Review of the Chieftec TPS-600S power supply: another available «bronze»

⇡#Packaging, scope of delivery, appearance

The box, decorated in black and green, is the same for all models of the series — a specific modification is noted in the list at the end of the package.

On the “facade” there is a photo of the power supply, the name of the manufacturer, the name of the series and the 80 PLUS Bronze logo, which is enough to get basic information about the model.

On the back of the box is a label with electrical ratings and available power connectors for the four TASK series models that come in boxes rather than OEM packaging.

The delivery set is quite typical. In addition to the power supply itself, it includes a power cord, mounting screws and multilingual instructions printed on thick glossy paper.

The power supply case has standard dimensions — 140 × 150 × 87 mm, which allows it to be used in cases with a fairly tight internal layout.

The external design is nice for a budget model: black body color, wire fan grille with a golden manufacturer’s logo in the center. On the back panel, taken away by a mesh ventilation grill, there is an entrance for the power cord and a power switch.

At the bottom of the case there is a sticker with the electrical parameters of the unit, and on the second side there is a decorative sticker with the name of the series.

⇡#Specifications

With a total output power of 600 watts, 552 watts can be transmitted at 12 V, leaving 48 watts for other voltages, which is quite in line with the appetites of modern systems under load. So the declared power of 600 W can be considered honest — achievable in a real system with typical loads.

The permissible total load on the 3.3 V and 5 V lines is 110 W, and on the standby power supply — 2.5 A, and these are quite typical indicators. It is also worth noting a wide range of input voltages, which significantly increases the attractiveness of the model, especially in the case of voltage drops in the mains. The real manufacturer of the power supply is indicated directly on the label: it is based on the CWT GPM600S-BA model. The warranty for the device is 24 months.

The cost of the model on the shelves of domestic stores starts at $ 20, which roughly corresponds to the level of other most affordable «bronze» power supply models.

⇡#Cables

The cable system is quite advanced for a budget model. The cables with the main 20+4-pin power connector and the 4+4-pin auxiliary CPU power connector are 65 cm long. The other cables are 50 cm to the first connector and 15 cm between the connectors. Only the main cable is provided with a nylon braid.

Most wire sizes are typical 18 AWG.

However, the wires in cables with «peripheral» SATA and Molex power connectors have a thinner section of 20 AWG.

Power connector set:

• 1 × 20+4 contacts;
• 1 × ATX12V (4+4 pins) — CPU power;
• 2 × 6+2 pins — additional power supply for PCIe cards;
• 5 x SATA;
• 3 × Molex.

The set of available power connectors is the same as in the less powerful TPS-500S model, and one SATA connector is inferior to the “golden” Chieftec BBS-600S power supply of equal power, but this is quite enough to assemble a typical modern system.

⇡#Construction, internal arrangement

The internal components are cooled by a 120 mm Yate Loon D12SH-12 fan based on a sleeve bearing. Rated fan speed — 2200 rpm. Part of the impeller area is covered with a transparent film screen to optimize airflow inside the power supply housing.

Inside, we observe the CWT GPM platform, which is well known from many models from various manufacturers, using the traditional two-transistor single-ended forward converter circuit for low-cost solutions and group voltage stabilization.

The input filter by budget standards is quite well equipped: on the surface of the main printed circuit board and on the input of the power cord, you can find a total of three common mode chokes, two CX capacitors, five CY capacitors, a varistor and a fuse.

Sitronix ST9S313-DAG supervisor chip is located near the power cord input.

The TNY177PN chip is responsible for the standby power

CapXon electrolytic capacitor is used at the block input.

The output uses capacitors made by JunFu and ChengX — the only clear signs of savings on components.

In general, the quality of components and assembly does not raise questions, except for the use of not very famous electrolytic capacitors. However, almost all manufacturers sin with this when releasing budget models.

⇡#Test Methodology

The testing methodology adopted by 3DNews is described in a separate article, which we recommend reading to understand computer power supplies and their most important characteristics. Refer to it to find out why a particular component mentioned in the review is needed and how it works, and how to interpret the test results.

⇡#Test results

The efficiency of the Chieftec TPS-600S measured during the test turned out to be very high.

In part, such indicators are a consequence of the measurement error of a household wattmeter, which underestimates the power “out of the socket” at medium and high loads. In general, the results are quite comparable with the efficiency of other «bronze» power supplies that have passed through our tests.

The starting speed of the fan is quite high by the standards of the Chieftec models we reviewed earlier — not the usual 600-700 rpm, but about 940 rpm. You can already hear the fan spinning at this speed, but for most users, the acoustic comfort at this speed will be quite acceptable.

But there is a plus: we recorded an increase in fan speed only after reaching 70% of the load. Therefore, in fact, the user can feel the noise from an increase in speed only when the load on the system approaches the maximum (nevertheless, usually the power supply is taken with some margin relative to the maximum power consumed by the system, and the simultaneous maximum load on the main consumers in the face of the CPU and GPU is rare in practice) .

In general, the acoustic comfort of the model can be assessed as quite good. And although many models will give odds to the TPS-600S in terms of silence at low loads, at medium-high (50-80% of the nominal) it will take a convincing revenge.

The cross-load characteristics of the block indicate good (especially with regard to group stabilization) stability of the main voltages. At really demanded loads for all voltages of 3.3 V, deviations will be kept within 2-3% of the nominal value, with 5% allowed by the standard.

12 V bus, high frequency ripple

12 V bus, low frequency ripple

5 V rail, high frequency ripple

5 V rail, low frequency ripple

For a voltage of 12 V at a low frequency, the peak ripple range does not exceed 35 mV (with an allowable 120 mV), and in all other modes the deviations are within 20 mV, knowingly and with a large margin falling within the tolerances of the standard.

⇡#findings

The Chieftec TPS-600S power supply demonstrates good electrical performance — excellent cross-load characteristics for a group-stabilized circuit, low voltage ripple, typical «bronze» efficiency and a wide input voltage range. It also provides good acoustic comfort, especially at fairly high loads. At the same time, its price turns out to be the lowest among models comparable in terms of a set of parameters (analogues familiar to us from Cougar and Aerocool, albeit slightly, are more expensive).

Almost the only significant drawback is the manufacturer’s savings on the capacitors used, but almost all models of this price level sin with this. So in the end, we can state the emergence of another worthy alternative in the segment of inexpensive «bronze» models.