Ultra Xfinity 600W PSU Review :: Performance

In order to test the performance of the supply, we've calibrated Motherboard Monitor 5 using the sensor files for the DFI Motherboards, (Available Here), and then further calibrated these sensors to agree with a Digital Multimeter at idle. We then fire up OCCT (Available Here) and let it run its course, under three different scenarios. The first of which involves just letting the program run on it's own to simulate a day to day load on the system. The second level of testing sees us defragmenting a drive that hasn't been lucky enough to have such done to it in some months now, while we rip a DVD to yet another of the system's 3 drives. This is intended to demonstrate the kind of load that most heavy multimedia users would demonstrate. The third level of loading is intended to see how well the power supply copes with the insatiable thirst for power provided by our SLI'd 6800GTs. During this test, 3D Mark 2005 is looped 5 times at the standard quality level while OCCT runs. To those of you wondering why we use OCCT, it is for the simple reason that it creates graphs of every voltage change seen on the 12V, 3.3V and 5V lines during a test. With the methodology to our madness in mind, let's proceed on to showing off the test setup, then finding out just how the X2 holds up when the pressure hits hard.

Test Bed

• 3000+ Clocked to 2.52GHz (280*9, 1.61V, Drawing 124W)
• DFI SLI-D With all power connections made (20W)
• 2x NVIDIA 6800GTs (Drawing 100W each)
• 2x512MB OCZ GX Memory (Clocked to 252MHz @ 2-2-2-0, 3.33V, Drawing 80W)
• Leadtek TV2000XP Deluxe (Drawing Mere Standby Power)
• 2x80GB Maxtor SATA Drives, 1x250GB WD PATA Drive (60W Draw on 12V/5V)
• LG Combo DVD Drive (20W Draw)
• Assorted cooling care of a shed worth of fans, 10W
• Total Wattage Needs Estimate: 574W!

In the preliminary testing, we can see that the X-Finity power supply isn't quite capable of holding the voltages up to their nominal levels, but considering that OCCT passed without a hiccup, and our day to day experience (as well as overclocking successes) felt no effect by this, we're not worried. Perhaps one of the nicer things to the X-Finity is how well it has shown itself to be able to handle the load, as proven by having the second lowest (at this time mind you) ripple. That being said, let's see how the X-Finity can handle a bit more of a harsh load.

Interestingly enough, the addition of the power needs of the trio of hard drives and an optical drive to the mix gave some supplies an advantage, while hurting the performance of others. In the case of the X-Finity, the ripple rose by .1%, which isn't anything truly significant, but still enough to make us take note. On the plus side though, the voltages edged closer to their nominal levels, which shows that the voltage regulation circuitry steps up as the power is needed.

The sudden strike of another 230W onto the 12V rails really puts a strain on all of the supplies listed here today - so much so of one, that the ancient Single Rail Ultra 600W PSU couldn't make it, failing 8 minutes into the stability test. As to the ripples, the X-Finity exhibited a significant rise in the overall ripple, amounting to the tune of .26%. Once again, nothing alarming as the supply is still within its safety ranges. What's nice to see though is that this supply is perfectly capable of holding up such a harsh load, while the old "Single Rail" (Pre X-Finity model) failed miserably. The tests aside, it's time to head to the conclusion.