Due to the inability of the PSU to run high-end SLI or Crossfire mode, it would extremely unfair to compare the Scythe PSU with any other PSU we've tested before. Two video cards put an extraordinary amount of stress on a PSU compared to a single card, and the load is completely different in that environment. Our test platform has therefore been modified slightly to reflect this with the ATI Crossfire Edition X1900XT replacing the two video cards in our regular test platform for PSUs.
PSU testing is done with the OCCT benchmark configured for ASUS PC Probe II and calibrated for the CPU temperatures and voltages of the test platform. The first run was with OCCT alone, with nothing running in the background. In this case, the Kamariki II performed well, with minimal ripple and solid amperage throughout. The 3DMark05 test, where 3DMark05 is looped three times while the OCCT is running was also with minimal ripple and solid performance. The final test is where I burn a CD-ROM while the OCCT is running.
Test System
- AMD Athlon 64 4000+
- ASUS A8R32-MVP Crossfire motherboard
- 1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR400 memory
- 2 74GB WD Raptor SATA Drives 10000RPM in RAID 0
- RADEON Crossfire Edition Master card (X1900XT) video card running Catalyst 6.3
- Windows XP with SP2
- DirectX 9.0c
- Scythe Kamariki II 550W PSU
- HEC 420TD-TF 420W PSU
Test Software
- OCCT Alone
- OCCT with 3DMark05 looped 3 times
- OCCT burning 4.18GB DVD-ROM
