Installation:
The initial plan was to install the
Spire Rocketeer SP-500W in my main rig which is as follows...
» AMD A64 3000+
» Biostar VIA K8M800 motherboard
» 1GB PC3200 Ultra RAM (2x512)
» Radeon 9800 Pro
» 2x Maxtor IDE 7200 RPM HDD
» NEC DVD Burner
» Samsung DVD Player
This system is housed in an
Enermax Maxflow CS-718 case that we reviewed here in February of 2005. This case has been a top performer, but it has a very unusual layout that has the motherboard mounted upside down at the bottom of the case, somewhat like a BTX design. On top of the motherboard is a section where the hard drives mount, and then on top of that is the power supply. The picture below is from the Maxflow CS-718 case review and will give you a better idea of what I am talking about.
The layout of this case requires the power supply cables to be on the long side, and Spire's ATX motherboard cable and the 4-pin CPU or "P4" cable were a full 4" short of reaching the connectors on the motherboard. The Rocketeer is not the only power supply I have had this issue with, so in all fairness I feel the issue is with the Enermax Maxflow CS-718 case more than the Rocketeer power supply. That being said, anyone wishing to use the Rocketeer SP-500W in a big full tower case needs to be aware the cables may be too short.
So, for testing purposes I connected the Rocketeer to the A64 system listed above, but did not mount it into the case and just left it sitting along side of it while comparing it to the Enermax 460 Watt power supply that came with the Enermax case. After testing was complete I mounted the Rocketeer SP-500W into a back up system housed in a
Raidmax Ninja case. There were no issues installing the Rocketeer SP-500W in the Raidmax Ninja case which has a more standard layout and size for a mid tower case.
Performance - Power:
All voltage testing was done with the Rocketeer connected to the afore mentioned A64 system with the power supply sitting on the desk. We used the Enermax 460 for a comparison, and all voltage readings were taken with a Fluke 77 digital multimeter. Loading of the system was accomplished by keeping the CPU under 100% load running Folding@Home, burning a CDRW using Nero, playing a CD in Winamp, all while defragging the hard drives.
As you can see both power supplies stayed within 5% of specifications, however the Rocketeer SP-500W was very close to the upper limit on both the 12 volt and 3.3 volt rails.
