Results

From these results, the power supply was at about 40% load (400W peak, 1000W unit) for the load readings, and about 27% load for the idle readings.

The Absolutes active PFC manages to score the highest marks for the PF value. This is basically a reading of how efficient the PSU is at turning AC mains voltage into DC for your PC. You can read more about it here.

However, while the PF value is the best, the efficiency compared to the other two units isn’t particularly great. While the gap may only be a couple of watts, it is still the worst out of the three, with its idle watt reading being 3 above the Ensemble, and the load reading being, again, 3W above the Ensemble. The worst part is that the unit pulls 3W in standby when it’s not doing anything, which is 1W above the other two units. All of this equates to a slightly higher ownership cost, although it’s a matter of £2 for a year’s idle usage.

As you can see from the above results, none of the power supplies tested broke the 5% tolerance levels that the ATX specs set out. The Jeantech Absolute’s 5v rail is very close to the ideal, and only varies by .01v between idle and load, the 3.3v rail isn’t such a success and sits up to .11v above the ideal. The 12v rail is the highest out of the three units, and its variation sits between the two other PSU’s.

While the fans in the Absolute are quiet, the unit suffers from a much more annoying problem. For whatever reason, the unit makes an electrical whirring sound when under load, and this varies depending on the exact load your PC pulls. This results in an electrical hum that varies in pitch depending on the 3D scene you see. If you run ATItool’s 3D view, you get an undulating buzz which gets quite annoying after a while.

This won’t be as noticeable when installed in a case, but it should still be noted.