FSP Epsilon 80Plus 600W
by Christoph Katzer on August 5, 2008 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Conclusion
As expected, the build quality of this unit is excellent. There is literally nothing to complain about. The Epsilon 80Plus 600W is a good power supply, but there's very little in the way of marketing. Unfortunately, that's typical of larger companies like FSP Group. Smaller companies like Corsair, OCZ, and be quiet! provide similar quality but have huge marketing departments. They tend to know much more about the specific markets than the actual manufacturers.
We see this lack of market knowledge when we look at the connectors of this unit. It comes with 24-pin, 4-pin ATX12V, and 4/8-pin EPS12V connectors, which is fine for the rated output. Six Molex and six SATA connectors are the minimum we would expect, and for a 600W power supply it might even be enough. The two PEG connectors are the bigger concern, as that would make this power supply under-equipped for anyone looking to run two 9800 GTX cards in SLI, or two HD 4870 cards in CrossFire. Then again, SLI/CrossFire certification for the higher-end GPUs requires a higher rating anyway. As it stands, this power supply will be fine for single graphics cards configurations, including cards like the 3870X2 and 9800GX2, or dual-cards like the 8800 GT and HD 4850 that only require a single PEG connector.
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As for the internals, we can't really blame FSP for not mixing things up, since the design is a few years old and has sold very well. It still delivers good results and can compete with the competition. The voltage regulation was great and stayed tight throughout the tests. Efficiency is also good with input voltages of 115VAC or more, though the 90VAC results are nothing special. The maximum 87% efficiency at 350W is a very competitive result.
The fan starts at a somewhat high speed of 1100RPM, but this still results in a good sound reading of just 18dB(A). Unfortunately, this scales to the maximum 27dB(A), and particularly in higher temperature environments it will hit that point at relatively low loads. That's still good compared with some other power supplies, but a 600W PSU can run at much lower noise levels as we have seen before. For a price of around 100€, users in Europe can purchase a well built unit which should run quite well. There are competitors that offer a similar feature set, quality, and performance, but frequently prices are higher. If you don't need anything more than a 600W PSU, this FSP is worth a look. If you're going to purchase an FSP-built PSU, you might as well go straight to the source.
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MrOblivious - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - link
The funny thing about FSP's Epsilons is they have 4 units submitted at the same 600w output for 80Plus:FSP600-80GHN
http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSP-FSP...">http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSP-FSP...
FSP600-80GLN
http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSPGrou...">http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_repo...SP600-80...
FSP600-80GLC
http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSPGrou...">http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_repo...up_FSP60...
and the
FSP Epsilon 80PLus 600
http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSP%20E...">http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSP%20E...
All of them are 80Plus certified and the 80GHN and the 80Plus 600 hit the exact same numbers ;)
HOOfan 1 - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
looking at newegg, there is also a 600 80Plus Everest model. You yourself have seen that the Everest platform is just a renamed Epsilon.WT - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - link
I own an Epsilon FX600-GLN, and the first thing I thought when reading this was 'Wow, AT is reviewing that older PSU today' but soon found this was just a minor update to that PSU. Its been stable as a rock and handled everything I've tossed at it, with an overclocked Q6700 and soon a 4870 to power up 24/7. For the money I paid, it was a no-brainer. If I had an extra $50, I'd splurge on the PCP&C 750 unit today.JarredWalton - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - link
FWIW, Newegg has the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">PCP&C 750W on sale right now for $110 after MIR ($140 before rebate). That's no as good as a couple weeks back (when we did the PSU roundup) when I grabbed that for $100 *without* an MIR! Still, considering this PSU is only in Europe and prices are merely okay, that PCP&C is definitely one of the best buys in the US right now.RallyMaster - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - link
is a ball bearing fan. Anandtech's review and news quality has been dropping as of late. Please get facts right. Do understand that Yate Loon D12SH-12s would be the sleeve bearing version which is rarely if ever used in a horizontal configuration like inside a power supply.C'DaleRider - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - link
Hmmmm.....no comment on whether the power supply is independently or group regulated (HINT: it's a group regulated power supply which is old tech and not seen as nearly as good as an independently regulated one.)Wonder how FSP, using the old Epsilon platform, managed to get its ripple/noise, according to this test, "....different voltages delivered low ripple and noise results, staying well within specs." Odd that almost every other reputable power supply testing website has found just the opposite...
Then to gloss over the less than top shelf component selection when it comes to capacitors as the unit is stocked exclusively with Teapo (primary) and CapXon (secondary)...neither of which is seen as anywhere near being a first class component like Rubycon, Chemi-Con, etc.
But so far we've just seen praise heaped on each and every power supply tested.....never have they had one that failed to be great...which begins to make a lot of their testing suspect. Never downgrade a power supply for substandard interior components or build quality, never a demonstration of ripple, no MOV on the primary (all the other reputable PSU-makers on the block are doing it... why not FSP?), yet we fccus on three heatsinks...but no mention of what's attached to them, like the capacities of the seimconductors for the primary and secondary sides....or what are on the OCP controller, or if the OCP controller actually functions, and on and on.
Incomplete.....and yet we have another power supply that sails through with flying colors despite the company, using this same platform, having huge problems with ripple.
Amart - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - link
"All of the different voltages delivered low ripple and noise results, staying well within specs." Thanks you for this enlightening revelation! I have no knowledge of what this "ripple and noise" means, but since you say it's "within spec's" I don't care to find out. Something in your writing makes me tingle all over... and want to trust you unquestionably.Sincerely yours,
Iddy Otconsumer
MTBF - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
FORTRON / FSP Power Supply Units are unreliable hardware devices.Failed just after 784 days of normal use (about 3500 hours only)!.
Calin - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - link
Funny :)Ripple seems to be harmonics in the output (harmonics would be periodic variations, one of the most common could be at the frequency of the main electricity input - 50 Hz in Europe and 60 Hz in USA - or at its multiple/submultiples (25 Hz, 100 Hz and so on).
Noise is just that - random variations in the output. In the end, I think noise is less dangerous than ripple, as ripple might create standing waves/resonance with ripples in other AC-powered equipment (monitor, printer), which could lead to problems.
Frumious1 - Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - link
You name is half right at least. Thanks for being a fucktard. I guess they should make up graphs showing ripple voltages just to appease people like you, because that's so much more useful than a statement on whether or not there was ripple. Let me guess: you read Jonny Guru, right? Do you post there and complain about his lack of fan speed and noise level testing?I'll get worried when I see a cruddy PSU tested here that gets praised. So far, the cheapest PSU tested by Anandtech seems to be about $80. Yeah, I'm shocked that ripple results have all been good. Seriously, someone send these guys some Antec SmartPower, Raidmax, Rosewill, Logisys, Powertek, CoolMax, etc. PSUs. You know, the ones that claim SLI and Crossfire support and yet cost under $60. Or send pretty much and PSU that comes with a case. If I see some of those getting by without some serious problems, then I'll get upset.