Testing the Dark Power PSU
For testing the power supply we will be using our X79 system.
It is made up of the following components.
Processor: Intel Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition
Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 Pro
Video Card: Sapphire R9 280X Toxic
Memory: 16GB Kingston 10th Anniversary
Power: Corsair HX750i
Storage: 750GB SATA II Drive
Cooling: LEPA LV12
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II with 5 fans
Disclaimer: We do realize that our testing methods for power supplies are not up to the standards that we would like. Unfortunately we do not have the equipment to properly test power supplies the way that we would like. The tests below do give you a good idea of how the unit will perform, but we know they are not as accurate as we would like. All power supply manufactures are made aware of our testing methods before they send us a unit.
Multimeter Testing
Our first set of tests we will be using a Mastech MS8268 digital multimeter. Here we will measure the rails but at idle (Windows Desktop) and then at load (Heaven Benchmark looped). This will give you a good idea of power fluctuation during gaming sessions.
As you can see the rails did fluctuate a little bit. Based on these results we can see voltage regulation for the rails are as follows: 12V: 0.16%, 5V: 0.39%, 0.65%.
OCCT Testing
We will also be using OCCT to test this power supply. Initial spot checks on the 3.3V, 5V and 12V rails were 3.33V, 5.04V and 12.09V respectively. We will be running OCCT’s power supply test for 1 hour to stress test the power supply. Below are the results.
12V
5V
3.3V
According to these tests the voltage regulation on the rails are: 12V: 1.57%, 5V: 0.79%, 3V: 2.69%. I also wanted to point out that the 3.3V rail seemed not as stable as the others. Even testing with the multimeter the rail would fluctuate, at both load and idle states.
