Test setup

Regarding the power supply tests we refer to 80Plus.org. The guys over there do the certification of the power supplies. Behind 80Plus.org there is a company called Ecova Plug Load Solutions, which own professional testing equiment for internal power supplies, such as a Chroma 6000 ATE. With the system power supplies can be tested under standard conditions, which means that at the end of the day one gets comparable data.

Generally speaking the there are three different tests. First of all Plug Load Solutions goes for 20 percent load on the power supply. At this point they measure input and output power and calculate the efficiency as a result. Furthermore they monitor the different voltages - +12V, -12V, 3.3V, 5V and 5Vsb. With these values taken one can see whether the power supply complies with a five or a ten percent deviation standard. After that they do also keep an eye on power factor correction, concerning which 1 is the ideal value.

In case somebody is looking for further information on how 80Plus.org conducts it tests, then we can recommend the following PDF.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 6 - Performance 50 % load
Page 2 - Preview	Page 7 - Performance 100 % load
Page 3 - Delivery/Specs	Page 8 - Average Values
Page 4 - Test setup	Page 9 - Software
Page 5 - Performance 20 % load	Page 10 - Conclusion

Discuss this article in our forums.