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Glacial Power GP AL650A 650 Watt PSU
Introduction:
GlacialPower is a company not many people have heard of. Based out of Taipei, the company is barely two years old, but the team members have an average twelve years experience in designing power supplies for companies like ASUS, Cisco, Dell, IBM, Samsung, and more. From their website:
"The current SMPS [Switched-Mode Power Supplies] market has been flooded by a number of products which can not deliver the due performance to meet their specifications or their specifications workable under special conditions. GlacialPower will use solid design to deliver quality products that possess the features of innovation and usability for customers."
So from the start, it's obvious what these people are about—solid, no-frills power supplies that get the job done.
Some Additional Reviews of GlacialTech Products:
Today, we'll be taking a look at their latest offering, the GP AL650A. Can this PSU pull through, or will it fall behind? Let's find out.
Features:
First, let's have a look at what GlacialPower has to say about this PSU:
| Feature | What It Means |
|---|---|
| ATX12V Version 2.2 | Compliance with the latest ATX specification helps to make sure you have the right connectors and voltages going to the right places. |
| Design with active PFC function | Active Power Factor Correction increases the efficiency of the PSU, meaning that more of those 650 watts get converted into useful energy for your system. It's also required by law in many countries, as well as for 80Plus certification. |
| Dual +12V rails and +5Vsb capability 15 W | High-power CPUs and energy-hungry video cards depend on the 12V rail for power, so having two 12V rails improves stability and peak load capacity. Hard drive and optical drive motors draw their power from the 5V rail, so giving that rail proper support is essential to drive performance. |
| Full output power from 0°C to 50°C | PSU efficiency drops as temperatures rise, so running a hot system may have negative effects on its ability to draw power. Many PSU manufacturers cheat by listing specifications at an operating temperature of 25°-30°C—barely above room temperature! Glacial Power is claiming full efficiency at 50°C, which is about normal for an average gaming rig. |
| Full protection features of SCP, OVP, OCP, OPP, OTP | I'll confess, most of this is an unintelligible alphabet soup. OVP, Overvoltage Protection is voltage regulation, meaning that it tries to smooth out voltage spikes and dips. OCP, Overcurrent Protection, is a fancy term for surge-suppression. Definitely a good thing to have, though a smart user is going to have a surge protector or UPS plugged in between the power supply and the wall outlet. |
| Power efficiency meet Energy Star 80 plus program criterion | 80Plus is a rigorous industry standard for power supplies. To meet it, a power supply has to deliver at least 80% of the AC power it draws from the wall as useable DC current for your components. PSUs that meet this standard waste less wall current as heat, which lowers the overall system temperature as well. |
| Fan speed control and delay shut down to extend components life time | Only spinning the cooling fan as fast as necessary cuts down on system noise. Delayed fan shutdown means that if the system is too hot, the fan will keep spinning after system shutdown until the components have cooled to a safe temperature. Net effect: your hardware lasts longer even at high loads. |
| Fan switch off (0 dBA) at low load and selectable between 8cm and 12cm | Turning off the cooling fan when not needed cuts system noise even further. I presume "selectable between 8cm and 12cm" means there's a model with an 80mm fan instead of the 120mm fan installed in this model. |
| RoHS compliance and 2 yesr warranty | The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive was put forth by the EU in 2003 to offset the large amounts of toxic waste generated by discarded electronics and computer parts. RoHS compliance means this power supply was made without large amounts of Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and other hazardous substances. Yes to smooth power, no to three-headed babies! Typos aside, a 2 year warranty is definitely nice to have on a component as critical as this. |
| Manufactured with high reliability and in strict processes | Translation: We made it to last, and we're putting out as few duds as we can. |
Specifications:
For those of you who love staring at spec sheets, here's a few to keep you entertained. Click the thumbnails for full-size images.
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