Fractal Design Newton R3 800w Overview

[section_title title=”Performance”]Performance

Since we don’t currently have access to an ATE load tester, a multi-meter is used to show each of the power supplies performance on the 3.3v, 5v and 12v rails.  Although we can’t do full load tests, we can provide relative information regarding variance and fluctuation of current and ripple on the rails which is integral and indicative of quality in a power supply.

To perform the above tests, the methodology will be as follows:

Test Setup

I7 4770k @ 4.5GHz

ASUS Z87 Maximus VI Gene

1 x ASUS R290X + 1 x Sapphire R290X in CF

16GB (4x4GB) Crucial Ballistix 1866MHz CL9

3 x 120GB Vertex 3 SSD

Fractal Design Newton R3 800w

Voltages will be monitored via a multi-meter and the AC power draw will be monitored via a power monitor when drew from the wall.  For the idle test, the system will be simply booted up and let to run into windows and after 5 minutes when the power draw has levelled out, the readings will be taken.

To load and apply power to the power supply, a combination of IBT and Furmark will be run to put as much strain on the power supply as possible.  After 10 minutes the readings will be taken and to ensure maximum strain, the CPU will be overclocked to 4.5GHz.  Depending on the power of the power supply, multiple graphics cards could be used in line with how comfortable I feel the power supply will cope with such load.

ATX themselves specify that a fluctuation and variable of 5% is acceptable so to number crunch it means that:

3.3V = 3.135V-3.465V is acceptable

5V = 4.75V-5.25V is acceptable

12V = 11.4V – 12.6V is acceptable.

Any readings outside of these figures will be an automatic fail.

Total idle power draw = 125w which equates to just over 15% so it should spot on in the efficiency states with such a low load.

Total loaded power draw = 798w which equates to just under 100% so there plenty of load to test the power suppliers efficiency.  The results were as follows:

Idle

3.3V = 3.319V

5V = 5.147V

12V = 11.948V

Load

3.3V = 3.311V

5V = 5.201V

12V = 12.255V

The Fractal Design Newton R3 800w performed brilliantly with its single 12v rail design.  The results are well within the ATX guidelines and seemed to perform slightly better at full load with the best result being on the 3.3v rail.  The power supply at idle was in-audible due to the semi-passive design and even at loaded, it wasn’t loud enough to shadow the 2 x 290x cards on the test bench.  Very good stuff here from Fractal Design…