Now that we've done our best to cook the Blue Storm II only to have it live through the ordeal, let's take her apart and see what makes her go.
First up, we have a gratuitous full frontal fan shot of FSP's favorite fan supplier: Yate Loon. It's a D12SH-12 for all of you fan fans out there. Hey, I'll have you know that alliteration is funny, fine friends. Well, it's funny to me, anyway. Hey, do you suppose people who like these fans are called YateLoon-atics?
With the pesky case out of the way, we can get a good look at the innards for the first time, and... uh, there's a part missing. Next to the middle heatsink. Can anyone guess what's supposed to be there? If you said a metal oxide varistor, give yourself a prize. The metal oxide varistor, or MOV to his little buddies, is what most SMPS units use to keep from done getting blowed up by power surges. While this unit has active PFC, and is relying on that circuitry to dampen power surges, I have to wonder why not just put the MOV in there and have some nice redundancy? All the other reputable PSU making kids on the block are doing it... why not you, FSP? The transient filter, of which some components are attached to the power outlet and not visible here, is pretty much all there.
Moving over to the secondary side, we see the OCP daughterboard sticking up on the left and a host of Capxon capacitors on the right. FSP is pretty fond of Capxon these days, and I can't say that they are wrong to go with them.
Back on the other side of the unit, with the PFC heatsink pulled, we get a good look at the primary filter cap, a great big OST affair. I confess I don't like OST much due to their former tendency to fail en masse on mainboards, but again, in computer SMPS use they don't seem to be all that bad. That little PCB sticking up there is for the PFC/PWM combo controller.
Well, lookie what we got here, an itty bitty thermistor. Hidden beneath the secondary heatsink, this little puppy is used to control the fan speed, all the way from "maybe it is, maybe it isn't 25dB" to "I'm just going to fly myself away from the load tester so you don't hurt me anymore."
Looking at the unit with all three heatsinks removed, we can see markings on the PCB that explain that this platform is intended to support from 250W to 500W. While it looks rather similar to the rippleicious Epsilon design, there are in fact some differences; though most of those differences are strictly minor (like PCB support for quad 12V use). The secondary side heatsink is actually bolted right to the case of the PSU to assist in cooling. Let me tell you, I about burned my fingers on those two screws when picking up the unit after more than an hour of fun in the hot box.
Here's the PWM/PFC controller itself, a very common CM6800G. Just about everyone uses this thing now.
Finally, a shot of the heatsinks and attached silicon. On the left, we have the PFC sink which uses two Fairchild G52's I couldn't find any info on, and a Philips PJm0636A4 diode I also couldn't find any info on. Thanks a lot, Google. Moving to the middle heatsink, we have the two primary switching transistors, also a pair of G52's in a double forward arrangement. Pretty standard now among high efficiency units. Last, on the right we have the secondary heatsink. 12V is handled by a pair of MBR3060CT Schottkys good for 60A at up to 60V between them, while 5V appears to be regulated using yet another pair of G52 transistors. 3.3V is supplied by a pair of MBR3045CT Schottkys good for 60A combined up to 45V. More than enough gumption for this unit.
Conclusion time.
Performance (40% of the final score) - regulation was quite good on this unit through both the hot and cold testing, with one big exception - it just didn't crossload well. Can't overlook that, FSP. While efficiency was outstanding in the cold tests, it began to fall off a bit as heat built up. Can't overlook that either. But, ripple and noise suppression was excellent. Gotta be an 8 from me here.
Functionality (20% of the final score) - I have to say, this unit does have all the cabling a 500W unit could ever have use for, complete with not one but two PCI-E connectors, each on different 12V rails. I am also quite enamored of the sleeving on the blueberry - it looks good, and it's nice to be able to tell by color where the PCI-E cables are at. 9.
Value (30% of the final score) - the lowest prices I've been able to find on line are usually around the $80 mark. Not bad for a group regulated midgrade unit, but I do get the suspicion one could find a similar Sparkle version for a bit cheaper than that. But of course, then you wouldn't get the blueberry color scheme. I'm going to say 9.
Aesthetics (10% of the final score) - mmmm... blueberries. This is one good looking unit, at least to me. Love the sleeving, love the paint job. The only thing I can find to nitpick is the brass looking fan grille not quite matching the ugly decal in the middle of it, and that's pretty minor. That, and the PCI-E sleeving is sort of an odd shade of red that doesn't quite look good under fluorescent lighting. Going to give it an 8 here.
Performance
8
Functionality
9
Value
9
Aesthetics
8
Total Score
8
Summary
You missed the recommendation by *that* much, FSP. If you can pull the voltage regulation in just a bit and make it just a smidgen more tolerant to high temps, you'll have a real winner here.
As it stands now, this unit is a very good choice for those who just need something halfway reliable that does its job capably. The price isn't ridiculous, it looks good, it doesn't get real loud unless you bake it, and it can be easily found anywhere in North America.
The Good:
does full power at 45 degrees
the color scheme is nice
sleeving is well done
controls ripple well
efficiency is quite good below 40 degrees
The Bad:
efficiency takes a dive when the blueberry gets too hot
The Mediocre:
no MOV - I hate cost cutting. Let's add that back in, shall we FSP?
