iStarUSA TC-750PD2 750 Watt Power Supply

iStarUSA is a new name when it comes to the power supply market, although they've existed since 1989.  They have recently begun to release power supplies in the U.S., that are supposed to offer high performance and server grade reliability. Today, we are going to look at the 750 Watt version of the High Performance series of power supplies.

Upon opening the box, you will find a power cable, and four screws.  There is no manual, probably because they assume that users who buy their products already know how to install power supplies.

Here are some of the main features and specifications from iSTARUSA's website:

The Power Supply:

The power supply features a matte silver colored exterior, common in server products.

Looking at the side of the power supply, there is an iStarUSA label with their logo on it, the model number and a condensed specification list. Note that there are four +12v rails, rails 1 to 3 supplying up to 16 Amps and rail 4 supplying up to 18 Amps, which is good for peripherals requiring lots of power.  Note that iStarUSA states that the maximum output is 735 Watts, instead of 750 Watts.

The rear (outside of case) features an 80mm to exhaust hot air from the power supply.  There is an on/off switch, and an AC Power Input. This power supply offers a full range power circuit and Active PFC, so there is no need for a 110v / 240v switch.

The Cables:

-This power supply is not modular, so all the cables exit the rear of this power supply.

This power supply features the following cables:

-A 24-pin ATX power connector.

-A 4-pin CPU ATX Power Connector

-An 8-pin EPS +12v connector

-2x 6-Pin PCI-Express connectors.

-6x Molex Power Connectors and 1x Floppy Power Connector.

-4x Serial ATA Power Connectors.

Cooling:

Cooling is handled by an 80mm fan in this power supply.  During testing, this fan did not speed up, but it was already noisy to start with.  During idle / less intensive tasks, the power supply was still loud and a constant whooshing of air can be heard from the exhaust.  I was not too satisfied with the sound characteristics of this power supply, but considering that this power supply is mostly intended for server applications, it could be deemed satisfactory in a server room.

Inside the Power Supply:

* Taking this power supply apart will void the warranty.

-Inside this power supply, there are two PCB's stacked on top of each other, one side of the PCB contained a wide large primary capactor.  There is a large transformer in the middle of the sandwiched PCB's.  Silver heatsinks on both PCB's cool down the voltage rectifiers.

-This power supply appears to be manufactured by Seventeam, a well known manufacturer of high quality power supplies.

-The fan inside this power supply is made by Sunon and draws a maximum of 3 Watts.

Testing:

For this power supply, the test system consists of the following:

-Antec Nine Hundred Case

-Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Dual Core Processor @ 3.4 GHz

-ZeroTherm BTF90 Heatsink

-eVGA nForce 680i LT SLi Motherboard

-2GB (1GB x 2) of Mushkin XP2-8500 DDRII-1066 Memory

-320GB x 4 Western Digital 16MB Cache Hard Drives

-2x nVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS Video Cards @ 625MHz Core / 1000 MHz Memory

-Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card

-Sony 16x DVD-RAM / 18x Samsung DVD-RAM Drives

-4x 120MM fans, 1x 200mm fan

-2x CCFL Lights

(Multimeter Results)

*Voltages are at 'Max Load', running 3DMark06 CPU Test 1 and 2 / Deep Freeze HDR test + Orthos, and read with a Multi-Meter.

*For additional / larger pictures of the IStarUSA 750 Watt PSU, Click Here

The results are good for this power supply, the voltages shifted a little.  Everything ran fine during testing; the system was stable and performed the tests as expected.  During the tests, the fan speed did not increase, but was already quite loud to start with, it was loud enough to be of an annoyance.  Installation of the power supply was easy and there were no issues with cabling. The lack of SATA connectors could be a problem for computer systems that have more than four SATA devices.  Only the 24pin motherboard connector was sheathed with mesh though, all other cables had no cable mesh to keep it neater.  Overall, the iStarUSA Power Supply is a good performing power supply that offers two 6 pin PCI-Express power connectors and server class components.

Pros +

-Good Power Delivery and Stability

-High Quality components / built by Seventeam

Cons -

-Not enough SATA power connectors

-Not all cables were wrapped in mesh

-Fan is noisy

-No manual

Techaddicts.net would like to give this power supply a 8.5 out of 10 rating.

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