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Gigabyte Sumo Power Silver 900 W Review 0

Gigabyte Sumo Power Silver 900 W Review

Cross Load Tests »

Test Setup

All measurements are performed utilizing ten electronic loads (seven Array 3711A, 300W each, and three Array 3710A, 150W each), which are able to deliver over 2500W of load and are controlled by a custom made software. We also use a Picoscope 3424 oscilloscope, a CHY 502 thermometer, a Fluke 175 multimeter and an Instek GPM-8212 power meter. Furthermore, in our setup we have included a wooden box, which along with a heating element is used as a Hot Box. Finally, we have at our disposal four more oscilloscopes (Rigol 1052E and VS5042, Stingray DS1M12 and a second Picoscope 3424) and a CEM DT-8852 sound level meter. In this article you will find more details about our equipment and the review methodology we follow. Finally, if the manufacturer states that the maximum operating temperature of the test unit is only 40°C then we try to stay near this temperature, otherwise we crank up the heat inside the hotbox up to 45-50°C.

Voltage Regulation Charts

The following charts show the voltage values of the main rails, recorded over a range from 60W to the maximum specified load, and the deviation (in percent) for the same load range.







5VSB Regulation Chart

The following chart shows how the 5VSB rail deals with the load we throw at it.


Efficiency Chart

In this chart you will find the efficiency of Sumo Power 900W at low loads and at loads equal to 20-100% of PSU’s maximum rated load.



Voltage Regulation and Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of voltage rails and the efficiency of Sumo Power 900W. The applied load equals to (approximately) 20%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 80% and 100%, of the maximum load that the PSU can handle. In addition, we conduct two more tests. In the first we stress the two minor rails (5V & 3.3V) with a high load, while the load at +12V is only 2A and in the second test we dial the maximum load that +12V can handle while load at minor rails is minimal.

Voltage Regulation & Efficiency Testing Data
Gigabyte GE-H900A-D1
Test12 V5 V3.3 V5VSBPower
(DC/AC)
EfficiencyTemp
(In/Out)
PF/AC
Volts
20% Load13.090A1.984A1.965A0.980A180.00W85.47%38.3°C0.933
12.101V5.038V3.359V5.100V210.60W40.1°C230.1V
40% Load26.650A4.005A3.969A1.176A360.00W89.14%39.7°C0.964
12.038V4.993V3.325V5.100V403.85W41.6°C229.7V
50% Load33.347A5.034A4.987A1.572A450.00W89.62%41.1°C0.968
12.011V4.966V3.308V5.073V502.10W43.4°C229.5V
60% Load40.067A6.041A6.016A1.971A540.00W89.72%42.0°C0.970
11.985V4.966V3.291V5.073V601.85W44.7°C229.4V
80% Load53.733A8.141A8.103A2.376A719.85W89.15%43.5°C0.974
11.938V4.913V3.258V5.047V807.50W46.5°C229.3V
100% Load67.839A9.209A9.183A4.033A900.00W88.15%45.2°C0.974
11.871V4.886V3.234V4.957V1021.00W49.3°C229.6V
Crossload 12.000A19.000A19.000A0.500A179.10W78.73%43.8°C0.937
12.135V4.841V3.173V5.127V227.50W45.9°C231.0V
Crossload 271.995A1.000A1.000A0.999A871.80W88.96%45.7°C0.974
11.923V4.984V3.325V5.100V980.00W50.2°C229.4V

Efficiency at 20% of max rated capacity is low for 80 Plus Silver standards and 230VAC input, which typically leads to 1-1.5% higher efficiency than with 115VAC input. On loads above 20%, efficiency is at good levels and with full load it's pretty high, surpassing 88%.
Voltage regulation at +12V is below 3% but still not among the best we have seen, not even close to be exact. At 5V things are better while the 3.3V rail is on the loose side. Now regarding output noise, from 40% to 100% load the small fan was operating at high RPMs so it was pretty loud. Also with full load we noticed a high pitch noise coming from the PSU, a clear indication that 900W heavily stress the unit. At CL2 test the noise was still present, although was significantly faded compared to the full load test.

Efficiency at Low Loads

In the next tests, we measure the efficiency of Sumo Power 900W at loads much lower than 20% of its maximum rated load (the lowest load that the 80 Plus Standard measures). The loads that we dial are 40, 60, 80 and 100W (for PSUs with over 500W capacity). This is important for scenarios in which a typical office PC is in idle with power saving turned on.

Efficiency at Low Loads
Gigabyte GE-H900A-D1
Test #12 V5 V3.3 V5 VSBPower
(DC/AC)
EfficiencyPF/AC
Volts
11.839A1.984A1.959A0.195A40.00W63.80%0.745
12.181V5.038V3.368V5.154V62.70W231.6V
23.399A1.984A1.959A0.389A60.00W71.69%0.812
12.181V5.038V3.368V5.154V83.70W230.3V
34.970A1.984A1.960A0.585A80.00W76.48%0.852
12.154V5.038V3.366V5.127V104.60W230.4V
46.533A1.984A1.961A0.781A100.00W79.43%0.876
12.154V5.038V3.364V5.127V125.90W230.6V

With only 40W of load efficiency is simply horrible, scoring under 65%. We are very unhappy when we see modern units register such low efficiency, even at these low loads. Thankfully with only 20W more efficiency launches above 70% and with 100W it reaches the 80% mark. However if your system idles close to 40W then this unit is definitely not a wise choice.

5VSB Efficiency

ATX spec states that the 5VSB standby supply's efficiency should be as high as possible and recommends 50% or higher efficiency with 100mA load, 60% or higher with 250mA load and 70% or higher with 1A or more load.
We will take four measurements, three at 100 / 250 / 1000 mA and one with the full load that 5VSB rail can handle.

5VSB Efficiency
Gigabyte GE-H900A-D1
Test #5VSBPower (DC/AC)EfficiencyPF/AC Volts
10.100A0.52W53.61%0.042
5.154V0.97W231.0V
20.250A1.29W69.36%0.080
5.154V1.86W230.9V
31.000A5.11W78.37%0.248
5.114V6.52W230.7V
44.000A19.86W77.58%0.508
4.966V25.60W230.7V

Contrary to efficiency at low loads, efficiency at 5VSB is quite good. Although it starts low at test#1, on all other tests it remains at high levels surpassing the respective thresholds by a large margin. Efficiency peaks near 78.5% with 1A load and even with full load (4A) it's clearly over 77%.

Power Consumption in Idle & Standby

In the table below you will find the power consumption and the voltage values of all rails (except -12V), when the PSU is in idle mode (On but without any load at its rails) and the power consumption when the PSU is in standby (without any load at 5VSB).

Idle / Standby
Gigabyte GE-H900A-D1
Mode12 V5 V3.3 V5VSBPower (AC)PF/AC Volts
Idle12.208V5.064V3.392V5.154V20.30W0.395
231.6V
Standby0.35W0.015
231.5V

The Sumo Power 900W easily meets the ErP Lot 6 2010 requirements with only 0.35W consumption at standby mode. Actually with this phantom power it will be compatible even with the future ErP Lot 6 2013 requirements.
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Feb 26th, 2025 13:55 EST change timezone

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