Tagan EasyCon XL 700W: A Tagan at Last

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Devonavar
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Tagan EasyCon XL 700W: A Tagan at Last

Post by Devonavar » Wed Jan 10, 2007 4:51 pm


jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:02 am

The thermal performance of the EasyCon XL was somewhat questionable. Thermal performance under heavy load was quite poor, and the output temperature reached a scorching 72°C at full load.
:shock:
The dual transformer design has its advantages, one of which is exceptionally stable voltage rails, as seen here. This is enough to forgive the questionable thermal performance (since the hot conditions didn't appear to affect anything)
Maybe not over 1 or 2 days testing in the lab, but over the lifetime of the PSU I would be very concerned by the poor thermal performance. They have managed to combine poor cooling with a noisy fan, the worst of both worlds!

kike_1974
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Post by kike_1974 » Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:00 am

I've had the chance to try the Tagan U01, U15 and U22. I liked the old U01 series Tagan PSUs. They were the only ones from Tagan that I consider quiet. The U15 and U22 are noisier than the U01 series.

Edited: some grammar (sorry for my poor English) and 2force=U22
Last edited by kike_1974 on Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

kater
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Post by kater » Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:35 am

Tagans are very popular among PC enthusiast in Poland and I've personally longed for a review of one by SPCR. A lot of people around here, and I mean pros, would swear Tagans to be among the best in terms of noise - or quietness. On the other hand, lots of folks claim Tagans are indeed noisy. I guess this can be explained by the multitude of various models. It would be great to see other Tagan PSUs tested by SPCR.

I've personally heard 2 or 3 Tagans and Topowers (in similar configurations and conditions) and must say Topowers bahaved much better - in terms of noise. I know it's not a proper way to compare PSUs but that can reflect the state of things.

One more wish, if I may, how about Topower? Are these also going to be tested? I'm asking about that because thery're also very popular round here and enjoy high esteem. And also because Topower & Tagan are in fact the same design and share a lot.
Last edited by kater on Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

high5
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Post by high5 » Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:40 am

kike_1974 wrote:I liked the old U01 series Tagan PSUs. They were the only ones from Tagan that I consider quiet.
Agreed. But they also tend to run as hot as hell.

BTW U22 = 2Force

Ackelind
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Post by Ackelind » Thu Jan 11, 2007 7:27 am

I wonder if this PSU suffers from the same design flaw as the Tagan TurboJet 1100W

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/403/1

Read this review. It also uses two transformers, but they use the same transistors to drive them!

kike_1974
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Post by kike_1974 » Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:12 am

high5 wrote: BTW U22 = 2Force
True, my fault :D

U01 = black series (2 80mm fans, push/pull)
U15 = easycon series (1 120mm fan)
U22 = 2force series (2 80mm fans, push/pull but noisier)

burebista
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Post by burebista » Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:18 am

Ackelind wrote:I wonder if this PSU suffers from the same design flaw as the Tagan TurboJet 1100W
There was some samples with problems, but Tagan corrected the flaw(s).
kater I'll quote from a respectable member:
Topower IMO is definitely hit and miss, but mostly miss :(

McBanjo
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Post by McBanjo » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:12 am

I was considering an U22 but their lack of customer support (not answering emails) made me go NeoHE. I'm very happy for that now :-)

Oklahoma Wolf
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Post by Oklahoma Wolf » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:14 am

Interesting about the temps at full load - doesn't inspire my confidence much this unit will hold up well over time.

Out of curiosity, did anyone get a good look at what brand the capacitors on the secondary side are? The ripple oscillogram looks a bit wierd to me.

Devonavar
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Post by Devonavar » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:30 pm

We've reviewed quite a few Topower models in the past, but never under Topower's own brand. As a general rule, they are very quiet, and very, very hot.

Topower reviews we've done include BeQuiet!, Mushkin (this one's really bad), ePower, Raidmax, OCZ, and others.

Oleg Artamonov
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Post by Oleg Artamonov » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:09 pm

The dual transformer design has its advantages, one of which is exceptionally stable voltage rails
There's no any connection between dual transformer design and voltage stability. Tagan/Topower has independent voltage stabilization with an additional mag-amp on +5V rail.

Devonavar
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Post by Devonavar » Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:25 pm

I would disagree. Splitting a load across two sources should mean that the output range handled by each transformer is smaller than it would be if there was only a single transformer. Since voltage regulation is nearly always tied to changes in load, smaller changes in load should lead to smaller fluctuation.

That said, I was unaware of the additional regulation circuitry in the Tagan. I will change the wording so I don't imply so much.

nici
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Post by nici » Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:44 pm

I would not say Topowers are "generally" very, very hot. Some are, some are not. Temp rise in the Be quiet was 8°c at 430W, compared to 12°c at 400W in the S12 E+. A 4°c difference, or 50% if you prefer. And the seasonic was louder at 400W than the BeQuiet was at 430W. Which makes the Topower both cooler and quieter than the seasonic at high loads.

Oleg Artamonov
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Post by Oleg Artamonov » Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:47 pm

Devonavar wrote:I would disagree. Splitting a load across two sources should mean that the output range handled by each transformer is smaller than it would be if there was only a single transformer. Since voltage regulation is nearly always tied to changes in load, smaller changes in load should lead to smaller fluctuation
It doesn't matter what the loading is, it only matters that PWM circuit should have enough duty cycle reserve under that loading.

The reason why most ATX PSUs have unstable (+-5%) voltages is that they have multiple outputs and only one PWM stabilizer which tries to keep balance between outputs.

The reason why this PSU has two transformers... I don't know for sure, but it seems possible that they use old schematics, something like half-bridge converter. Half-bridge converters require bigger transformers than modern topologies like double forward converters, but with 120 mm fan there's no room for such a big transformers. Other manufacturers (Seasonic, FSP) use double forward converters, higher frequencies and smaller transformers, Topower decided to split one transformer in two.

Oklahoma Wolf
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Post by Oklahoma Wolf » Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:26 pm

Oleg Artamonov wrote:The reason why this PSU has two transformers... I don't know for sure, but it seems possible that they use old schematics, something like half-bridge converter.
That seems plausible to me... from what I've seen of Topower, the designs do seem a bit dated.

TMM
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Post by TMM » Sat Jan 13, 2007 6:00 am

The two PCI Express cables are color coded but use the same connection as the rest of the cables. It's not clear whether this color coding is just meant to help balance the load across the various +12V lines, or if there are actual electrical differences between the two connections. Given the potential for nasty short-circuits, we thought it best not to investigate this via trial and error!
They are different. Look closely at the socket and the arrangement of circular and square plastic pins is different. Therefore making it impossible to plug in a blue cable to a black socket and visa versa

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