The XPG Cybercore II 1300W ATX 3.0 PSU Review: A Slightly More Modest High-End PSU
by E. Fylladitakis on July 14, 2023 8:00 AM ESTHot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)
As is the case with all PC PSUs, the overall performance of the CYBERCORE II 1300W PSU drops as the ambient temperature rises. With the ambient temperature above 45°C, the energy conversion efficiency drops by almost 0.5% across the nominal load range regardless of the input voltage. Regardless, the drop is almost entirely evenly distributed across the entire load range and not significantly higher at higher loads, suggesting that there is practically no significant thermal stress on the components.
The high ambient temperature forces the thermal control circuit to start the fan when the load is at roughly 350 Watts, as the unit strives to maintain safe operating temperatures. We notice that the engineer who programmed the thermal control circuit has it trying to maintain its main component temperatures under a certain temperature threshold, as the component temperatures hardly change between 20% and 80% of the unit’s rated capacity. When the CYBERCORE II 1300W is fully loaded for prolonged periods of time, the temperature will rise and does reach uncomfortably high figures, but running such a PSU continuously at maximum load is not a feasible real-world scenario.
As expected, the high ambient temperature changed the fan’s cooling profile, forcing it to start earlier. The fan reaches >40 dB(A) figures almost instantly once it starts and its speed keeps increasing as the load increases, managing to keep the unit’s temperatures almost entirely stable across the majority of the load range. The fan reached 100% of its speed when the load was just over 1 kW, after which point the noise stays stable but the internal temperatures of the CYBERCORE II will rise if the load persists for long periods of time.
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Purpose - Friday, July 14, 2023 - link
Wow, a power supply with a Gentle Typhoon in it.PeachNCream - Friday, July 14, 2023 - link
Reevaluation of your life choices might be a better idea than scrimping coin on a "cheaper" 1300W PSU. If you feel you genuinely need something that can deliver that much power to provide yourself with amusement there's absolutely a problem and it has nothing to do at all with computer components.Threska - Monday, July 17, 2023 - link
Considering cases and PSUs have the longest retention, a PSU could see several generations of computer evolution where power requirements could go up. Never mind new uses, from personal AI, to VR/AR.PeachNCream - Monday, July 17, 2023 - link
Nevermind the fact that people are unlikely to demand that much from a single wall outlet on the average household circuit with homes easily 40 to 100 years old and no significant change in wiring. So new uses that add additional devices of that sort of demand are unlikely. Adding various energy costs and associated power-demand increases on the grid from growing numbers of electric vehicles that will spike costs - Yeah I'm going to say that's not well thought out reasoning.Purpose - Tuesday, July 18, 2023 - link
I read the conclusion as "less expensive" rather than "cheap." The voltage regulation is better than any other unit they tested, and the build quality is "commendable." In the conclusion's final paragraph he states "... presents a well-built and reliable power supply option, offering good power quality, efficient thermal management, and highly competitive noise levels.Doesn't really seem to be anything "cheap" about this power supply. It's just a good value for people who would need more power. Gamers wouldn't buy this, someone building a workstation would.
PeachNCream - Saturday, July 22, 2023 - link
Concur, which is why I said "cheaper" rather than "cheap" which implies lower price not bottom-of-barrel quality. The point remains though that there's few situations in which 1.3kW would be necessary and all of those situations reach well into "I'm a frantic idiot" territory.Samus - Saturday, July 15, 2023 - link
I just want a boring PSU with this build quality and that fan at half the watts for <$100. It seems most PSU's really cheap out on fans and when they are loaded, the noise output of whatever fan they have is likely drowned out by the rest of the system anyway.hennes - Saturday, July 15, 2023 - link
I also want the world for free, or for cheap. So maybe < $100 is not that realistic.But a well build platinum plus PSU, with no fan noise under normal operation and lasting multiple builds is something I am happy to pay for. No need for 1300W though, even with todays GPU power explosions a 800W is plenty.
(and just to confirm that, I now have a 850W, nmo fan till 40% load, platinum plus unit with good specs, though at over twice the $100 you mentioned)
Samus - Sunday, July 16, 2023 - link
It's hard to find good quality 650-700w PSU's anymore. My last two had poor quality fans and both needed replacing after a few years, and they were expensive PSU's. My other complaint is ATX 3.0 PSU's with the PCIe 5.0 connector all seem to be high output (1000w+ models) even though many cards on the market with a PCIe 5.0 connector are sub-300w cards (like the 4070Ti) with CPU's that are often in the 125w TDP range. A 650w PSU is perfectly matched to that spec.meacupla - Saturday, July 15, 2023 - link
It's pretty easy to do a fan swap mod on a PSU.