Tuesday, June 4th 2024
ASUS Showcases PSUs with Unique VGA Voltage Stabilizer and GaN MOSFETs
ASUS at the 2024 Computex showed off the latest revisions of its ROG Strix Platinum and ROG Thor Titanium III power supplies that pack a slew of cutting edge innovations for high-end gaming PCs. In their latest revisions, these PSUs meet the ATX 3.1 specification, and offer updated 12V-2x6 (H++) graphics card power connectors, but there's a key bit of innovation here.
Notice the purple 2-pin connector on the PSU? It is a set of sense pins that lead to the 12V-2x6 connectors, and lets the PSU get active feedback from the graphics card (rather than the motherboard) on how the voltage stability is, so it can actively hold the +12 V domain within a tight tolerance band. This mechanism lets the PSU observe voltage drops and spikes beyond the excursion tolerances of the ATX 3.1 spec. ASUS holds the patent for this innovation. Another major innovation with both these PSU lines is the use of modern GaN MOSFETs for improved switching efficiency, and compact dimensions, which vastly improves the layout of the PSU's mainboard, and serves up more room for heatsinks or airflow. ASUS is backing both these PSU lines with 10-year warranties.
Notice the purple 2-pin connector on the PSU? It is a set of sense pins that lead to the 12V-2x6 connectors, and lets the PSU get active feedback from the graphics card (rather than the motherboard) on how the voltage stability is, so it can actively hold the +12 V domain within a tight tolerance band. This mechanism lets the PSU observe voltage drops and spikes beyond the excursion tolerances of the ATX 3.1 spec. ASUS holds the patent for this innovation. Another major innovation with both these PSU lines is the use of modern GaN MOSFETs for improved switching efficiency, and compact dimensions, which vastly improves the layout of the PSU's mainboard, and serves up more room for heatsinks or airflow. ASUS is backing both these PSU lines with 10-year warranties.
19 Comments on ASUS Showcases PSUs with Unique VGA Voltage Stabilizer and GaN MOSFETs
People... That thing is an utter bullshit that is not needed and solves nothing. i2s based, slow, compromisable, prone to outside factors. There is a thing called tolerances. I would not argue, it would make sense on 3.3V rail, that nothing uses these days, but 12V? Give me a break and keep the innovation outside the PSU devices. Medical and space does not need such things, but here hey, let's put something for the PR drum. Actually internally that has been there for ages, while you debug and calibrate the platform. It is a bandaid for poor performance design.
They would improve on EMI patterns instead of this.
The monitoring feature can be novel but Corsair had been doing it with the AXi on a per cable basis since the 1200i >10 years ago.
ROG in medical... well... it is a deathwish for sure. But the platform they use can be used thou. Delta, Seasonics etc do medical grade PSU's also, but contrary they are as dumb and bulletproof they can be. Not sure what the OEM is for this one really.
Less noise, more efficient, less EMI, less ripple, less size.... not more size, more loud, more cables, more problems.
www.techpowerup.com/review/corsair-ax1600i/
Unsurpassed since 2018, just like the AX1500i remained unsurpassed since its launch all those years ago and is still one of the top 5 performers even today.
I'm bothered by the fact that a patent can be granted for plain voltage sensing. That would have been an ingenious invention and advanced use of technology ... in 1924.
But why did you say I2S based? Isn't it analog?
They competed on the same hardware field for many moons. Yes. Yet Asus has never approached EVGAs level of quality CS. In fact it seems they have done the exact opposite of filling any customer support/service or hardware voids. After the GN story people are a lot less likely to take a chance with Asus from what I'm seeing and hearing. There are always other premium options.
Cables have some resistance, and when you pass current through them, they have a voltage drop. This causes the load to "Receive" less voltage than what is actually set on the power supply.
Sense wires measure the voltage at the load (sense wires pass very little current so they don't suffer that much voltage drop), and the PSU corrects the voltage based on the feedback they get.
Then PCIe sense0 and sense1 wires that historically are used are just terminator/jumper pins that matters for the end device it feeds, the AIC board. Has both pins on ground, we can use full power, has only one, please half a pint of beer, no pins, means the PCIe connector is not populated. In general the 12V-2x6 does the same, but using the small pins, making it less logic even more considering the current and return path needs, if it ain't needed, then we omit it, if you need it, then additional ground return path serves just as sense pins, that they are not...the ASUS connecor resides besides the PCIe supply pin, making it more weird and misleading.
Okay, now the real crap. In benchmark PSU world there sense pin has different meaning, and it is not a binary presence indicator as described before. It is connected to simple error opamp. Like we don't have better names, but some monkeys did mix two things up. 4T method should be used for normal results, but not sure about here, it is a simple one wire in the original 3.3V sense, made on the budget(it works slogan). On +12V it doesn't make a sense for cable lengths for about a foot or two. It is not needed. Within specs especially for power supplies at such power capabilities, those sense pins were for historically anemic power supplies.
If you mess up, you can induce wrong readings with this being analog... or that's the idea... adding a pot and rising voltages to all rails? People had made bench supplies in old days in similar fashion.
Third option is like in laptop world, where middle pin is also called sense and is usually a voltage divider in order for laptop to distinct adapter model and power, to not to burn the sucker. But Dell uses one Wire protocol in some models and the sense pin is digital. Same goes for modern PD capable chargers now.
So what is this thing really? It does not make SENSE lol. Where it really connects on the other end, it should not be exposed in reality. So I supposed it communicates with ASUS EC, they like to do like all the time with their products.
If it is just a random idea of additional external compensation outside ATX specs, it should die, it is a hazard. They even named it in common PSU series name, known for digital adjustment and they can get sued for that.