Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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BillyBuerger
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Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by BillyBuerger » Sun May 23, 2010 11:36 am

I previously posted about my work with a Dell RM112 80+ gold PSU. It was a fun project and an impressive PSU. But it was a lot of work and required a fair bit of hacking to make it usable in a normal PC. Not very accommodating for the average user. Our office at work recently merged with some other people and they brought a number of Dell PCs with them. Primarily Precisions but also two Optiplex mid-towers. I was behind them one day and noticed this...

Image

The RM112 came from the SFF optiplex. These mid-towers "looked" to be using normal ATX sized PSUs compared to the precisions which were obviously a little bigger. So I did some searching and came across the H255E PSU which some of these mid-tower optiplexes use. (Seems they also go by PW115 and other numbers as well. Dell sure has a lot of part and model numbers for these things.) Specifically, I bought it off of eBay. It's "only" 80+ Silver but it looked like it could have been a drop in for any ATX PC. Well, I should have looked closer...

Image

They added just a little bit of extra height too it. Same mounting holes and power connector, just a little taller. Crap, the extra height is the same as the Precisions, just hidden when looking at the back of the Optiplex. So much for a drop in. Also, the power connector comes off the bottom of the PSU, not the back. I had known this and had it been a normal height, it might have worked like that in my mini-P180. But not now. Alright, I guess I'll have to mod after all.

Image Image

First, a few shots of the inside. It uses a dual PCB setup with what looks like the primary and filter stage on one side and the secondary stage on the other. I knew a fan swap was going to happen no matter what. Dell generally uses pretty crappy fans and this one was no exception. Also, it only used an 80mm fan. Other Dell PSUs using the same form factor use 92mm fans. Not sure why they didn't here.

Image Image

After cutting out for a 92mm fan, I first attempted to put it on the inside like it was. It worked but the fan was right against some metal tabs on the top. So even with a soft-mounting, it would still be in direct contact. I could have bent the tabs but instead, I decided to put the fan on the outside a-la Antec CPX. No problems with soft-mounting here and I had plenty of room in my case for the extra depth. I also re-routed the main ATX power cable out the back instead of the bottom. That was easy enough. Just had to cut the hole in the back a little bigger to fit the extra cables.

Image Image Image Image

If I mount it the correct way, all four screws line up just fine. But this puts the cables coming out at the front side of the case, not the back. So I flipped it over. I can only really use two of the screws now but that holds it in good enough. The last issue was that although the mini-P180 had a large enough area for the PSU, the beams get in the way of the PSU actually getting in there. So I had to cut off part of the beam to let it squeeze in.

Now for the results. I dropped it into my main PC which was using a Seasonic SS-350ET and idled at about 51W. The H255E dropped that by about 4W to 47. Nice start. Then I went and dropped it into my lowest-powered system: Pentium M 725 (1.6GHz), AOpen i915GMm-N and a 2.5" hard drive...

Code: Select all

          H255E      RM112      pico 120   pico 150   SS-300SFD  SS-350ET
State     WAC   PF   WAC   PF   WAC   PF   WAC   PF   WAC   PF   WAC   PF
--------  ---  ----  ---  ----  ---  ----  ---  ----  ---  ----  ---  ----
Off         1  0.21    1  0.20    2  0.44    3  0.48    2  0.57    1  0.40
Unloaded    4  0.45    4  0.42    -     -    -     -    4  0.77    3  0.7
Idle       18  0.86   19  0.80   19  0.92   21  0.90   22  0.92   20  0.95
Load       32  0.93   33  0.90   32  0.96   36  0.93   36  0.95   34  0.95

- picoPSU's not tested unloaded
- H255E and SS-350ET ran at a different time.  Unsure of possible systemm changes
- picoPSU 120 using a 90W brick and tested with a different CPU (but same voltages)
- picoPSU 150 using a 200W brick from a Shuttle SD11G5
Damn, it beat out the RM112. Although I have to wonder if I didn't have my test PC setup slightly differently from when I ran the tests last. Hence the *. And there's always sample variance and other factors. Perhaps it's that the solder joints and longer cable added to the RM112 added slightly more resistance and hurt the efficiency?

The conclusion, it still took some modding to make this PSU work. But it was less than with the RM112 and produced better results in my situation. And it would still be very dependent on your case and if there is room for the extra height. If using a case with the PSU at the top and nothing in the way, it could very well be a drop in replacement. And at $26 shipped, it's a pretty good bargain.
Last edited by BillyBuerger on Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:27 am, edited 4 times in total.

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Post by MikeC » Sun May 23, 2010 11:43 am

Interesting work, BB, thanks for your report. It does look like a good bet for those seeking high efficiency/low power.

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Post by Bobert » Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:49 pm

Thanks for this review! I've been looking around for an ATX PSU that would bring my i3 530 down into the ~25w range and this unit looks like it might be a winner. Right now I'm using an overpowered Corsair VX450 which idles around 32w which is ok, but not optimal. Looks like I won't have to mod the H255E very much either. I think my case can accommodate the extra height so I might give this PSU a go. :D

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Post by Maverickâ„¢ » Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:06 am

Hi BillyBuerger, I saw your good works with these two Dell psu.

I've a ~20W AC system (AsRock AliveNF7g-HDReady, Athlon X2 4850e, 2.5" drive 7200rpm) supplied by an 80w DC-DC picopsu style and a 60w external brick
(Apextech MW-100 case)

--> http://www.apextechusa.com/products.asp?pID=157

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/new ... S09?$S640W$

Since in your tests you use a 150w Pico with a 200w brick, do you think that a lower power Pico (original or similar) can reaches the two Dell or even do better?

Thanks :wink:

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Post by RedAE102 » Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:04 pm

A friend of mine just bought this PSU, and now has replaced his PicoPSU with it. System specs are as follows:

Intel E8400 (C0), at something like 1.12V, stays the same even when idling at 2GHz
Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H µATX motherboard with nVidia Geforce 9400-730i chipset
4x2GB DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 GSkill RAM @ 1.85V
WD3000BLFS VelociRaptor
Samsung HD154UI F2EG 1.5TB HDD
Hauppage ATSC/ClearQAM TV tuner (unsure of what model)
2 TDK DVD burners
2 120mm Scythe Gentle Typhoons and 1 120mm Scythe PWM fan, as well as the back panel of the SLK3700BQE's stock SL350S (I think that's what it was) power supply with an additional 80mm Nexus fan.

With the 120W PicoPSU and 110W EDAC brick, his system idled at 59-60W, measured by a Kill-A-Watt. Using the full Everest stress test, it topped out at 90-95W.

With the H255E, his idle numbers have dropped to 55-56W, and under load, uses between 80 and 83W. Not bad at all.

Unfortunately, it did not fit in his SLK3700BQE, so using several different extensions bought cheaply on eBay, he was able to run it so it's now external and sits on top of the tower. The extensions included one which allows him to connect his two IDE DVD drives to the SATA connectors on the PSU.

A fan swap is forthcoming.

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Post by BillyBuerger » Wed Jun 09, 2010 7:32 am

Thanks for the report RedAE102. I know that my picoPSU setup is not the most efficient. I have a couple of 65W or 90W bricks from old Inspiron laptops and I've been meaning to pick up an 80W or 120W picoPSU to see how good that works. Actually, I have a 17" Acer monitor that runs off of 19V. I want to take a 120W 19V brick and split it to run both the Acer monitor plus a picoPSU for a low-power PC to strap to the back of it. Either way, I want to see if that will do better than my current picoPSU which isn't very impressive for low-power efficiency. Your report makes it sound like these Dell's might still be better or at least equivalent to the picoPSU options.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by yefi » Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:26 pm

Just got the Dell H255E-00 from ebay for £20 where it was being sold as the FR607. I am waiting on a couple of power adapters before I test it out. Hopefully, it will compare favourably to the overpowered Modu 82+ 425W I'm running with atm. I will also test it against the 120W picopsu + 150W brick (FSP150-AHBN1).

edit: Ok, apologise, never got round to this and sold the pico now. One thing to note about this psu is that it's a single rail for the 12V despite what it says on the label. Also, it only tested as 80plus bronze so not sure why it's labelled as silver: http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/psu_re ... REPORT.pdf
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Last edited by yefi on Sun Aug 26, 2012 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by s0nicthehedgeh0g » Tue Nov 23, 2010 8:45 pm

Hey everyone,

been following this thread and the one on th RM112, just hadn't got around to registering.

Anyways, I'm looking to get my hands on one of these Dell 80+ PSUs, but here in Australia, it seems to be cheaper to buy entire ex-lease systems ($40) than the individual power supplies from them (~$70 lol). I was hoping we could all collaborate to fill out a list of the Dell PSUs which are 80+ rated, along with their other names and which systems they originally came from.

BillyBuerger, which Optiplex systems did the H255E-00's come from? Also, brilliant work! =D

If anyone's got any info, knows of any other 80+ Dell PSUs, of you've bought one and can add some comments, it would be greatly appreciated!

Code: Select all

Model Name	 Other Names	80+?		Connector	Output	  Systems				     	  Other Comments
==========	 ===========	====		=========	=======	 ==============					==============
RM112			F235E-00		Gold		Mini-ATX	 235W		 Optiplex 760 SFF, 960 SFF
WU136			H235E-00		Silver	 Mini-ATX	 235W		 Optiplex 780 SFF, (960 SFF?)
FR607			H255E-00		Silver    ATX	      255W	    ?								    Slightly Larger than Standard ATX PSU

PW116			H235P-00		No

BillyBuerger
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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by BillyBuerger » Sat Dec 18, 2010 5:59 pm

s0nicthehedgeh0g wrote:BillyBuerger, which Optiplex systems did the H255E-00's come from? Also, brilliant work! =D
I got them of ebay and not out of any specific system. So I'm not sure where they would originally have come from. I've also seem the H255E listed as PW115. But I think other models that aren't 80+ silver also come up under PW115.

Also, I've updated my chart in the OP with the addition of a picoPSU 120 that I now have. It's right there between the H255E and RM112. And it confirms my thought that my picoPSU 150 isn't the most efficient. Or at least the brick isn't. But it also shows that these OEM PSUs can compete directly with picoPSUs for efficiency without the need for a separate brick. If only they were available in standard form factors. I have since upgraded this test PC to a Pentium M 740. But I have it running at pretty much the same voltages so it should give pretty close to the same results.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by boost » Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:16 am

Great, now I want one. :D
Seriously, thank you for the review!
How loud is the PSU with the fan replacement?
Is it standard size except for the slight increase in height?

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by BillyBuerger » Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:41 am

boost wrote:Great, now I want one. :D
Seriously, thank you for the review!
How loud is the PSU with the fan replacement?
Is it standard size except for the slight increase in height?
I believe I'm using a Yate Loon 92mm low-speed ball-bearing fan. It runs very slow and I don't believe it's ever ramped up. So I've never really noticed it. If you're really close, you can probably hear a little bearing noise from it but not much.

And yes, it's just the extra height that makes it non-standard.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by boost » Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:59 am

@BillyBuerger
I looked around on eBay, but i could not find the exact model.
However i found two which appear very similar:
Dell L305P-00 PS-6311-2DF2 and L375-P00.
Do you know if one of these is similar to yout unit?

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by BillyBuerger » Sat Jan 08, 2011 7:16 am

boost wrote:@BillyBuerger
I looked around on eBay, but i could not find the exact model.
However i found two which appear very similar:
Dell L305P-00 PS-6311-2DF2 and L375-P00.
Do you know if one of these is similar to yout unit?
Dell makes other PSUs that are the same size but not as efficient. The first one you linked to you can see the 110/220V switch which means it's not active PFC and therefore 80plus. And they're 305W and 375W PSUs, not 255W like the more efficient ones are. So my guess is no. If possible, look for a picture of the label and look for the 80+ silver logo.

I did a quick search and found this one which looks like it. 255W model and the one picture shows the 80+ logo.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by extremen » Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:01 pm

Hi guys and thank you for sharing and useful tests.
I'm little surprise, that Silver beats Gold...

I found lot of Dell power supplies on ebay except new models like F255E-00 (silver) atc.

http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80Plus ... =26&type=2

Now i need decide, which one is the best efficiency :)

To this ebay item:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT

Because the seller don't answer, i wanna be sure that i got 80 PLUS psu. I'm little nervous, that he Seller sold lot of any psu's, not only 80 SIlver :-(

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by necessaryevil » Sat Oct 01, 2016 1:07 am

Yes I am kicking this old topic! I think it's still a relevant one.

I'm wondering about the components inside the H255E and the RM112. Which topology is used? Which PFC controller and which SMPS controller are used?

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Oct 01, 2016 10:38 pm

necessaryevil wrote:I'm wondering about the components inside the H255E and the RM112. Which topology is used? Which PFC controller and which SMPS controller are used?
Ask that here.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by necessaryevil » Sun Oct 02, 2016 10:01 pm

I have tried to create an account there, but I don't get the activation mail for some reason. Anyway, since people on this forum own an H255E and a RM112 and are not afraid to open it, I tried asking the question here.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by BillyBuerger » Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:05 am

Well, I actually have an H255E taken apart at home right now. I was going to mod it up again maybe. So I could take a look at that. Although I don't know enough about the specifics of PSUs to know what to look for. If you have anything that you know of, let me know and I'll see what if I can figure it out. I don't have the RM112 anymore. I gave it to MikeC to play with. So I can't verify anything on that one.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:18 am

necessaryevil wrote:I have tried to create an account there, but I don't get the activation mail for some reason.

Check the spam folder, the confirmation mail is istantaneous. If it's not there, contact them and/or write directly to the forum admin, Tazz.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by necessaryevil » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:49 am

BillyBuerger,

Can you just post some pictures, especially those from the integrated circuits and some which shows the whole board? No problem if you think that's to much trouble or something.

thank you in advance,
Stefan

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by BillyBuerger » Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:22 am

http://www.billybuerger.com/pub/H255E/

Here's some pictures I took quickly before I left for work this morning. I tried to get what I could with my phone. But there are a lot of little PCBs sticking off the main one. So a lot of stuff gets covered up. Let me know if there's something on there you want me to try to get a closer shot of.

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by necessaryevil » Tue Oct 04, 2016 8:17 am

Thank you! I want to read what's on the mosfets and especially the IC's (including the IC's on the riser boards if possible).

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by necessaryevil » Mon Oct 10, 2016 12:04 am

If you can take a close-up of some of the chips, that would be great!

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Re: Dell H255E 255W 80+ Silver PSU

Post by BillyBuerger » Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:21 pm

I've been pretty busy so it's been hard to look into this. I just tried getting some closer pictures of some of the chips and I didn't really get anything that's readable. They are pretty tiny and hidden in between so much other stuff. I can try again at some point, but it might take me a while.

The other thing is that this PSU probably isn't the best choice if you were trying to find something today. The non-standard size makes it difficult to use in many cases. Dell's current desktop PCs (mid-tower, not SFF) use standard sized ATX PSUs and would be a better choice. You can check the 80plus lists for some examples. I have an eBay listing saved for the AC320EM-01 model. There's only one of them at the moment and it's not as cheap but I'm pretty sure if you look up other model numbers there are some at more reasonable prices.

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