Review of Chieftec Photon CTG-750C-RGB 750W power supply with ARGB-backlight / Overclockers.ua

Recently, Chieftec has never ceased to amaze with its attitude to the retail market. Raising the information content of power supply packaging, introducing a Chieftronic sub-brand with quality products and increased attention to RGB lighting are the minimum list of what has happened to the company over the past year. The presence of the characteristics of the device on the box will always help a potential buyer with a choice, and high-quality solutions are never superfluous, but RGB immediately divides consumers into two camps – those who like it and those who do not. Fortunately, the company did not seriously update the lineup, transferring everything without exception to the latest fashion trends, so that fans of this brand and opponents of backlighting in one bottle can breathe a sigh of relief. Well, for adherents of RGB, we will devote this material by examining the CTG-750C-RGB power supply of the new Photon series.

Chieftec Photon 750W (CTG-750C-RGB)

The power supply comes in a black box, the design of which is similar to the previously discussed Photon Gold 650W. The packaging contains information for two models at 650 and 750 watts at once.

The kit includes instructions, mounting screws, a set of detachable cables and a power cord.

The cables for powering the motherboard (55 cm) and the processor (4 + 4; 60 cm) are stationary, there is another 65 cm wire for connecting the addressable RGB backlight, the rest are represented by the following quantity:

• two with two 8-pin (6+2) connectors for powering a PCI-E video card (55 cm);
• two with three power connectors for SATA devices (45.5 + 15 + 15 cm);
• one with two power connectors for IDE devices and one for FDD (45+15+14.5 cm).

The cables are, frankly, a bit short. In a good case, with the bottom position of the power supply, there may be problems with a lack of length for the processor cable, so you have to pull it diagonally. All cables are regular, not flat, and encased in nylon braid.

Externally, the block is made one to one like the Chieftec CTG-750C that we have already tested – the same small black case with an offset 120mm wire grill fan.

Only on the outer panel there was a button for switching the backlight operation modes.

On the inner wall there are the same connectors for connecting detachable cables. There is a diagram for what and which cable is intended, and the sizes of the connectors are different, so it will not be possible to confuse when connecting.

The characteristics correspond to modern standards, but the presence of two virtual lines slightly spoils the overall impression. In fairness, it should be noted that there were no problems with the stability of the system during testing. So, the unit can deliver up to 675 W on all +12V lines and a combined 130 W on low-voltage channels. For standby voltage, 12.5 W is provided, and for -12V – 3.6 W. Interestingly, the label indicates the model CTG-750C taken as a basis.

The Photon 750W is certified to Chieftec’s internal energy efficiency standard, which promises an efficiency of around 85% for 230 V AC networks. If there are problems with voltage stability in the area, then it is better to use a stabilizer or an uninterruptible power supply with this unit. Of the declared protections, there are: from power overload, from increased and decreased output voltage, from short circuits, from surges and surges. There is an automatic fan speed control.

The unit is made on the “bronze” Sirfa platform with group voltage stabilization using Schottky diodes in the output rectifier. The old version of the CTG-750C was still much more interesting in this regard.

There are no questions about the layout, everything is neatly located, and there are no empty spaces. For this part, Chieftec products have always been at a good level.

There are also no complaints about the input filter, which is partially implemented on the network connector. All elements are in place, including the varistor.

The components of the APFC module are cooled by an aluminum G-radiator; a smaller cooler is provided for the key transistors. Schottky diodes are content with the largest radiator, which is not surprising, given its heating to almost 70 degrees. It also has a sensor to control the fan speed.

The unit is controlled by the CM6805BG controller, located together with the CM03AX switch on the back of the board. The GR8313 chip is used as a supervisor.

The input circuit is equipped with a 390 uF capacitor with an operating voltage of 400 V and a temperature of 85 ° C manufactured by Teapo. An illogical firm uses capacitances in other circuits.

The board for detachable cables performs a purely transit function and is devoid of any capacitors.

Soldering is good, there is no “snot”, flux residues are minimal. In general, the power supply is assembled perfectly.

The components are cooled using a 120mm Hong Hua HA1225M12F-Z fan with a fluid dynamic bearing and two-pin connection. Its impeller is made of white translucent plastic, along the edges of the blades there is a ring, which is often found on fans of ASUS video cards.

When the system starts and with a low game load, the fan rotates at a speed of about 900 rpm with a slight rustle, and with an increase in load to 60% of the nominal value, its rotation speed is already equal to 1380 rpm, which already becomes quite noticeable. At almost its nominal speed, the speed reaches 1850 rpm and the noise becomes very expressive.

Using the button on the rear panel of the power supply, the user can set the color or effect of the glow of the LEDs.

Test Methodology

The power supply was checked using a conventional system assembled from the following components:

• processor: Intel Core i5-8600K (4.3 GHz);
• motherboard: ASUS Maximus X Apex (Intel Z370);
• Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems;
• RAM: HyperX HX429C15PB3AK2/16 (2×8 GB, DDR4-2933@3200, 16-18-18-36-2T);
• video card: GeForce GTX 1080;
• drive: Kingston SSDNow UV400 480GB (480 GB, SATA 6Gb/s).

Testing was carried out in the Windows 10 x64 environment on an open stand. To create a gaming load on the system, the Valley benchmark was used with maximum graphics quality, and for additional load, LinX 0.6.7 was launched in parallel.

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. The Tropics benchmark with 4x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering enabled under game load was used to load the system, and the LinX program with a 1024 MB task was used for additional load, while Tropics was launched with AA2x and AF16x. The system was also tested in single card mode without SLI activation, when only one half of the GeForce GTX 295 video card is used, and the utility was used for the load using the OCCT utility in full screen 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.

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.

*- without load.

The block shows quite good results up to about half of its capacity, but after that serious drawdowns are already noticeable, although they do not go beyond the 3% limit with a tolerance of 5%. Not the most advanced circuitry also affected the heating of the components, which contributes to an increase in the fan speed.

conclusions

The considered power supply CTG-750C-RGB of the new Photon series is primarily intended for those who prefer a bright appearance and do not particularly go into the technical features of the purchased product. Not the last role in such a choice is played by the price along with the brand, and given that this Chieftec model with RGB backlight is one of the most affordable on the domestic market, economical users will definitely not pass by. For a quiet and powerful system, Photon is unlikely to be the best choice, but for an average PC with illumination, it will be more than enough.