Overview of the Chieftec Proton BDF-850C 850 W power supply / Overclockers.ua

We have recently reviewed the Chieftec power supply of the new Proton series, which should replace the outdated models of the A-135 line. Unlike their predecessors, the novelties have one +12V line, the characteristics of other voltages have been brought to modern standards, and the efficiency of the devices has been brought up to the 80 Plus Bronze standard. The appearance of the next Proton model in our Laboratory did not cause much optimism, but, as it often happens, even within the series itself, the products are based on different platforms. And what the Chieftec BDF-850C with a power of 850 watts is based on, we will just find out.

Chieftec Proton 850W (BDF-850C)

The block comes in a laconic black package, on which, apart from the logo of the series and the name of the model, nothing else can be found. In principle, the manufacturer has never bothered with the design of the boxes, so there is nothing surprising in such a minimalist design, although for a retail product we would still like to see more information about it. On the other hand, the end user, in most cases, is rarely interested in how long this or that cable is, or how many amps each line can deliver. So, this approach is quite justified.

In the kit you can find instructions, a set of mounting screws, a network cable and detachable cables.

All plumes are removable and their number is as follows:

• one to power the motherboard (49 cm);
• one with an 8-pin CPU power connector (55 cm);
• one with 8-pin (4+4) CPU power connector (55 cm);
• three with two 8-pin (6+2) connectors for powering PCI-E video cards (55 cm);
• three with three power connectors for SATA devices, one IDE and one for FDD (46+15+15 cm);
• one with three power connectors for IDE devices and one for FDD (45+15+15+15 cm).

All cables are flat, only the motherboard power cable is additionally enclosed in a nylon braid.

The unit looks the same as the 750-watt model reviewed earlier: a black body and a wire grille of the same color complement the overall style. Only the power switch here has become larger.

On the inner panel there are connectors for detachable cables. For each type, the corresponding connector or key is selected, and they are also signed and it will be problematic to confuse them when connecting them.

Like the previous model, the novelty can give the entire nominal value along the +12V line, but unlike it, our ward has a slightly higher combined power of low-voltage channels, which is already 140 watts.

In addition, the standby voltage margin and the -12V line also increased, up to 3 and 0.5 A, respectively.

There is an APFC module and the ability to work in a wide range of mains voltage. Of the protections, it is present from low and high voltage, from short circuit, overload of output lines, from overheating. There is also an automatic fan speed control.

We remove the cover and see the Sirfa bronze platform with a synchronous rectifier for the + 12V line and DC / DC converters for low-voltage channels. We met the same one in the APS-1000CB block.

Installation of elements is free, while there is no particular savings in them.

But, despite the presence of empty space on the board, the components of the input filter are piled on top of each other, and some of them are soldered on the network connector.

Power elements are cooled by aluminum plates with ribs-petals at the ends. Separately, a small radiator for diode bridges is provided. Two separate coolers are installed for the active PFC module and key transistors; a temperature sensor of the active cooling system is located on the radiator of the synchronous rectifier.

The PWM controller CM6806 + X, located on a separate board, is responsible for controlling the unit. Near the output circuit there is another board, which houses a DC/DC converter based on the APW7159 chip. To control the parameters of the device, a PS224 chip was used.

Capacitors, expectedly, from Teapo. At the input there is one at 680 microfarads with an operating voltage of 400 V and a temperature of 105 ° C. In addition to electrolytic containers, there are also polymer ones used in the DC / DC converter.

There are some more solid state on the board for detachable cables.

The quality of the soldering is at a good level, and in general the unit is quite decently assembled, there are no special complaints about it in this regard.

Active cooling is provided by a Globe Fan 135mm RL4Z S1352512HH fan based on a sleeve and a pluggable two-pin cable. On the one hand, it is covered with a plastic plate that directs the air flow to the hottest components.

When the system was idle and during a gaming load with a single graphics card, the rotational speed was about 810 rpm, the noise level was moderate. Increasing the load increased the speed up to 1660 rpm and the fan was already clearly audible.

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: GeForce GTX 1080;
• 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 stand. To create a load on the system, the OCCT 3.1.0 utility was used with a 30-minute power supply test during use, as well as while running the LinX 0.6.5 utility and the Tropics benchmark with activated anisotropic filtering at the 16x level. Video cards in both tests worked in SLI mode.

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.

Quite a good block for a load of about 75–80% of the nominal value, allowing you to keep output voltages with drawdowns of less than one percent. But even when the device is overloaded, the drop is not large and is less than 2%, and the overall stabilization does not go beyond 3%.

conclusions

Despite the fact that the bulk of the budget of powerful gaming systems is made up of high-performance video cards, when assembling such a PC, they often try to save on the power supply. And if with a processor and a graphics adapter it is clear what you are paying so much money for, then when choosing a power source, not every user wonders why one unit costs $ 50, the second 150, and the third generally 300, moreover, the same rated power . As a result, the cheapest model of a brand that does not inspire confidence is purchased, and after a while the assembled system begins to behave unpredictably, this is at best. Of course, there is a possibility of a deplorable situation with the products of eminent manufacturers, but compared to the “nonames”, the characteristics of which are sometimes overestimated one and a half times, this is much less common.

Of the companies currently represented on the domestic market, one can single out Chieftec, Corsair, Seasonic, Thermaltake, Zalman, which have more or less affordable models of powerful power supplies. If we discard seasonal price fluctuations, then Chieftec’s solutions can be distinguished as the most optimal in terms of price / quality ratio. But not everyone may like the rare use of Japanese capacitors in them, as well as the noise level, which is higher than some competitors.

The considered power supply unit BDF-850C of the new Proton series belongs to such products. It uses bulk capacitors and is not the quietest at maximum load. But its capabilities are enough to build a system from a couple of video cards. And if you want to save a few tens of dollars, and the noise level fades into the background, then the novelty will be a good choice, especially when prices normalize after the New Year’s fever.