Here at PCstats, we tend to judge power supplies by several important categories. Power efficiency and voltage accuracy are obvious measures of a power supply's quality, but we use other more subjective methods too. One of the first and most important is weight. It's a generalization, but a true one in our experience, that quality power supplies just weigh more.... Whether its the quality of the components or the size of the heatsinks, a power supply with a good heft to it always creates a positive first impression in this lab.
If measured solely by these criteria, the PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI powersupply might be judged as one of the best PSUs to ever cross our test bench. The understated appearance of this black box belies its true heft!
Of course, we'll still subject the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI to the rest of the cursory tests too, but this no-nonsense black 510Watt (650Watt peak) power supply, which retails for about $265CN ($215USD), created a positive first impression with more than just its weight. The woven sleeved cables eminating from this PSU include no less than (6) SATA HDD connectors and (2) six pin 12V connectors for dual SLI videocards! This means no more converters that tie up four molex connectors or independent lines.
The Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI's main selling point is its suitability for SLI videocard systems. This starts with the pair of 12V six-pin video card power connectors on the unit and ends with the fact that the power supply is one of only four officially recommended by nVidia for use with SLI videocard computer systems.
The
Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI uses the newer 24-pin ATX connector to supply power
to the motherboard, but PC Power and Cooling includes an adaptor to
convert this to the older 20-pin ATX standard when needed. The
only other items included in the plain cardboard box are four screws, a small installation
leaflet and a pleasingly thick 14 gauge (14AWGx3C) AC power cable. Standard powersupplies commonly
use smaller 18 gauge (18AWG) wires in the AC power cord.
According to the label, the +3.3V line can deliver up to
30 Amps while the 5V rail will of 40A. The 12V rail can deliver 34A
which is important since the processor runs off this line.
Unlike most 'thrill-them-with-high-wattage-numbers' power supply companies, PC
Power and Cooling lists its power ratings by the sustained wattage capability,
not the peak value.
While the 510W sustained of the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI might
appear to be pedestrian, it can handle up to 650W at peak, and that
is drastically even more than enough for an overclocked
SLI desktop PC.
The Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI powersupply uses Active Power Factor
Correction (A-PFC), meaning that the power supply automatically detects the wall
voltage and adjusts itself, eliminating the need for an external voltage level
switch.
More
importantly, Active PFC allows a power supply to
convert wall AC voltage to Direct Current much more efficiently
(99% efficient in this case), massively reducing the amount of electricity wasted and
the degree of heat generated by the PSU in the process.
Active PFC tends to also be a sign of better quality
power delivery, as you'll see to a limited extent
in a moment. To really illustrate the quality of power,
an oscilloscope is required to measure jitter on all three power
rails, but unfortunately that piece of equipment is not in our tool
box.
Like other PC Power and Cooling PSUs
PCSTATS has tested, the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI features a row of four potentiometers inside the case
(made semi-accessible by two holes in the top of the power supply). These pots can be adjusted to tweak
the voltage to the various rails. For the purposes of this review, we left them untouched, but enthusiasts
will welcome this feature.
Appearance and physical specifications
The PC
Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI is a plain black box power supply
with a waffle grill facing into the body of the PC for better ventilation, and a
plain 80mm brushless fan for venting hot air out of the back. No other internal
fans are present.
There
is no switch to select fro 115V or 220V because the powersupply includes an Active Power
Factor Correction circuit which will automatically make the necessary circuit selection depending on the
mains AC supply.
The
Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI's cables are wrapped in woven black plastic mesh sleeves, heat shrink tubing and zip
ties to keep the individual power cables separated and avoid tangles.
In addition to the (6) SATA
connectors (split over two lines) and (2) 12V 6-pin SLI videocard connectors,
the PSU includes (8) standard Molex connectors (split over three lines) and
(1) foppy drive power connector as well as the 24pin and 4pin
auxiliary motherboard power connectors.
Voltage Regulation and Build quality
On the
top of the PC Power and Cooling Tubo-Cool 510 SLI are two small holes which
allow external access to
a series of internal voltage regulating potentiometers for making adjustments to
the +3.3V and +12V power lines.
On the left-hand side is a third small
hole which allows access to a potentiometer for making adjustments to the +5V
line.
When computer systems are heavily overclocked, the extra power draw can cause
drops in any of the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V supply lines that some users may wish to
compensate for.
PC Power
and Cooling is well known for addressing this aspect of PC power delivery
which is specific to heavily overclocked PCs (ie, if the PC is not overclocked,
there is no reason to make any voltage adjustments). Users are thus able to
fine-tune the voltage tolerances for the best possible
delivery of power on each of these three power lines for their specific system loads.
Inside, the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI is a maze of electrical
components and heatsinks, which explains the weight of the unit. Note the internal
voltage regulating potentiometers mentioned earlier, as well as the beefy heatsinks
that PC Power and Cooling has used with its internal circuits.
The AC power socket
is also appropriately EMI shielded and filtered - this is one of the
simplest tell-tale signs of a good PSU manufacturer. Cheap powersupplies will often
lack any attempt at EMI filtering on the AC power
socket.
The 80mm
exhaust fan used with the PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI for
venting is
fairly quiet, but louder than other power supplies we've reviewed
lately which use 120mm internal fans with lower RPM
speeds. In this case however, there isn't enough space inside the PSU
for a large 120mm fan to be used, the company has
put emphasis on the
electronics which deliver power rather than sacrificing that for the space necessary to install
a larger cooling fan.
Also note that a black wire fan grill has been used, rather than a punched out sheet metal fan guard. Wire fan guards are known to have
very little air flow resistance, and do not create any extra noise.
The Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI is not marketed as a 'silent power supply,' but it's hardly
intrusive either. Next to your ear you will notice it, but not under the desk in your case.
| Power Jitter
Observations |
|
Voltage jitter is read by accessing the power options displayed in the motherboard BIOS, with the system obviously in an unloaded state. All voltages were read from the Motherboard BIOS of a DFI LANParty NF4 SLI/DR.
|
PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510
SLI
|
| Listed Voltages |
Lower Voltage |
Upper Voltage |
Jitter |
| +3.3V |
3.25V |
3.27v |
0.02v |
| +5.0V |
4.99v |
5.02v |
0.03v |
| +12V |
12.02V |
12.09V |
0.07v |
| -12V |
-12.12V |
-12.12V |
0.00v |
| -5.0V |
-5.01v |
-5.01v |
0.00v |
| +5.0Vsb |
5.05v |
5.05v |
0.00v |
In the voltage jitter observations, the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI showed extremely steady voltages. The 0.07 jitter from the +12V rail was a little larger than we'd normally like to see, but since the voltage numbers are so accurate to begin with, this is pretty much irrelevant. Note the rock-steady +5V rail.
The volt-amp (VA) value is how much real
power is being consumed by the power supply being tested to provide the wattage
(W) value. The higher the VA value is, the more electricity is
being used by the power supply. Because no electrical device is 100%
efficient, there will always be some loss when converting AC to DC. The
closer the volt-amps and wattage figures are to each other, the more efficient a
power supply is. This is called the Power Factor: wattage / volt-amps =
PF.
Since we're testing with a 120W dummy load, the
load on the power supply (W) should be as close to this figure as
possible. Anything above this load in apparent power describes the overhead and
wasted energy (given off as heat) for the particular power supply being tested.
For the
unloaded tests, the Wattage and Volt-Amp figures should be as close as
possible to one another. The lower the figures are, the
less power is being used. For the % Efficiency values, 100% is the best,
and 50% or less is quite poor.
|
Power Load Tests
|
| Power Supply |
Wattage |
Test
Type |
Loaded |
Unloaded |
% Efficiency |
| Seasonic SuperTornado |
400 W
(A-PFC) |
Active Power |
177 W |
6 W |
97.3% |
| Apparent Power |
182 VA |
7 VA |
| Vantec iON2 |
350 W |
Active Power |
192 W |
10 W |
69.3% |
| Apparent Power |
277 VA |
21 VA |
| Antec TruePower 330 |
330 W |
Active Power |
195 W |
22 W |
67.5% |
| Apparent Power |
289 VA |
38 VA |
| Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W |
500 W |
Active Power |
193W |
22 W |
62.9% |
| Apparent Power |
307 VA |
40 VA |
| AOpen Silent Power AO400-12AHN |
400 W |
Active Power |
179W |
9 W |
65.0% |
| Apparent Power |
275 VA |
18 VA |
| Seasonic S12-430 |
430 W
(A-PFC) |
Active Power |
179W |
6W |
99.5% |
| Apparent Power |
180VA |
9VA |
| PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool
510 Express/SLI |
510 W
(A-PFC)
|
Active Power |
200 W
|
29 W |
99.0% |
| Apparent
Power |
202 VA |
32 VA |
As the only Active Power-Factor Correcting (A-PFC) power
supply in the test results besides the Seasonic SuperTornado and S12-430,
the PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI turns in a predictably excellent power efficiency
figure - 99.0% - from the point of view of power conversion.
Active PFC really does make a huge difference in the amount of
energy wasted by your computer, and consequently how much you end up paying
in power bills later on.
In terms of actual power consumption though, the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI is
a bit of a hog. Its unloaded power consumption was 29W, and
loaded power consumption was slightly higher than the rest of the field as
well at 200W. It's not going to bankrupt you, but its worth noting that
this PSU is better turned off when you leave for summer vacation.
Stable as a rock, heavy on the power
Once the heavyweight PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI was pulled
out of its packaging, we were expecting good things from it and
it did not disappoint.
This power supply proved to be extremely
solid and accurate in terms of the voltage it delivered across its various
rails. As one of only four PSU's specifically approved by nVidia for
use with SLI videocard systems, you'd expect solid power performance and the
Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI delivers.
The PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI is completely nondescript
in appearance, though its nicely wrapped cables and the 14AWG
duty AC power cable it ships with are both good indicators of the
build quality PC Power and Cooling has put into this unit.
In terms of power use, the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI
takes a bit more for itself than most of the PSUs we've tested, especially when
not under load. In light of its Active-PFC inspired 99.0% power efficiency and excellent voltage
stability though, voltage regulating potentiometers for fine adjustments in overclocked settings,
and twin 6-pin SLI power cables, that one small disparity is
easily forgiven.
PC Power and Cooling offers a five year warranty on
the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI. Considering that power
supplies are the most common cause of computer failure, this indicates a comforting degree of confidence in the product by the manufacturer.
At a price of $265CDN ($215 US) for the 510 Watt model,
the PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI power supply is anything but cheap. For
hardcore overclockers and SLI enthusiasts, or anyone investing serious amounts
of money into their computer hardware, the price of the Turbo-Cool 510 is well worth it for the performance delivered.
96%
