Testing

To test the Spire Rocketeer, I installed the power supply into various systems, but used an Athlon 64 rig as it gave me the most accurate motherboard readings.

AMD 64 3500+
DFI SLI-DR motherboard
1gb OCZ PC4000 RAM
XFX PCX 6600

For both tests, idle and load, the ambient temperature was 21C however the power supply became noticeably hotter after the full load segment of the testing. The results were monitored using SpeedFan and they were double checked with a digital multimeter connected to an unused molex.

To test full load, the power supply was hooked up to the system with Stress Prime
running on the CPU (along with folding@home), 3Dmark06 running, music playing at full volume, and all the fans were at maximum. There was also file transfer over the network to the hard disc.

This was carried out for 30 minutes after startup. The results are below:

3.3v rail - Load

5v rail - Load

12v rail - Load

Once this was completed, the idle results were taken by restarting the computer, closing down everything that was running and letting it stand for 30 minutes.

3.3v rail - Idle

5v rail - Idle

12v rail - Idle

As you can see, the 5v rail seems to be varying a whole lot more than you would like. However, SpeedFan is graphing very small changes in the power supplies output. Idling, the Rocketeer changes between 5.00v and 4.95v. As you can see, that is a VERY small difference in voltage even though the graph looks horrendous. The 5v rail when under load actually is more stable, varying less - between 5.00v and 4.957v.

The 3.3v rail sits at 3.33v during idle, varying by a small amount sporadically. Overall, during idle the 3.3v rail is good and a solid performer. The story changes when under load. The rail changes dramatically between 3.34v and 3.26v. Whilst this band of error is very small – only a difference of 0.08v – the graph looks very messy and the rail isn’t that stable, however its better than most other power supplies that we have tested.

The 12v rail is fantastic in idle, varying between 11.98v and 12.02v, although it mainly sits at 12.02v. This is a great level to stay at and this graph would please many overclockers who need a stable power supply to get the best overclocks. When looking at the load graph, the accolades barely stop. The rail varies a lot, but only between 11.90v and 11.98v. This is hardly different from the idle tests.

With all of the systems that I tested this power supply with, the rails were stable, even with a dual x1900 setup. These systems were not tested as SpeedFan would return wildly inaccurate rails (14v+ etc.) and the multimeter wouldn’t have been an effective method of graphing the power supplies abilities.

As the Rocketeer is cooled simply by one 120mm fan, there is little noise polution caused by this unit. The fan doesn't appear to change its speed depending on the temperature. Instead, its set at a level that creates little noise whilst providing enough cooling for the PSU to opperate safely.