GlacialPower GP-AL650 650 Watt PSU

TESTING RESULTS & CONCLUSION

Testing Results

Wall wattage used, as measured by a Kill-a-Watt metering device, was 260W at idle and 487W at load. Rated at 650 watts delivered, that leaves a little headroom on the GP-AL650. Figuring that's on an OC'd Quad running Crossfire at the minimum 80% efficiency, the computer is pulling 389 watts from the PSU during load. At this load the PSU is rated at 86% efficiency, but we'd rather be on the conservative side. Despite the rated 26 and 21 Amp specification, on 12v1 and 12v2 we didn't run into any problems with the Crossfire setup. With a heavy duty system running virtually every extra device we could lay our hands on, we were pulling a mere 389 watts. This really shows you how much overkill the popular 1K and 1K+ power supplies are.

The current ATX 2.2 specifications allow for the following variation in voltage outputs:

• 3.3 Volt Rail:   3.135V – 3.465V
• 5 Volt Rail:      4.75V – 5.25V
• 12 Volt Rail:   11.4V – 12.6V

On the 5Vsb rail the GlacialPower Gp-AL650 was 2.4% away from the targeted 5V. At 2.4%, it's well within the recommended tolerance. The -12V rail was 5% off specs, but it's allowed a much wider tolerance than the normal rails. Most power supplies are in this range when tested. The 12v1 rail was holding the line at 1.9% and the 12v2 rail was holding at 1.6%, both well within specifications. The rails didn't fluctuate when going from a 3D application to the desktop indicating voltage regulation is pretty tight on the GP-AL650. The 5v rail was just a hair under the rated specification, but nothing to worry about. The 3.3v rail was 2.1% off and the GP-AL650 was gaining a measure of respect.

Of the three tested power supplies, the Thermaltake Toughpower 1K was the only one that was rated by the manufacturer to run under 3% variance. Despite the rating, the GlacialPower was running right up there with the Toughpower.

Power Factor

Definition found here

Power Factor and Power Factor Correction:

Power factor is expressed as a ratio and is the percentage of electricity that is being used to do useful work. For example, a power factor of 0.34 would mean only 34% of your power was being used to do useful work (This would be a highly inefficient system!). On the other hand, a perfect power factor by the computer’s PFC power supply is expressed as 1.0 (which is unity) and means that 100% of the power is being used totally efficiently. Power Factor Correction is achieved by a circuit design technique and increases a device's power factor so that it is closer to 1.0, or unity power factor.

The GlacialPower GP-AL650 did better than the Tagan did, and just slightly worse than the Toughpower. All three power supplies did really well in the Power Factor percentage test.

Intake & Exhaust Temps

The GP-AL650 looks like it's working a little harder than the other two PSU's we've tested but since it's a smaller PSU that is expected.

CONCLUSION

Recently here at Bjorn3d we've been swamped with power supply review requests. That means two things:

• There are a lot of new and exciting power supplies out there
• We've been doing some thing right with the power supply reviews

Keeping in mind price to performance ratio, the GlacialPower GP AL650 priced at $90 provides a decent bang for your buck. The amps on the 12v1 and 12v2 are a little lower than we'd expect for a PSU that is being marketed as a "Gaming Power Supply" and in our opinion should have carried at least 30 amps on both rails. That being said, we used a power splitter to run a Crossfire setup with a 4870/4850 combo and the PSU handled it.

Voltage regulation was tighter than current ATX standards and ran under 3% variance. After using and living with the GP-AL650 for about a month and testing the voltages almost every day, then more intensive testing to get the reported results, we never experienced any problems with it.

While they are new to the power supply manufacturing game, GlacialPower brought a lot of experience into the manufacturing process. And given time to mature as a company, we expect to see good things from them. With GlacialPower manufacturing their own PSU and not relying on 3rd party manufacturers, they have the freedom to produce high quality equipment and the funding to hang around long enough to do it.

Pros:

+  650 watts of clean, solid, and stable power
+  Active PFC
+  Efficiency rating > 80%
+  Price
+  Compact case dimensions
+  Dual Core/Quad Core CPU ready
+  6+2 pin PCI-E connectors
+  Good Power Regulation
+  Quiet operation

Cons:

-  12v1 only 26 Amps/12v2 only 21 Amps
-  Only The Main Power Cable Is Sleeved
-  Non-Modular

The power regulation on the GlacialPower GP-AL650 rivaled the regulation of much more expensive power supplies. At the MSRP of $90 it's hard not to like the performance. It's good to see a company provide a quality product at a reasonable price!

Final Score: 8 out of 10 and the Bjorn3D Seal of Approval.