BitFenix Formula Gold 450W PSU Review: Compact, Efficient, And Near-Silent
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Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time & Inrush Current
To learn more about our PSU tests and methodology, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units.
Primary Rails And 5VSB Load Regulation
Load Regulation testing is detailed here.
Hold-Up Time
Our hold-up time tests are described in detail here.
Measured hold-up time was over 17ms, while the power-good signal's hold-up time came close to 16ms. Most important, it was accurate.
Inrush Current
For details on our inrush current testing, please click here.
The inrush current was low with 115V and a bit high with 230V input.
Load Regulation And Efficiency Measurements
The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the BF450G’s efficiency. The applied load equals (approximately) 10 to 110 percent of the PSU's maximum load in increments of 10 percentage points.
We conducted two additional tests. During the first, we stressed the two minor rails (5V and 3.3V) with a high load, while the load at +12V was only 0.1A. This test reveals whether a PSU is compatible with Intel's C6/C7 sleep states or not. In the second test, we determined the maximum load the +12V rail could handle with minimal load on the minor rails.
Test # | 12V | 5V | 3.3V | 5VSB | DC/AC (Watts) | Efficiency | Fan Speed | PSU Noise | Temps (In/Out) | PF/AC Volts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1.944A | 1.983A | 1.981A | 0.985A | 44.893 | 82.577% | 537 RPM | 10.3 dB(A) | 38.21°C | 0.936 |
11.978V | 5.043V | 3.334V | 5.079V | 54.365 | 44.74°C | 115.32V | ||||
2 | 4.885A | 2.976A | 2.971A | 1.184A | 89.393 | 87.655% | 537 RPM | 10.3 dB(A) | 38.67°C | 0.972 |
11.973V | 5.041V | 3.333V | 5.068V | 101.983 | 45.89°C | 115.26V | ||||
3 | 8.229A | 3.473A | 3.454A | 1.384A | 134.497 | 89.423% | 537 RPM | 10.3 dB(A) | 38.93°C | 0.982 |
11.968V | 5.040V | 3.332V | 5.058V | 150.406 | 47.48°C | 115.20V | ||||
4 | 11.576A | 3.970A | 3.964A | 1.585A | 179.698 | 89.925% | 537 RPM | 10.3 dB(A) | 39.55°C | 0.986 |
11.963V | 5.040V | 3.331V | 5.048V | 199.831 | 49.23°C | 115.13V | ||||
5 | 14.595A | 4.963A | 4.955A | 1.787A | 225.029 | 90.080% | 537 RPM | 10.3 dB(A) | 40.18°C | 0.989 |
11.957V | 5.039V | 3.331V | 5.038V | 249.811 | 51.38°C | 115.16V | ||||
6 | 17.546A | 5.957A | 5.946A | 1.990A | 269.524 | 89.756% | 537 RPM | 10.3 dB(A) | 40.50°C | 0.990 |
11.952V | 5.038V | 3.330V | 5.027V | 300.284 | 54.09°C | 115.09V | ||||
7 | 20.566A | 6.952A | 6.937A | 2.194A | 314.836 | 88.872% | 678 RPM | 15.3 dB(A) | 41.83°C | 0.990 |
11.948V | 5.036V | 3.330V | 5.015V | 354.258 | 56.42°C | 115.02V | ||||
8 | 23.591A | 7.947A | 7.932A | 2.399A | 360.148 | 88.233% | 854 RPM | 21.2 dB(A) | 42.67°C | 0.990 |
11.942V | 5.035V | 3.329V | 5.004V | 408.177 | 57.83°C | 114.95V | ||||
9 | 27.018A | 8.446A | 8.414A | 2.401A | 405.035 | 87.870% | 1182 RPM | 31.1 dB(A) | 43.34°C | 0.990 |
11.937V | 5.034V | 3.328V | 4.999V | 460.950 | 58.67°C | 114.99V | ||||
10 | 30.384A | 8.945A | 8.930A | 2.505A | 449.768 | 87.287% | 1346 RPM | 34.3 dB(A) | 45.21°C | 0.990 |
11.932V | 5.032V | 3.327V | 4.992V | 515.274 | 60.92°C | 114.92V | ||||
11 | 34.153A | 8.948A | 8.931A | 2.507A | 494.579 | 86.736% | 1630 RPM | 39.4 dB(A) | 46.29°C | 0.991 |
11.927V | 5.032V | 3.326V | 4.988V | 570.212 | 62.27°C | 114.85V | ||||
CL1 | 0.738A | 12.001A | 12.000A | 0.000A | 109.284 | 84.933% | 545 RPM | 10.9 dB(A) | 43.59°C | 0.978 |
11.960V | 5.035V | 3.336V | 5.082V | 128.671 | 55.49°C | 115.22V | ||||
CL2 | 37.514A | 1.001A | 1.000A | 1.000A | 461.365 | 88.330% | 1346 RPM | 34.3 dB(A) | 45.13°C | 0.991 |
11.941V | 5.037V | 3.328V | 5.041V | 522.320 | 58.13°C | 114.92V |
Load regulation on all of the rails was tight, and we like that this PSU features quiet operation even under the taxing conditions of our test bench. It took cranking the load up to 110% of the BF450G's maximum-rated capacity and dialing the temperature beyond 46°C to make this PSU's fan spin at full speed. Even then, noise output remained under 40 dB(A). Although we ran our tests at grueling ambient temperatures, BitFenix's BF450G showed that it deserves its 80 PLUS Gold certification.
As we noted with the BF650G, our power factor readings were a little on the low side. CWT should tune its APFC converter for better performance.
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Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
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2Be_or_Not2Be Nice - I really like how quiet these models are running.Reply
Of course, it's also funny that the Formula Gold model is less noisy on average than its "Whisper" mate.