Still can not find what you are looking for? Then please let us know.
What means Formfactor?
What is the difference between continious and maximum power?
What means efficiency?
What does PFC stand for?
What means Power Good Signal?
What means Hold Up Time?
What does MTBF stand for?
What does all these things mean behind the protection?
What does Operation Temperature mean?
What does 80PLUS mean?
What does RoHS mean?
What is SLI?
Is it possible to run Crossfire with a SLI Certified PSU?
How many Watt do I need for my system?
What means Formfactor? The form factor of the power supply refers to its general shape and dimensions. The form factor of the power supply must match that of the case that it is supposed to go into, and the motherboard it is to power. The formfactor is set by Intel.
For more information you can check formfactors.org.
Top What is the difference between continious and maximum power? The continious power is the actual power that the power supply is build for.
The PSU can provide this power 24/7 as long as it "lives".
The maximum power, aslo called peak power, is the power then the PSU can hold up for a couple of seconds.
For example, the Cooler Master Real Power M1000 has a continious power of 1000W and can reach 1200W for a couple of seconds.
Cheaper PSU's are mostly indicated with maximum power.
With low quality PSU's this can even be only a couple of micro seconds.
Top What means efficiency?
The efficiency is the "left over" between input and output.
When a system needs 300W then that is what is called the output.
If a PSU has an efficiency of 80% there is a lost of 20% between the output and input. The formula is as following: Output / Intput = Efficiency
So in this case Input = Output / Efficiency = 300W / 80% = 375W.
So we can come to the conclusion that 75W is lost.
The lower the efficiency is, the bigger the lost, because 300W / 70% = 429W!
Below calculator shows the difference between a PSU with 80% and 70% efficiency.
Top What does PFC stand for?
PFC stands for Power Factor Correction. To say it simple and without going into the details, the PFC makes the lost of the PSU lower.
There are two diffrent PFCs, Passive PFC and Active PFC.
A Passive PFC makes a PSU more efficient by using a capacitor. Thats also why people use to say the heavier a PSU is the better the quality, because a good capacitor is bigger so weighs more. The other type of PFC is called active PFC.
These PSU makes use of an electronic sercuit instead of a capacitor.
A PSU with a passive PFC can reach a maximum of 70% efficiency and a PSU with an active PFC should be able to reach a maximum of 95%. But till now its still difficult to reach 80%. See also the topic: What means efficiency?
Top What means Power Good Signal?
When the power supply first starts up, it takes some time to get on full strength. Before this time, if the computer were allowed to try to boot up, strange results could occur since the power might not be at the right voltage. It can take 100 to 500 ms for the power to stabilize, and this is an eternity to a processor that can run half a billion instructions per second! To prevent the computer from starting up toe, tarly he power supply puts out a signal to the motherboard called "Power Good" after it completes its internal tests and determines that the power is ready for use. Until this signal is sent, the motherboard will refuse to start up the computer.
Top What means Hold Up Time? The hold-up time is the amount of time that the system can continue to run without resetting or rebooting during a power interruption.
Top What does MTBF stand for? MTBF stands for Mean Time Between Failures. This is the time that a manufacture sets for its components before showing male function. For the Cooler Master PSU this is a minimum of 100.000 hours, so thats 11 years!
Top What does all these things mean behind the protection?
Cooler Master power supplies come with all kinds of protection. Those are also mentioned in the specifications. But what do all this OVP,OCP, OTP and so on mean?
OVP : Over Voltage Protecion
OCP: Over Current Protection
OTP: Over Temperature Protection
OLP: Over Load Protection
Short: Shortcut Protection
Top What does Operation Temperature mean? The minimum and maximum acceptable ambient temperature range for the power supply while it is operating. (Ambient temperature means that of the room in which the power supply is functioning, not the temperature inside the power supply itself.) A typical range might be 0º C to 50º C. Operating the power supply outside this temperature range could potentially lead to damage.
Top What does 80PLUS mean?
80 PLUS does not mean 80% efficiency. Its an organisation that test if a PSU has an efficiency of 80% or more. More information can be found on 80plus.org
 | You can recognise an 80PlusCertifiied PSU by this logo |
Top What does RoHS mean?
RoHS stands for "the Restriction of the use Of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment". This is a EU law since 2005.
This means that the lead used in the solding of PSU´s has to be restricted.
Cooler Master takes care to live up to this law.
 | Only a PSU that follows the RoHS rules can carry this logo |
Top What is SLI? SLI is a technology developed by NVIDIA and stands for Scalable Link Interface. This is a technology of running to graphic cards side by side and sharing its power. More can be found on the NVIDIA SLI Zone.
 | Only an SLI certified PSU is allowed to carry this logo |
Top Is it possible to run Crossfire with a SLI Certified PSU? Yes it is. Crossfire is a simular technology as SLI.
Check <a href="http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp" target="_blank">this website</a> to see how many Watt is required.
Top How many Watt do I need for my system?
You can check http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp to see what PSU suites best for your system. But its also wise to keep the efficiency in mind, a PSU runs at its maximum efficiency when its underaround 50% loading.
Top
© Cooler Master Europe BV 2008 - www.coolermaster.com