Overview of the ASUS TUF Gaming 650W power supply. Almost gold / Overclockers.ua

Today, we got a new power supply from the ASUS TUF Gaming series for testing. Previously, we looked at Strix devices that boasted 80 Plus Gold energy efficiency. Today we have a representative of “bronze” devices.

ASUS TUF-GAMING-650B

The block is packed in a black box, on the side faces there is all the necessary information about the characteristics of the device, and on the bottom there is a description of the main distinguishing features of the device.

In addition to the unit itself, the package includes: two power cables with different plugs, a set of cable ties and fastening screws, a manual and a set of stickers.

Power supply with non-removable cables, their number and length are as follows:

• one to power the motherboard (60 cm);
• two with one 8-pin (4+4) connector (80 cm);
• two with two 8-pin (6+2) connectors for powering a PCI-E video card (60+12 cm);
• one with three power connectors for SATA devices (40+12+12 cm);
• one with two power connectors for SATA devices (40+12 cm);
• one with four power connectors for IDE devices (40+15+15+15 cm).

All cables are black insulated and covered with a black braid, the wires are quite soft and long, they are great for large cases with a bottom power supply.

It is immediately evident that the designers have worked on the design of the case. The appearance is made in the general style of other components from the TUF Gaming line. The paintwork is matt black, the cooling fan is covered with a protective black grille, in its central part there is a large white emblem. On the side faces there are black stickers with white inscriptions, which look very harmonious with the overall style of the device.

The block is made in accordance with all modern trends in “block building”: at the APFC input with a wide supply voltage range, the power converter along the 12 V line is made on a resonant LLC converter with a synchronous rectifier, DC / DC converters. The circuitry is the same as that of the “golden” blocks, but the manufacturer claims “bronze”, we will figure out why.

A full-fledged impulse noise filter is soldered at the input of the unit, part of its capacitors is located on the network connector. The charge current of the network storage filter is limited by the thermistor, next to which there is a place for installing a relay. The latter should close the thermistor after the start of the block to reduce losses. It seems that this affected the certificate – with the thermistor constantly on, the block does not reach the “gold”. The input rectifier consists of two GBU15K diode assemblies with a maximum current of 15 A connected in parallel, and for a power of 650 W this is even too much. APFC is based on the CM6500UNX controller, which controls a pair of STW26NM60N transistors (20 A 600 V 0.135 Ohm) connected in parallel. It was not possible to consider the type of the output diode, since it is closed by a rather massive corrector choke. After the corrector, two electrolytic capacitors of a high-voltage filter with a capacity of 220 μF and an operating voltage of 450 V at 105 ° C of the LSG series manufactured by the Taiwanese company Lelon are connected in parallel, which gives a total of 440 μF.

The power transistors of the half-bridge resonant LLC converter are installed on the radiator along with APFC elements, the type could not be considered, they are controlled by the CM6901X combined controller. At the output, four STP100N8 transistors (100 A 80 V 0.008 Ohm) are installed in the synchronous rectifier, the output voltage is filtered by four electrolytic Low ESR capacitors for 2200 uF 16 V manufactured by Lelon RZW series.

The +3.3 V and +5 V lines are powered by a step-down DC / DC converter, assembled on a separate board, which is covered with a metal shield to reduce cable interference. A pair of chokes and two pairs of polymer capacitors for 470 uF 16 V and 1500 uF 6.3 V are installed on the board, two more Low ESR capacitors with a capacity of 2200 uF with a voltage of 10 V manufactured by TEAPO of the SC series are installed next to the board. The type of keys and controller could not be considered, but, most likely, the APW7159C controller is installed, which has already become a classic for similar circuits from most manufacturers.

The control circuit for the standby power converter +5VSB is made on a TNY278PN PWM controller, a polymer capacitor with a capacity of 820 uF at 16 V and an electrolytic Low ESR capacitor with a capacity of 1500 uF and a voltage of 10 V manufactured by TEAPO of the SY series are installed at the output. An IN1S429I-DCG supervisor is installed nearby, which performs overvoltage and undervoltage protection at the output of the unit (OVP and UVP), the rest of the protections are implemented by other units of the unit.

Installation and soldering are of high quality, all components are installed evenly, the board is washed from the flux and varnished.

A 135 mm fan CF1325H12D (135x135x25 mm 12 V 0.6 A) produced by Champion with two ball bearings and a two-pin connection is responsible for cooling the components. The fan is controlled automatically with a semi-passive operation mode. When the unit is started, the fan does not work and turns on at a power of more than 30% at 800–900 rpm, with a further increase in the temperature of the temperature sensor installed on the radiator of the synchronous rectifier along the 12 V line, the speed gradually increases to a maximum of 1800 rpm.

Test Methodology

The power supply test was carried out using a linear electronic load with the following parameters: current adjustment ranges on the 3.3 V line 0-16 A, on the 5 V line 0-22 A, on the 12 V line 0-60 A, current and voltage measurement error stand 5%, all contacts for connecting cables of the tested power supply with the same voltage are connected in parallel and loaded with the corresponding load channel. The current for each channel is smoothly regulated and it is stable regardless of the output voltage of the unit. To accurately measure voltages, mains current and temperature, a Zotek ZT102 multimeter with True RMS was used. The fan speed was measured with a Uni-T UT372 tachometer. For each power line, the required current was set and the voltage at the load contacts was measured to take into account losses on the wires.

Test results

The first test for the load capacity of the main line +12V, the current through the +3.3V and +5V lines was constant with a total load of about 130 W, the results are listed in the table:

According to the test results, we have excellent stabilization on all lines, not a single voltage dropped below the nominal value. Additionally, a measurement was made on an unloaded SATA cable to obtain the voltage on the power supply board at maximum load without taking into account the resistance of the wires. The wire drop is quite small, less than the modular units, and you can also see the excellent work of the voltage drop compensation circuit on the wires.

To check the load capacity of the +5V and +3.3V lines, tests were made at a constant load at +12 V to assess their influence on each other, the results are listed in the table:

According to the test results, we see that large load distortions along the 3.3 V and 5 V lines have almost no effect on each other and on the 12 V line, the stabilization is excellent, which is the norm for blocks with separate stabilization of all lines, but the total voltage drop in this block a little smaller than other similar devices, apparently, the cables are of better quality.

The unit efficiency test was carried out at a mains voltage of 230 V.

The heating test of the unit components was carried out at a room air temperature of about 19 ° C using the Scythe Kaze Master Pro panel, the sensors of which were installed on radiators, the APFC choke and the DC / DC converter board, a Zotek multimeter thermocouple was installed under the insulation of the power transformer winding ZT102. The unit was loaded at maximum power and worked until the temperature of the power transformer stabilized. The Scythe panel readings were recorded, after which the block cover was quickly removed and the temperatures of the remaining components were measured. The results are shown on the following photo of the block board:

The temperatures of the APFC elements and power switches are quite low for a “bronze” block, due to modern circuitry and a large margin for power components. But the temperature of the synchronous rectifier is already higher, it seems that this is the second element that influenced the decrease in the efficiency of the device, and transferred it to “bronze”. With a long maximum load, the cooling fan speed increased to 1600 rpm, while the noise was noticeably lower than that of the other fans of the test bench. In the case, the maximum speed and noise level will be higher depending on the ventilation of the case and the temperature in the room.

conclusions

The tested ASUS TUF-GAMING-650B is a well-made block on a modern platform with a good design, excellent parameters and a 6-year warranty, but at its cost, I would like to see a more expensive element base. The block is better than all the old “bronze” models from other manufacturers, which are usually built using outdated circuitry, sometimes with group stabilization of output voltages. TUF-GAMING-650B delivers the declared power with excellent voltage regulation at a not very high noise level and will normally cope with the power of an average gaming system. The design of the device can become a decisive factor when buying, if the whole system is assembled on ASUS components or in the TUF style.