Review of the Raidmax Scorpio RX-1000AP-S 1000 W power supply / Overclockers.ua

The products of the American company Raidmax have been present on the domestic market for a long time, even periodically flashed on the pages of our website in the news column, but we have never been tested. In the near future we will try to pay more attention to this brand and start, perhaps, with power supplies.

The first one that will appear before you will be the solution of the Scorpio series. A distinctive feature of the power supplies of this line is a 135mm fan with a blue impeller, 80 Plus Bronze energy efficiency compliance, a single +12V line and a “semi-modular” design. The lineup consists of five devices with power from 535 to 1000 watts, and we got the oldest of them for testing.

Raidmax Scorpio 1000W (RX-1000AP-S)

The unit comes in a black and red box, which shows the power supply and the symbol of the series itself, i.e. scorpion. The reverse side shows the features and technical characteristics of all solutions from the Scorpio line.

On one of the faces there is a table describing the number of certain connectors for powering PC components.

With the unit, the user will also receive a power cord, a set of mounting screws and a set of detachable cables. Modestly, but quite enough to build the system.

The power cables for the motherboard (50 cm) and the processor (4+4; 60 cm) are non-removable, the rest of the kit is as follows:

• two with two 8-pin (6+2) connectors for powering PCI-E video cards (50 cm);
• three with three power connectors for SATA devices and one for IDE (50+15+15+15 cm);
• one with three power connectors for IDE devices and one for FDD (50+15+15+15 cm).

As you can see, with a power of 1000 W, the unit is equipped with only two power cables for video cards. This is very small, even if you assemble a system with a pair of voracious adapters and, for example, the third one will have to be connected via adapters. All cables are encased in black and blue nylon braid.

Externally, the block looks standard, as for solutions designed for the retail market. The black case and the wire grille of the same color that protects the large fan have become commonplace lately. The depth of the device is 165 mm.

On the inner wall there are connectors for detachable trains. All of them are signed and made with different sizes, so there will be no confusion when connecting.

In terms of its characteristics, the RX-1000AP-S meets modern trends, when the main load is shifted towards the + 12V line, and the block on it can give out almost its full power. And this feature greatly distinguishes it from the younger models.

The combined power of low-voltage channels does not exceed 100 W, which is enough for current PCs. The rest of the channels are up to date as well.

The power supply is equipped with protection against low and high voltage, against short circuit, overload of output lines, and there is also automatic fan speed control. The presence of the APFC module and the mains voltage range from which the device can operate are not indicated anywhere.

We remove the cover and see the usual circuit with a synchronous rectifier at the output with independent stabilization for voltages of +3.3 and +5 V, implemented using DC-DC converters.

The installation is tight, only a little free space near the pulse transformer. There are no special claims to the assembly.

Due to lack of space, the input filter components are piled on top of each other, but fortunately there is no noticeable savings here, everything is in place.

Cooling radiators for power elements also do not experience any savings, visually occupying almost a third of the area of ​​​​the power supply. The cooler for the components of the APFC module and key transistors is common, connected to the same with a radiator of diode bridges.

On the radiator of the output transistors, the temperature sensor is fastened in an interesting way – by means of a pressure plate. To be honest, this method has not been seen for a long time.

The very tight mounting of the components affected the location of the control microcircuits – they are all placed on separate scarves. So, on one of them is the CM6802TBHX PWM controller, which is also responsible for the active power correction module, and next to it, on another board, is the PS232S monitoring chip.

The converters for the +3.3V and +5V lines are based on the APW7073 microcircuits and are also located on different boards under the heatsink for the synchronous rectifier transistors.

The observant reader must have noticed the Japanese Capacitors label on the packaging. But do not flatter yourself – we did not find any Japanese capacitors, there are ordinary Teapo inside. At the input, you can see two pieces with a capacity of 270 microfarads with an operating voltage of 420 V. It is possible that Japanese polymer capacitors are used in DC-DC converters, or maybe the packaging is universal for various versions of the Scorpio series power supplies. But in any case, you see, this is somewhat misleading for users.

There are a few SMD capacitors and electrolytic capacitors on the board with connectors for detachable cables, but they are also made by Teapo.

The unit is cooled by a PowerYear 135mm PY-13525M12S fan based on a sleeve. Its maximum rotation speed is about 2500 rpm, and it is connected with a two-pin cable. On one side of the fan housing there is a grill, which should weaken the air flow in that place so that its bulk goes to the hotter part of the power supply. I confess that this is the first time I have come across such an idea of ​​​​engineers, usually a plastic plate is screwed in that place.

In terms of noise characteristics, the fan does not stand out in any way, in idle time and during the game it rotates at a frequency of about 690 rpm, which does not really affect the general background. But with the increase in load to the maximum, its speed rises to 1680 rpm and there is no need to talk about any silence.

Test Methodology

It is difficult to carry out full testing without an appropriate stand, so the power supplies were tested using a conventional system assembled from the following components:

• processor: Intel Core i7-6700K (4.0@4.5 GHz);
• motherboard: ASUS Maximus VIII Formula (Intel Z170);
• Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems;
• RAM: HyperX HX430C15PB3K2/16 (2×8 GB, DDR4-3000, 15-16-16-35-1T);
• video cards: Gigabyte GV-N770OC-2GD (GeForce GTX 770);
• drive: Kingston SSDNow UV400 240GB (240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s).

Testing was carried out in the Windows 10 x64 environment on an open stand. The Valley benchmark was used to create a game load on the system, and LinX 0.6.7 was launched in parallel for additional load.

Also, for maximum load, the following system was assembled:

• processor: Intel Core i7-975 (3.33@4.02 GHz, Bclk 175 MHz);
• motherboard: ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer (Intel X58);
• cooler: Noctua NH-D14;
• RAM: Kingston KHX2000C8D3T1K3/6GX (3×2 GB, DDR3-2000@1750, 8-8-8-24);
• video cards: ASUS ENGTX295/2DI/1792MD3/A and Inno3D GeForce GTX 295 Platinum Edition (GeForce GTX 295);
• hard disk: Samsung HD502HJ (500 GB, 7200 rpm, SATA-II).

Here testing was carried out in the Windows 7 x64 HP environment on an open bench. To create a load on the system, the OCCT 3.1.0 utility was used with a 30-minute power supply test in windowed mode with a resolution of 640×480.

To measure the total power consumption of the system, the Seasonic Power Angel was used, which can also measure the power factor, voltage and frequency in the network, the consumed current and the amount of energy spent per unit of time. Net power consumption calculated based on 80 Plus certification – i.e. possible efficiency of the device. Errors in such calculations can be 5%. The voltages were checked with a UNI-T UT70D digital multimeter.

In addition, we decided to slightly expand testing by taking temperature readings inside the power supply, fan speed and noise level under a particular load.

The temperature was measured using the Scythe Kaze Master Pro panel, the sensors of which were located on the radiators inside the block and at a distance of 1 cm in front of the fan (#1) and behind the outer wall (#2).

For fan speed results, a UNI-T UT372 non-contact tachometer was used. The maximum speed was fixed for each of the power supply testing modes.

It should be borne in mind that such a technique at this stage is far from ideal and will be supplemented and changed as it is used.

Test results

The obtained data are entered in the table. In brackets for voltage are percent deviations from the norm, for power consumption – the approximate net load on the power supply.

Judging by the results, we have an average power supply in terms of capabilities. In idle time and under moderate gaming load, it demonstrates good performance, but with an increase in the consumption level to ~ 850 watts, drawdowns are observed on all lines. Fortunately, everything is within the normal range and does not even go beyond the 2% limit. Of course, a further increase in load can aggravate the situation, and in general it is clear why the block was not equipped with the ability to connect a third video card.

conclusions

Entering the market in 2000, Raidmax has established itself as a manufacturer of stylish and affordable solutions that were especially appreciated by modding enthusiasts, as well as enthusiasts and avid gamers. While other vendors made uncertain steps in the “domestication” of PC design, the company knew how to win the hearts of users who were already tired of dull gray boxes. Over its long history, it has not changed at all and still offers outwardly interesting products and solutions for modders.

The tested power supply unit RX-1000AP-S of the Scorpio series occupies an average position in terms of its capabilities, it is equipped with a minimum of necessary accessories, but at the same time it has detachable cables, an interesting appearance and, most importantly, the most affordable, as for a “kilowatt”, price is lower $80 at local retail! Low noise level at medium load can also be attributed to the advantages of the device. And everything would be fine, if only there were not two power cables for video cards – the considered model can definitely do more than two voracious adapters. But, apparently, the manufacturer decided to play it safe in this way. Ultimately, Raidmax RX-1000AP-S can be recommended to those who need 850-950 watts for the system, while the budget is very limited. If you need to power three or four low-power video cards, then adapters will come to the rescue, but you will have to look for them yourself.