Real World Testing

So, what do these controlled results mean in a real world environment? To show this we take two steps. The first is to build a system which is appropriate to the PSU's target market. In the case of the MWP Series we assembled the following components:

Intel Core i7-3770K CPU
Corsair H100 Liquid CPU Cooler
GIGABYTE G1.Sniper M3 Motherboard
3x 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR-1600 Memory
1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
1x OCZ Vertex 3 MaxIOPS SSD
2x WD VelociRaptor SATA Drives
Corsair 600T Case
Sony BDU-X10S Blu-Ray Drive

This creates the basis for an enthusiast system with significant power use. Added to this we have 2x20cm case fans and various USB devices (keyboard, mouse, wireless-n) which draw additional current.

With the system set-up we then test noise, exhaust temperature and min/max power use on the 600w sample, a current generation PSU and a similar model from 12-18 months ago in real world use.

	Noise	Exhaust Temp	Minimum Power	Maximum Power
Sharkoon WPM 600w Idle	31dBA	32°C	101w	-
Sharkoon WPM 600wLoad	38dBA	45°C	-	305w
Hiper 880W Idle	39dBA	33°C	103w	-
Hiper 880WLoad	42dBA	45°C	-	310w

Using the latest Ivy Bridge CPU from Intel and GTX 680 from NVIDIA there were no stability issues with the Sharkoon WPM 600w. It offered stable performance and an improvement over an older, higher wattage model.