ocaholic - PSUs > Chieftec A80 CTG-500-80P Review

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Preview

Page 2 - Preview

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Delivery and Specifications

Delivery
Cable	Length
1 x ATX 20+4 pin	40 cm
1 x EPS/ATX 12V 8 & 4+4 pin	55 cm
2 x PCI-E 6+2 pin	55 cm
2 x 3 SATA	40, 55, 70 cm
1 x 3 Molex / 1 x Floppy	40, 55, 70, 85 cm

The delivery of the A80 CTG-500-80P is adequate and in line with its pricing. We recommend to not attach more than one mid-range GPU as well as the usual peripherals to this power supply.

With this power supply Chieftec is offering a dual rail design regarding 12V. In total you get 40A. Each rail supports up to 20A and therefore we recommend to not combine this unit with a graphics card, which is in a category above mid-range. Something else you might notice is that the 24 pin power cable for example measures 400 millimeter, which is actually rather short.

Specifications (according to Chieftec)
Voltage	Current	Power
+ 3.3 V	24 A	120 Watt	500 Watt (Total)
+ 5.0 V	20 A	120 Watt
+ 12 V1	20 A	400 Watt
+ 12 V2	20 A	400 Watt
- 12 V	0.3 A	3.6 Watt
+ 5 Vsb	2.5 A	12.5 Watt

Since this power supply has been built with the European market in mind, it only supports 230V. This explains why there is no certificate from 80Plus. Back in the days, when this power supply was launched, 80Plus.org only tested power supplies with 115V and therefore they simple didn't test/certify this unit. According to the manufacturer efficiency of this PSU is >85% and therefore it can be compared to the 80Plus Bronze certificate.

At this point the feature list:

85%
OVP, UVP, OCP, SCP, OPP
Dimensions (W x H x D): 150 mm x 86 mm x 140 mm
120 millimeter fan
Warranty: 2 Years
Price: ~65 CHF / ~47 Euro

Page 3 - Delivery / Specs

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Result Analysis and Discussion

Efficiency
Load	Pin(W)	Pout(W)	Efficiency
20 %	125	103	82.53 %
50 %	301	258	85.62 %
100 %	613	514	83.85 %

The 80Plus Bronze certification requirements (82% - 85% - 82%) are surpassed especially at 100% Load.

Output Stability
Load	Rail	Loading(A)	Output(V)
20 %	3.3V	3.0	3.3
	5V	3.0	5.2
	12V	6.0	12.3

50 %	3.3V	7.5	3.3
	5V	7.5	5.1
	12V	15.0	12.3

100 %	3.3V	15.0	3.3
	5V	15.0	5.1
	12V	30.2	12.4

Noise

Noise
Load
20 %	Silent
50 %	well audible

If we listen closer with this power supply, this unit is silent at 20 percent load. The CTG-500-80P uses a fan from Globe Fan that is based on a sleeve bearing and overall this fan is rather cheap. When demanding 50 percent load from this unit, the noise level can be described as audible and when there is 100 percent load, the unit is well audible.

Page 4 - Result Analysis and Discussion

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Conclusion

With the CTG-500-80P Chieftec released a product mainly for the European market. As a fact this unit is only compatible with 230V outlets, which is also the reason why there is no 80Plus rating for this power supply so far. According to the manufacturer the efficiency of this unit is up to >85%. Checking our test results we found this value was surpassed at 50 percent load and overall the CTG-500-80P would comply with the 80Plus Bronze guidelines.
A closer look on the inside of this unit quickly show what Chieftec only charges 47 Euro for this power supply. There is a very sparsely populated PCB and the capacitors used for example are all from China. Therefore this PSU is definitely an entry level product and its not meant to be put into powerful builds. The CTG-500-80P makes for example sense in cost optimized systems and especially assemblers might want to have a look at this unit. Something we've been mentioning in every review on Chieftec power supplies is the fact that the company only provides two years warranty. We would love to see a bolder reliability statement from Chieftec and therefore providing longer warranty.

The Chieftec A80 CTG-500-80P receives 3.5 out of 5 stars.