FSP Aurum PT 1200W Power Supply Review

Hot Test Results

As we'll see in the following tables, the FSP Aurum PT 1200W has good electrical performance. FSP claims that this unit's "E-Sync" technology improves the output power quality significantly; it does work, but it does not work wonders. Our instrumentation recorded a maximum ripple of 44mV on the 12V line, which is indeed a very good figure, though it's not extraordinary by today's standards. Similarly, the voltage ripple on the 3.3V and 5V lines is 20mV and 24mV, respectively. The voltage regulation is good as well, at 2.4% for the 12V line and under 2% for the 3.3V/5V lines.

High ambient temperatures have a substantial negative impact on the electrical performance of the Aurum PT 1200W unit. The average nominal load (20-100%) efficiency drops by 1.2%, while the maximum efficiency now is 93.0% at 50% load. Apparently, the Aurum PT 1200W unit does not like high ambient temperatures much.

Even at high temperatures, the FSP Aurum PT 1200W unit refuses to spin the cooling fan very fast. The results of this are obvious: very good acoustic performance at the cost of higher internal temperatures. The secondary side of the unit gets particularly hot, reaching up to 90°C at maximum load. This explains the significant efficiency drop, as the efficiency of these components is linked to their temperature. On the other hand, the Aurum PT maintains very low noise levels for a 1200W unit in a hot environment.