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The Nextherm PSU460 power supply
Manufacturer: Sytrin (www.sytrin.com)
Product: Nextherm PSU 460 (ICS 8200)
Price range: $69.99
Recently we tested a nice GPU cooler from Sytrin, this week our second review from them is actually a Power Supply Unit (PSU). This is the smallest unit in their line-up and has a rating of 460W.
The power supply unit is the part of the computer that most people buy without thinking about or researching it and by only looking at the wattage number. The Power Supply is actually a crucial part of the whole system as it is responsible for providing a constant, steady and clean current for it to be able to function without any hiccups. Also, the wattage number on a power supply is almost always a misleading number. A buyer must check what the total combined wattage is that can be provided and not just that peak number. Also, what is most important is the amount of Amps the PSU can provide on several important rails, especially the 12 volts rail for us gamers as that's where our graphics cards feed their juice from. What's also important is to stick to recommended brands. Please, just because we recommend that you look at the 12v rail and check the amperage, does not mean you can buy a $30 PSU because it has the recommended amperage. It will still be junk. You get what you pay for and a good quality PSU is a fine investment. Sytrin PSUs aren't really heard of but let's see if we can add them to the recommended PSU manufacturers list.
Let's have a look shall we, at the Nextherm PSU460.
Da Box ... can I hear a "ooh" ? ;)
One of the things you'll immediately notice on that box is that Sytrin has this PSU labeled as Server Ready which means that they believe its a good and stable unit. The unit is painted matt black, feels very solid and well made and weighs around 2 kilos. It has an intake fan on the lower side and an exhaust fan on the rear.
Lets take a look at the features (taken from the Sytrin website):
High-end Server Level Power Intel SSI EPS 12V & ATX 12V Compatible.
Support for Intel P4 (775) and AMD Athlon 64/FX (K8) platforms
Support Intel Dual CPU Nocona
100% Full Power Supply and Efficiency > 78%
Dual Independent 12V Rails Supply to MB/CPU and Drives
SATA Connector Supported
NVIDIA SLI PCI-Express Connector Supported
Smart Cooling and Noise Control Design
Power Consumption Signal Output Available for Real-Time Power Consumption Meter Monitoring
Active PFC (Power Factor Correction), PF>0.99
Multiple Power Protections against Over Power, Short-Circuit, Over-Current, Overload & Over-temperature
Efficient Connector & Cable Management
High Quality Mask Black Casing
Nextherm PC Air Conditioner Connector Supported
Safety Approvals: UL, TUV, SIMKO, CB.
EMC Approvals: CE, BSMI, CISPR22 CLASS B, FCC PART 15 SUB PART J CLASS B at System Load
The Power Supply also features an automated fan speed control that controls the speed of the fans according to the load and temp. (SCNC Smart Cooling & Noise Control)
Fan speeds/dBA/temp information.
A note on the SLI PCIe connector statement, this PSU only has a single PCIe power connector, and I dont know if I would use a 460W unit on power hungry SLI or Crossfire system (although it says it has 18 amps per rail, which is mean enough for an decent SLI system).
Specifications:
Specs on the side of the unit, as usual.
