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Until recently, like the last couple of years or so power supplies hadn't changed much. They all looked the same, were 350W or less and no one paid much attention to them. There are two groups that have influenced changing not only the looks of power supplies but the performance as well. Modders brought all of the hidden internals of a computer out in the open so naturally manufacturers followed suite by making those internals more attractive. Overclockers and enthusiasts pushed the hardware to it's limits, forcing the manufacturers to create better more stable hardware.
The hard part is finding a PSU that has a healthy balance of both bling performance. My general rule of thumb is, the tackier the PSU looks the lower quality it is. This may not be 100% true, but I feel it's pretty close. Unfortunately fans that change colors, blinking LED lights and windows sell. A power supply is one of the most important pieces of hardware in a PC, that PSU you found for $39.95 that has fans that change into 5 different colors and flashing LEDS might look good in your case but is it going to provide enough stable, clean power to that new motherboard, RAM and Vid card you just dumped three weeks pay into.
The SinTek 600SLI is the PSU we have today. SinTek probably isn't a familiar name to most of us, I certainly hadn't heard of them before given the opportunity to do this review. SinTek may be new, but behind the name they have 5 years experience in R&D as well as manufacturing of OEM power supplies.
SinTek 600SLI
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Input Voltage: AC Input 100V-240V ±10%
Frequency: 60Hz
In Rush Current: 40A @ 110V, 80A @ 220V
Regulation: +/- 5% on all Voltage Lines
MTBF: 100,000Hours
Warranty: 5 Year Limited Warranty
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Model
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DC Output
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+3.3V
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+5V
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+12V
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-5V
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-12V
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+5Vsb
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SIN-600-SLI
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Max Output Current
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30A
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40A
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34A
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0.6A
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0.6A
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2A
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Max Combined Wattage
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100W
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200W
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408W
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3W
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7.2W
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10W
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708W (Peak)
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20.2W
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600W (Continuous Wattage @ 41C)
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One thing You might notice is this PSU doesn't have multiple 12V rails. In a lot of cases dual 12V rails is a marketing term, and even though a PSU may have dual 12V rails it might actually decrease performance rather than increase. The reason for this is some manufacturers don't tell you the combined 12V output. Simply adding the two rails together isn't accurate since they are limited by the transformers output capacity. If you have a transformer that is limited to 30A with each rail having as circuit capable of 18A, 18 + 18 = 36 so if one rail is using 18A that leaves 12A for the second rail when you have a 30A transformer.
On the other hand you can end up with a waste of power, for example same set up with a 30A transformer and dual rails capable of 18A each. Lets say rail one is using 5A you have 13A of wasted reserve power because even though rail one is only using 5A, rail to two is only capable of using 18A.
So, what am I getting at here? don't assume a PSU with dual rails is automatically better than one with a single rail. A quality single rail PSU will always outperform a sub par dual rail PSU.
Anyway, back on track here. The SinTek 600 SLI is loaded with features, including over/undervoltage protection, over temp protection, over load protection, short circuit protection as well as a couple of other features I have never seen on a PSU before like built in temp LED to monitor cooling performance of the adjustable 80mm and 120mm fan and independent control of the +3.3V and 12V rails via knobs that can adjust the voltage output +/- 5%.
Packaging:
Packaging is pretty detailed, giving you a lot of info on the box about the features and specifications of the unit. The PSU is well packed in foam to ensure it survives any shipping abuse it may receive while traveling across the country to your doorstep.
What's included:
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QTY
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PART NAME
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LENGTH
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DESCRIPTION
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x1
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SinTek 600SLI
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600W of High Wattage, 5 Year Limited Warranty
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x1
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Manual
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12 pgs
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Includes installation, return policy, and warranty info
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x1
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Molex Cable
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47cm (18" Inch)
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Cable includes x3 Molex PLUS x1 Floppy, Nylon Sleeved.
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x1
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Molex Cable
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47cm (18" Inch)
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Cable includes x3 Molex, Nylon Sleeved.
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x2
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Serial ATA (SATA)
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47cm (18" Inch)
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Each cable includes x3 SATA, Nylon Sleeved.
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x2
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PCI Express (PCIE)
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47cm (18" Inch)
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2 cables, 1 PCI-E connection on each, Nylon Sleeved.
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x1
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24/20 BTX/ATX
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47cm (18" Inch)
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24pin BTX Power or automatically adapts itself to 20pin ATX Power, Nylon Sleeved (No Added Conversion Adapter Needed)
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x1
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4pin CPU
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47cm (18" Inch)
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Includes 4pin CPU power for INTEL based systems, Nylon Sleeved
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All of the cable s are pre nylon sleeved with shrink wrapped ends, sleeving and shrink-wrapping cables is a small touch that greatly improves the appeal of a PSU in my eyes, plus on top of that it is a lot easier to manage sleeved wires than unsleeved.
As you probably noticed from the pictures above this PSU is modular, meaning you can remove any unneeded cables simply by unplugging them. This is a HUGE benefit to those of us that like to try and keep cables tucked out of the way and the interior of our cases looking somewhat clean and wire free.
And once again the pictures above lead me to the next feature, one I haven't seen on a PSU before and that is the knobs for controlling voltage output to memory and PCI express. Adjustment of these knobs provides +/- 5% on the 3.3V and 12V rails. Another unique feature of this unit is the LED screen built into the side of the PSU that allows you to monitor the temperatures of the PSU. This lets you keep an eye on how well the adjustable speed fans (adjustable via a knob on the rear of the unit) are performing. If your case has a side window the LED is plenty big enough to see the display through the side panel window.
Cooling of the SinTek 600 SLI is provided by two fans, an 80mm fan at the rear of the unit and a 120mm fan on the bottom. The lower half of each side has a mesh grill that also helps with airflow.
Installation, voltage adjustment and temp LED.
Installation is pretty straight forward, in fact it's a bit easier if you don't need all of the included cables, my set up I used both of the molex leads and one of the SATA leads. Once it was all installed and hooked up I was eager to test out the voltage adjustment and see what kind of display the LED provided.
Using a multi meter I tested the 3.3V and 12V rails, on the 3.3V rail I was able to adjust from 3.28 to 3.44V on the 12V rail I could adjust between 11.93 to 12.13V, both well within the standard +/- 5% tolerance and an excellent range for fine tuning your voltage output. The temp LED displayed large easy to read numbers in Celsius, with the fans turned to their lowest setting they were almost completely silent and the PSU maintained a temp of 44C at idle, putting a load on the system (playing BF2 for an hour) saw temps rise to the upper 50's. Cranking up the fan speed quickly brought temps back down to the upper 40's but at the cost of a pretty significant increase in noise level. If your rig is air cooled you may not notice the increased noise from the PSU fan on high, but if your system is water cooled like my test rig is you will definitely notice the noise. The pics below show the fan at high speed under idle, and light load.
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I'm undecided on the temp LED, on one hand it is an excellent idea and gives you additional info about your PCs performance. On the other hand I see temps over 50 on anything and I want to cool it down. I'm sure the need to cool it further is all in my head, as I have had many other PSUs that DIDN'T have temp LEDs and they ran just fine without me fretting over cooling.
Testing:
The test system for this review consists of, Intel P4 CPU 3.40GHz (LGA775), Foxconn NF4SLI7AA-8EKRS2, 2 X 512MB Kingston HyperX, HIS X800XL, 2 x WD 74GB SATA Raptors, 2 x Maxtor 40GB IDE, ASUS DLDVD/RW, Lite On DVD ROM.
Voltage output was recorded with a digital multimeter at 5 different points: boot, Windows start up (when loading screen appears), Idle, Load and shut down. To achieve a full load on the system Folding @ Home and Prime95 were run while converting a couple of home movies to DVD format. Testing at 5 different points should give a better Idea of the stability of this power supply since most fluctuations would occur when switching between different states. For the 12V and 3.3V rails I fine tuned each one to get them to exact specifications before each test.
12V
| Post |
12.01 |
| Windows Start Up |
12.03 |
| Idle |
12.00 |
| Load |
12.04 |
| Shutdown |
12.01 |
This is without a doubt the most stable 12V rail I have ever seen. An increase of only .04V between idle and load, well within spec and providing rock solid stability.
5V
| Post |
5.11 |
| Windows Start Up |
5.17 |
| Idle |
5.17 |
| Load |
5.19 |
| Shutdown |
5.12 |
The 5V rail was just a tad over 5V but still well within spec, maximum voltage on the 5V rail according to ATX specifications is 5.25V
3.3V
| Post |
3.30 |
| Windows Start Up |
3.34 |
| Idle |
3.36 |
| Load |
3.39 |
| Shutdown |
3.34 |
Again, right on the money with the 3.3V rail, very solid performance across the board under all conditions. For a PSU made by a company that up until the time of this review I had never heard of this is one hell of a performance PSU.
Final Thought:
What can I say, the SinTek 600 SLI is simply a work horse. In the week or so I have been using it I have thrown everything I could at it and it chewed it up and spit it back out without even breaking a sweat. I wasn't able to test it in SLI mode but there is not a doubt in my mind it would have came through with flying colors. Sure there are cheaper PSUs available, but why drive a Yugo when you can drive a Ferrari. The SinTek 600 SLI is not only packed with features it has the performance to match.
Pros: Modular, Temp LED, Fan control, Independent voltage adjustment of 12V and 3.3V rails, rock solid performance.
Cons: At high speed fans are very loud, expensive.
Bottom Line: It all comes down to performance, and if you have gone out and spent a boatload of cash on your mobo, CPU, ram and video card you're obviously looking for performance so why would you put a budget PSU in a performance rig? Obviously this PSU is not for everyone, and honestly for the average PC user it would be overkill, but, if you're a performance enthusiast and only the best will do, you should definitely take a look at SinTek. Their slogan is "America's Leading Power Supply Manufacturer" and I think they mean business.
Hit us up in the Forums if you have any questions.
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