finish, takes no fingerprints
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Low efficiency
Only one PCI-E power connector
Cables a bit short
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.5</th>
<td>The manufacturer Sansun isn't well known yet, because they are a new company. If they continue delivering such solid products, I'm sure that this will change in no time.<br />
For a price for which you often get only a plain and unsleeved power supply, Sansun is giving you a modularity feature which is usually found only on much more expensive PSUs. All cables are sleeved as well which helps keep your case look clean.<br />
Not only the looks are good, the voltage stability is so as well. The 3.3V and 5V lines are very stable, the 12V line takes a few small dips during our load test, but you have to remember the price. Noise levels are also well below average. When the system is mainly idle the temperature controlled fan will run very slowly, making this one of the quietest PSU tested so far.
</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/recommended.gif</td></tr>
</table>

[Dippyskoodlez]

hmm.. Id like to see more of this test bench you seem to have created... looks... fun :)

[W1zzard]

which part would you like to know more about?

[Dippyskoodlez]

which part would you like to know more about?


I'm just curious about the whole thing... :laugh:

But I'm a very curious person... I enjoy knowing how everything works :toast:

more specificly, how you hooked it up to create a load.. looks pretty cool.

[W1zzard]

the load resistors are just resistors .. one end to ground other end to +12v for example.. they create a shitload of heat, thats what the fan on the right is for

[Dippyskoodlez]

the load resistors are just resistors .. one end to ground other end to +12v for example.. they create a shitload of heat, thats what the fan on the right is for


ahh I see.. you come up with this? frickin brilliant I think :) btw one VERY nice review.. :)

[W1zzard]

yeah i didnt feel like spending a thousand bucks for a psu load tester (i asked a psu mfgr at cebit last year)

btw the load setup isnt used for the psu voltage stability test because i think only a real system can put the right dynamic loads on a psu.

[Dippyskoodlez]

yeah i didnt feel like spending a thousand bucks for a psu load tester (i asked a psu mfgr at cebit last year)

btw the load setup isnt used for the psu voltage stability test because i think only a real system can put the right dynamic loads on a psu.


Yeah, but still very cool!