Testing & Methodology
Test System
Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K 4.6Ghz
Motherboard: MSI Z77 Mpower
Memory: Kingston HyperX Beast DDR3-2400 16GB
Storage: Kingston HyperX SSD 120GB, WD Black 2TB (FZEX)
PSU: Seasonic Platinum-1000
Cooling: Custom loop (XSPC Raystorm block, XSPC D5 Dual Bayres (set to medium), BlackIce Stealth GT 240 rad)
VGA: ASUS ROG Radeon R9 290X Matrix Platinum, MSI R9 290X GAMING 4G, GIGABYTE GeForce GTX780 Ti Windforce OC
This is a real-world test scenario where we will test for the following criteria:
- Capacity
- Stability
- Endurance
The test PSU must operate and meet its advertised capacity while maintaining voltage stability within allowable margins as specified by the 80 PLUS standard testing protocol. The test PSU must also operate within allowable margins under normal and heightened ambient temperatures.
Method summary:
- The PSU is installed inside our system, airflow and ambient temps are maintained within controlled levels for load and voltage reads. Voltage read-outs via motherboard sensors are also provided for relative comparison.
- The system is loaded in steps with Prime95 (In-place Large FFT) and Kombustor (GPU Burn-in – Torus, 1080p, MSAAx8). (Refer to test system setup for components used:
- Idle Load: System left in Windows desktop to idle.
- 50-60%: Prime95 + R9 290X Crossfire Burn-in Load
- 80-100%: R9 290X, R9 290, GTX780Ti Individual GPU Burn-in Load
- GPUs are loaded individually, not in SLI/Crossfire.
- For endurance testing, the test system is put in a low airflow state and the the ambient temp raised to 50*C and the voltage readings captured.
- The system is loaded for 20 minutes before readings are taken.
- Tests are conducted at 220V
Test Results
Voltage Readings – 30*C
IDLE (140W)Â | 50% Load (610W) | 80%-100% Load (900W) | Variance |
12.15v | 12.15v | 12.13v | 0.16% |
5.05V | 5.06v | 5.06v | 0.20% |
3.37V | 3.37v | 3.35v | 0.59% |
Avg. | 0.32% |
Voltage Readings – 50*C
IDLE (140W) | 50% Load (610W) | 80%-100% Load (900W) | Variance |
12.15v | 12.13v | 12.09v | 0.49% |
5.04v | 5.04v | 5.04v | 0.00% |
3.37v | 3.36v | 3.34v | 0.89% |
Avg. | 0.46% |
14 Comments
Nice Seasonic!
Nice Seasonic!
wooooooo *drool*
epic yan. i was suppose to get that but out of stock sa distro. ended up with a RM1000 lol
oh, di mo na inantay? taas ng demand dito lalo na nung bitcoin craze
di ko na nahintay. excited na ako dun sa r9-280x ko na tatlong beses ko pina RMA lol
3 times? anong brand yan sir?
sapphire r9-280x toxic
What’s wrong sa kanya?
high failure rate sa early batches ng card. problem is not limited to sapphire but is also prevalent in other brands as well. the defective cards are producing artifacts/glitches/or whatever you like to call them right out of the box at stock settings. the exact reason is unknown but a lot of people are blaming the hynix memory used for the cards. earlier batches of the sapphire 280x toxic used hynix, succeeding batches used elpida. the problem wasnt completely fixed but the fail rate for the succeeding batches was significantly reduced. no amount of troubleshooting of any kind will fix it except for RMA. my first 2 cards were hynix, my card now is elpida.
ofcourse the newer elpida cards are slower in mining than hynix, but since i dont mine, that thing doesnt matter to me .. haha
pchub has an ongoing sale right now on the sapphire 280x toxic priced at 15k. i kept asking them what version is the vbios of these cards for sale and the memory used.. they couldnt answer me. its tempting to crossfire but without the proper info on which version they are selling, i’d rather not risk getting a defective card.
that news flew by me even though i had like 3-4 R9 280X for review. thanks for the info. I see some 280X right now going for as low as 10K on sale. They say its new but can’t say for sure. Yes, very tempted also but I’d wait out for a proper maxwell. Heck even a 750ti with SLI support would be on my target list if ever it comes out.
im not surprised it did not show during your review. i have the impression that engineering / review samples are usually stress tested first before they are sent out.
yann!!!