BitFenix Formula Gold 450W PSU Review: Compact, Efficient, And Near-Silent
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Cross-Load Tests & Infrared Images
Our cross-load tests are described in detail here.
To generate the following charts, we set our loaders to auto mode through our custom-made software before trying more than 25,000 possible load combinations with the +12V, 5V, and 3.3V rails. The load regulation deviations in each of the charts below were calculated by taking the nominal values of the rails (12V, 5V, and 3.3V) as point zero. The ambient temperature was between at 30°C (86°F) to 32°C (89.6°F).
Load Regulation Charts
Efficiency Chart
The BF450G delivers between 90 to 92% efficiency for a quite large region.
Ripple Charts
Infrared Images
We applied half-load for 10 minutes with the PSU's top cover and cooling fan removed before taking photos with our modified FLIR E4 camera that delivers 320x240 IR resolution (76,800 pixels).
Temperatures inside the BF450G are kept low thanks to reduced energy losses. That's why CWT used a relaxed fan profile and made the BF450G one of the quietest PSUs with active cooling. Only passive PSUs without coil whine issues can offer even quieter operation.
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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.