Nexus NX-8060 - original & improved

MikeC · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2007 4:00 pm

Nexus NX-8060 ATX power supply

Nexus NX-8060 improved

bendit · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2007 4:10 pm

nice review. I expected better from this PSU for the price. The Corsair 500w PSU is a bargain by comparison. This seems to be a farily ordinary PSU except for the price, which is extraordinary. It seems Fortron has yet to get a handle on low noise PSUs the way seasonic has.

fri2219 · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2007 6:06 pm

I had the 400W model pegged as the PSU I was going to use for my HTPC. I especially liked the modular design, and hoped it would have been as far ahead of other vendor's offering when I purchased my NX-3500 a few years ago.

I guess I'll have to see if I see anything else pops up with the same feature(s) as the NX-8040 on endpcnoise this summer.

Erssa · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2007 11:35 pm

Bendit wrote:

nice review. I expected better from this PSU for the price. The Corsair 500w PSU is a bargain by comparison. This seems to be a farily ordinary PSU except for the price, which is extraordinary. It seems Fortron has yet to get a handle on low noise PSUs the way seasonic has.

The Nexus is a real bargain. Much cheaper (over 30 euros) then the comparable Corsair 620W.

Nice review as always.

Ackelind · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 2:11 am

The extra 4- or 8-pin 12V AUX is for systems like the Intel V8. They require both an 8-pin and a 4-pin connector to work. Odd enough, the AMD 4x4 platform requires only one AUX connector, and a 4-pin one.

It is funny how everything repeat itself. Seasonic- and Seasonic-manufactured PSUs always use their S2F fan controller, and are always good. Other manufacturers are always using fan controllers that are inferior. The other manufacturers aren'y really learning their lesson here, or they simply don't care, since we (quiet PC enthusiasts) are such a small market.

Sylph-DS · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 3:28 am

Although I enjoyed reading this, i've something of a question.. Why review the NX-8060 when most people will want an NX-8040?

Great review none the less.

qviri · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 4:15 am

Sylph-DS wrote:

Although I enjoyed reading this, i've something of a question.. Why review the NX-8060 when most people will want an NX-8040?

Probably it was the one that End PC Noise sent them.

MikeC · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 4:29 am

Sylph-DS wrote:

Although I enjoyed reading this, i've something of a question.. Why review the NX-8060 when most people will want an NX-8040?

Great review none the less.

If you consider the noise/power curves in the graph provided by Nexus along with the measured data from the review, then it should be pretty clear the noise behavior of all three PSUs will be virtually identical. It's not as if the thermal design of any of these PSUs is going to be any different from each other. All three models were on hand, there was time only to examine one fully (it takes at least half a day just to run the tests, never mind tally the results); we had to choose one.

Electrically, it's a very nice PSU. The modular cable system is also very good. Acoustically it's pretty good -- if you keep it cool enough. This is true of many PSUs ranked a bit below the top SPCR recommendations.

Pace · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 4:31 am

I'm a bit disappointed why the loudest (according to nexus' curves) model was chosen to be reviewed... From the picture in the first page, you did have all the models available?

cienislaw · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 4:41 am

Erssa wrote:

The Nexus is a real bargain. Much cheaper (over 30 euros) then the comparable Corsair 620W.

depens where - in poland nexus 600W and corsair 620W have such prices (130e vs 140e), 500W and 520W models are priced 111e vs 98e.

niels007 · **Joined:** Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:18 am **Posts:** 446

It seems that Fortron *always* makes powersupplies with a pretty linear fan speed vs load curve! That can't be hard to improve! Seasonic based OCZ models perform much nicer in this regard.

kater · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 10:13 am

Yep, the darn controller... Apart from that - an excellent unit. Just see how stable the 12V rail is.

Belowe is a pic of OCZ GameXStream plate. Similarities, anyone? Well, apart from the modular cables, that is.

I wonder if Be Quiet Straight Power features the same controller. Most probably yes. But it would be nice to have it confirmed by SPCR.

Pic courtesy of Zenfist.pl.

MikeC · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 10:29 am

AFAIK, Seasonic does not make any products for OCZ. The pictures you posted look far more like a Fortron Zen than any Seasonic I've examined.

Ah here:
Johnnyguru has specifically identified "GameXstream as being based on the FSP Epsilon".

kater · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 10:43 am

MikeC - uhm, I'm not sure if you're answering my post (you're writing about pics), but I guess not since it wasn't me referring to Seasonics disguised as OCZ. Yeah, I've read the GameXStream test and noticed the PSU's origin. Anyway, we now know of at least a few PSU's that are in fact good ol' Fortrons GLN.

BTW - Jonny Guru is a heck of a pro, but why does he review such monstrously strong PSU's? It's, kinda, useless...

jaganath · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 10:54 am

Quote:

It seems that Fortron *always* makes powersupplies with a pretty linear fan speed vs load curve! That can't be hard to improve!

I'm surprised no-one's copied Seasonic's S2FC,it shouldn't be hard to reverse-engineer.

MikeC · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 11:56 am

jaganath wrote:

I'm surprised no-one's copied Seasonic's S2FC,it shouldn't be hard to reverse-engineer.

There's been a few. Some of the Enhance products for Silverstone appear to be pretty close, ditto an Enermax here and there. The BeQuiet models are fairly close as well.

I suspect it's more than just the fan controller, tho. Low noise w/o good cooling isn't exactly great for business -- you'd end up with a high failure rate. There have been a few of those (that we've reviewed in the past). You need both, and that means good thermal design (heatsinks, placement of components, efficiency, quality parts) that matches the lower airflow dictated by the kind of noise/heat curve of the Seasonics.

Sylph-DS · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 11:57 am

Thanks for answering the question MikeC, I guess I understand

burebista · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 12:01 pm

kater wrote:

BTW - Jonny Guru is a heck of a pro, but why does he review such monstrously strong PSU's? It's, kinda, useless...

Because this?

BTW nice review as always, but some guys from jonny's forum are somehow intrigued about low ripple values at full load.

jaganath · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 12:34 pm

Quote:

Because this?

requires registration, can you give a quick summary?

burebista · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 8:38 pm

Oh, sorry.

Asus L1N64-SLI
Two FX74 CPU's
4GB DDR2-1000 (4 x 1GB sticks)
Two eVGA 8800GTX
Two Seagate Barracude 7200.10 750GB drives
BenQ DVD640
Ultra M998 case w/ X3 1000W PSU

794.9W from the wall during 3DM'06

Sylph-DS · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2007 2:56 am

burebista wrote:

Oh, sorry.

Asus L1N64-SLI
Two FX74 CPU's
4GB DDR2-1000 (4 x 1GB sticks)
Two eVGA 8800GTX
Two Seagate Barracude 7200.10 750GB drives
BenQ DVD640
Ultra M998 case w/ X3 1000W PSU

794.9W from the wall during 3DM'06

Lol, that's such a silly system. I immagine whoever did that did it just for the fun of spending as much money as possible, to waste as much power as possible.

mr. poopyhead · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2007 7:19 am

nice review! does anyone else find it funny that it doesn't use a nexus fan?

on a different note,
our forums are constantly telling people to buy low power units, and people around here are crying out for reviews of PSUs ~400W... why is it then that the highest power unit of the series is chosen for the review? are we just to assume that the 8060 is a worst case scenario for this line and assume that the other units will automatically be quieter? where are the reviews of the units that we're constantly telling people on the forums to look into?

this has happened on quite a few PSU reviews...

just wondering where the low power PSU reviews are, that's all.

Erssa · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2007 7:43 am

mr. poopyhead wrote:

where are the reviews of the units that we're constantly telling people on the forums to look into?

Good point.

Not that I'm really interested in the 400W or 500W Nexus reviews anymore. They have the same fans as their competitors and probably the same fan controller as the 600W, which isn't impressive. Corsair 520W still seems to be the best psu out there.

fri2219 · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2007 9:25 am

mr. poopyhead wrote:

where are the reviews of the units that we're constantly telling people on the forums to look into?

I'm with you on that one- I would have gotten more out of a head to head comparison using PSU's like the 8040, the Fortron Zen 300/400, the Phantom 350, etc...

That said, it was a well-done review, which I appreciate. I'd guess that the reviews on spcr are limited by what is sent by vendors and resellers.

Why vendors and resellers don't sell and promote lower powered PSU's is beyond me, especially when some of them are purportedly aimed at low-noise computing enthusiasts. I can't believe that their margins are all that much better on a $120 US SKU vs an $80 SKU.

This bigger is better insanity is going to be the death of us all.

MikeC · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2007 12:07 pm

mr. poopyhead --

You're right, I probably should have done the 400W. My bad.

In the case of the Nexi, though, all three models will probably have the same minimal noise level when running in a typical system, even if the published spec says there's a 2 dBA difference between top and bottom models. This, despite the three models having different speed fans: 0.33A (2050rpm) for the 600, and 0.24A (1800rpm) for the 500 / 400.

Why?

Because the spec was determined at something close to no load in free air at normal room temp. But even idling in a real computer, the thermal fan controller will kick the speed up until it reaches the desired temperature at the thermistor (or whatever they are using for thermal monitoring). Since all three PSUs have the same heatsinks and most likely the same efficiency, you would expect the fan each one to need the same RPM for a given power load. Hence, the same noise.

As the load goes higher, maybe starting at ~60% of rated load, you might see the lower power models being a bit quieter than the 600 because of the others' slower fan.

Ackelind · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:44 am

I've heard from other forums that the 400W model was indeed quiet(er), maybe there is a difference between them? I'm not sure about this, but I think the 400W model uses a low-speed fan, but perhaps the same fan controller.

MikeC · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:07 am

Ackelind wrote:

I've heard from other forums that the 400W model was indeed quiet(er), maybe there is a difference between them? I'm not sure about this, but I think the 400W model uses a low-speed fan, but perhaps the same fan controller.

The difference between the fans was cited in my last post; it's a slightly slower fan, which is why it's slight quieter at minimum speed, that's all. Otherwise, they are identical. In the context of the PSU working in a real PC, I just can't see that there would be any difference in noise -- and if there was -- how it could be significant in any way. We're talking about something like 1000rpm vs 950rpm... maybe, if not less.

bendit · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 2:52 pm

I have a guess. Traffic. And this is no knock on this great site. But if you review the "big boys" the odds that the HardOC guys and XtremePC guys looking for gamer power supplies are going to read the review. just a guess and could well be way off base.

mr. poopyhead wrote:

nice review!
our forums are constantly telling people to buy low power units, and people around here are crying out for reviews of PSUs ~400W... why is it then that the highest power unit of the series is chosen for the review? are we just to assume that the 8060 is a worst case scenario for this line and assume that the other units will automatically be quieter? where are the reviews of the units that we're constantly telling people on the forums to look into?

this has happened on quite a few PSU reviews...

mr. poopyhead · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:15 pm

Bendit wrote:

I have a guess. Traffic. And this is no knock on this great site. But if you review the "big boys" the odds that the HardOC guys and XtremePC guys looking for gamer power supplies are going to read the review. just a guess and could well be way off base.

seems about right to me.... this very idea of "luring" the hardcore OCers and gamers in with reviews of high powered units was raised in the enermax 1kW PSU discussion.

i believe this is called the ol' bait 'n switch,

dhanson865 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:27 am

On page six of the article the link to the HX620 review has a typo. artible692-page1.html should be http://www.silentpcreview.com/article692-page1.html

While I'm here I'll make the usual comparisons...

Code:

Model       Output (W)  40      65      90      150     200     250     300
        Efficiency
1 PCIe
     S12-380              .?%     .?%     .?%     .?%     .?%     .?%     .?%
     S12-430              .?%   78.3%   80.5%   81.6%   81.8%   80.5%   79.6%
2 PCIe
     HX520W             67.7%   72.5%   77.1%   81.0%   84.5%   85.2%   85.1%
     S12-550E+          68.8%   74.7%   78.6%   81.9%   84.8%   84.3%   84.1%
     Nexus NX8060       69.0%   73.5%   77.4%   80.8%   83.5%   83.2%   83.2%
     M12-700            65.1%   71.7%   76.7%   80.3%   83.5%   83.8%   83.6%

         Temp Rise (Â°C)
S12-380                  ?       ?       ?       ?       ?       ?       ?
S12-430                  ?       3       4       5       5       7       8
HX520W                   4       4       4       7       9      12      13
S12-550E+                2       2       3       5       8      12      10
Nexus NX8060             5       5       5       7      10      10      11
M12-700                  3       2       1       2       2       6       7

         Noise (dBA@1m)
S12-380                  ?       ?       ?       ?       ?       ?       ?
S12-430                 20      20      20      22      25      29      32
HX520W                  22      22      22      22      22      22      22
S12-550E+               20      20      20      20      20      21      25
Nexus NX8060            21      24      26      27      29      32      33
S12-650E+               20      20      20      20      20      21      25
M12-700                 21      24      21      21      21      21      25

If your only concern were a typical system idling around 70W and topping out around 130W:

The best choice by efficiency is the S12-430 and by extension the S12-380 is a slightly better deal due to price.

Your best choice by noise for the same system would be the S12-550E+ but the price is substantially higher.

If your concern is a gaming system that will use the extra PCIe connector and run in the 90 to 300 watt range then either of the 520/550 units above is a good choice. The HX520 is less expensive than the S12-550E+. The S12-550E+ is quieter and more efficient at low loads. The HX520 is quieter and more efficient at high loads.

If you somehow find some silly way to actually draw more than 550 watts DC, I still can't think of a real world case where I'd prefer to use the Nexus NX8060 since the Corsair HX620 beats it silly and there are still the M12-700 and S12-650E+ as well.

All of that is assuming you are using a traditional single chamber case. If you have a P180/P182 you can for the most part ignore the heat and noise concerns and just buy on price, efficiency, connectors, total wattage.

Nexus NX-8060 - original & improved

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