A Look Inside

Before reading this page we strongly suggest to take a look at this article, which will help you understand the internal components of a PSU much better.


The unit is equipped with pretty large heatsinks to deal with the increased thermal load, which is a result of the combination of high capacity and the Bronze efficiency. The platform is rather outdated and in the secondary not even synchronous rectification is utilized for the generation of the rails. At least an independent regulation scheme is used so performance in crossload tests will be decent at worst case. To be frank, given its price, the modular design, the efficiency rating and the high capacity we didn't expect to find an expensive platform under the hood and in the end exactly this was the case.


The transient filtering stage starts at the AC receptacle with one X and two Y caps. It continues on the main PCB with one X, two Y, two CM chokes and a small MOV.


There is only one bridge rectifier since this unit is compatible only with 230VAC power grids. Its model number is GBJ1506 and it can handle up to 15A of current so it will easily cover the needs of this PSU.


In the APFC two SPW16N50C3 fets along with a boost diode help in shaping the current's waveform. The hold up cap is provided by Jun Fu (470μF, 400V) and is rated only at 85°C. A good cap here isn't so crucial as it is in the secondary side but still we would like to see a better one than this Jun Fu.


As main choppers two SPW16N50C3 are used. The combo PFC/PWM controller is housed on a vertical PCB and it is the famous CM6800, a very popular IC among Bronze (and other) efficiency PSUs.


The standby PWM controller is a TNY278PN IC.


In the secondary, passive design is used so all rails are generated by Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBRs) which have higher energy losses compared to mosfets. The +12V rail rectify four MBR4045PT SBRs while the minor rails handle two pairs of SBRs. Also the presence of three toroidal coils is an indication that indy regulation is utilized, something beneficial in cases where the loads among the rails are unbalanced.


All filtering caps in the secondary side are provided by Teapo and are rated at 105°C. Although Teapo caps are made in China, they are considered the best non-Japanese caps on the market and reliable enough for this use.


The protections IC is soldered on a vertical PCB in the secondary side. It is a SITI PS224 and supports all popular protections, except OTP.


On the front of the modular PCB two polymer caps provide some extra ripple filtering. On the rear side a plastic shield offers protection against shorts.


On the main PCB, under the +12V islands we found four shunts, indicating that this platform initially had four +12V rails. In this case a rather messy soldering job combined all +12V rails together. Overall soldering quality is average and there are some ugly solder joints in the secondary side. Also this enhanced trace path is another indication that Sirtec is the OEM of this unit. It is present in almost all of their platforms.


The cooling fan is provided by Globe Fan and its model number is RL4Z B1352512HH (12V, 0.45A). It uses ball bearings and it is powerful. Unfortunately it is noisy, too.