New 80plus website categories

[tomoyo]

I just noticed something interesting on the 80plus website, new specific categories for higher efficiency psus.
http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/manu_psu.htm

Here's a breakdown based on website:
Bronze is 82% min at 20/100, 85% min at 50%
Silver is 85% min at 20/100, 88% min at 50%
Gold is 87% min at 20/100, 90% min at 50%

Those are pretty insane numbers, I think it certainly gives something to shoot for in the future. Only bronze seems reasonable for any psu that is moderate to high power. I suspect those Enermax "82" psus are going to be bronze level. I'd figure only the picopsu could really challenge for a gold currently.

 

[aussiestilgar]

I assume they're talking about 120v and not 240v.

 

[Zap]

Woot! I'm all for more efficient PSUs. It says something about checking back on 2/29... is that when they're going to list which PSUs got which level?

 

[tomoyo]

What a bunch of teases, now the mention of those levels is gone. I hope it really does mean they'll give out levels on 2/29 though!

 

[tomoyo]

Looks like they updated as promised with new rankings for psus. Interesting that very fun hit the 82% tier...and only ONE hits the 85% tier. I wonder what the heck NXP's design is now.
That's a 270W psu I'd like to have.
Also it's very interesting to see none of Seasonic's psus hit the 82% mark yet. Not that the small difference matters.

 

[Zap]

The NXP ones were called "reference design." What's with that? Pre-production? Engineering samples? Proof of concept?

Kind of interesting. The higher ratings have a peak efficiency at 50% output (my assumption).

Antec's certs show EA-430D and EA-500D. I wonder if those are the "new" ones, same OEM as the upcoming EarthWatts 650, Delta. Hmmm, I thought the Neo Power series was 80+ material but don't see them there.

Dell and HP have a bunch in there.

FSP has the most at 39, Seasonic second most at 34.

 

[Rubycon]

Waiting for 90+.

 

[tomoyo]

Originally posted by: Zap
The NXP ones were called "reference design." What's with that? Pre-production? Engineering samples? Proof of concept?

Kind of interesting. The higher ratings have a peak efficiency at 50% output (my assumption).

Antec's certs show EA-430D and EA-500D. I wonder if those are the "new" ones, same OEM as the upcoming EarthWatts 650, Delta. Hmmm, I thought the Neo Power series was 80+ material but don't see them there.

Dell and HP have a bunch in there.

FSP has the most at 39, Seasonic second most at 34.

I'm really wondering about the design of the NXP models, do they use expensive parts that wouldn't be something put into production? And also does the design scale to higher wattages than 270?

I'm pretty certain the new antecs are the delta models. Hopefully they are as good as the seasonics, otherwise we'll be losing our low cost leader.

From what I've seen, the NeoPower/Neohe series was pretty close to 80, but not quite in all circumstances. Either way, getting certified does cost money and some companies won't bother with all their models.

FSP does look like the efficiency champs currently, unfortunately their reputation for quality doesn't match up with that

And Ruby, the top category does include 90+ at 50%

 

[Mark R]

Originally posted by: Zap
The NXP ones were called "reference design." What's with that? Pre-production? Engineering samples? Proof of concept?

Kind of interesting. The higher ratings have a peak efficiency at 50% output (my assumption).

NXP is a company that makes PSU control chips. Like most chip manufacturers, they provide details of a 'reference design' which is a circuit that demonstrates the features of the chip, and provides a reference point from other manufacturers to develop from.

It is, essentially, a working prototype of a PC PSU based upon their controller chip.

When it comes to OEMs, those who want to be first to market, often just use the reference design unchanged. This is common practice with more complex hardware (e.g. graphics cards), where the chip manufacturer provides a 'reference design' which is duplicated exactly by many OEMs.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Waiting for 90+.

PicoPSU?

Originally posted by: tomoyo
Either way, getting certified does cost money and some companies won't bother with all their models.

That's a good point.

Originally posted by: Mark R
NXP is a company that makes PSU control chips. Like most chip manufacturers, they provide details of a 'reference design'

Thanks for the info, that clears some things up.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Waiting for 90+.

PicoPSU?

I don't think that counts since it's a DC to DC PSU and most loss occurs in the AC to DC conversion.

 

[Rubycon]

Going to be hard to have a real 90+ cat. Hitting 91% at a certain load should not count. But the way things get rated these days the CWT made TT 1,2kW should be 90+. :laugh:

Think of 350W PMPO computer speakers.