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1 2 3 NextJanuary 14, 2005 by Devon Cooke with Mike
Chin
The FSP Blue Storm AX500-A is designed in-house by a major producer of
power supplies: Fortron, who happen to make many of the PSU sold under other brands as quiet products. They are also active in the OEM business. We have reviewed one other Fortron power supply before; the
FSP350-60PN
Aurora was the first 120mm PSU that we reviewed, nearly a year and a half ago. That power
supply was OK for noise but otherwise unremarkable. The Blue Storm is aimed at higher end market.
The PSU casing is a deep metallic blue, and the fan is a matching colour.
Even the power switch on the back glows blue when it is flipped on. It is easy
to see where it got the "blue" in its name. However, we are more interested
in the "storm" part of the name, which leads to a central question
of this review: Is it quiet?
A standard retail box with all the necessities but no extras: PSU, power cable,
mounting screws, 20-24 pin adaptor, and an instruction manual.
The Blue Storm is very... blue. The blue mesh sleeving on the cables
is helpful for cable management.
The blueness continues: The fan, power switch and Molex connectors are
all blue.
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FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS of the FSP Blue Storm AX500-A
|
| FEATURE & BRIEF |
COMMENT |
|
Latest ATX12V v2.0 with backwards compatibility
|
Supports most
motherboards. |
|
BSCC (Blue Storm Cooling Control) with optimized structure for
whisper-quiet operation
|
It has a
fan controller. |
|
Environmentally friendly with the incorporation of PFC
|
Passive. |
Separate
12V rails for CPU and peripherals, in accordance to TUV safety
requirements
|
An increasingly
common feature, required in ATX12V v2.0 |
|
Mesh sleeving on all output cables
|
For ease in
cable management. And... they're blue! |
| Flexi Connect
with: 6 x Smart Housing Molex connectors |
Easy-off grips for
the Molex connectors. A welcome feature. |
| CE, TUV EN60950,/ UL60950, CSA, NEMKO
Approved |
Generally,
the more the better. |
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SPECIFICATIONS: FSP Blue Storm AX500-A
|
|
AC Input
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115Vrms±10% or 230Vrms±10% at 47-63Hz
|
|
DC Output
|
+3.3V
|
+5V
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+12V1
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+12V2
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-12V
|
+5VSB
|
|
Maximum Output Current
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30A
|
28A
|
15A
|
15A
|
0.5A
|
2.0A
|
|
Maximum Combined
|
160W
|
285W
|
6W
|
10W
|
|
445W
|
16W
|
|
461W
|
|
This table is compiled from this
document on the Fortron-Source USA website.
The maximum wattages for the +12V lines, the -12V line and the +5VSB line
have been extrapolated from the rather sketchy information in this document.
Note that even though this unit is sold as a 500W unit it is only rated
for 461W. This discrepancy is apparent when comparing the rating on the
box (500W) to the rating on the unit itself, which is correctly labelled
at 460W.
In practical use, this discrepancy will have little effect; building
a system that draws 460W is almost unimaginable. The extra 40W of headroom
is unlikely to be missed in any real-world application. Still, selling
this power supply as a 500W unit is very misleading; it contradicts Fortron's own specifications.
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