SPONSOR: Vantec

Intro:

    A sometimes forgotten part to keeping a stable system is the power supply. Cheap cases almost always come with cheap power supplies. From what I've seen in my years of PC repair, a cheap PSU doesn't handle the need for power in today's demanding systems well. Sure, you may get away with running your old system on a cheap 300 watt PSU, but keep adding hard drives, CCFL's, Fans, and so on, and you'll probably run into problems one way or another. Continue on as I look at the new Vantec Ion SATA ready 400 watt PSU...

The box:

    My review sample came well packed in a box surrounded by packing peanuts. Picture 2 is the top of the box. I neglected to take more box pictures, but all you are missing are the specs and what's included, which we'll go over anyway...

 

(1) The box	(2) The retail box

A closer look:

    Below you can see the dual fan PSU. In the next picture you see all the goodies; okay, it's mostly normal stuff that comes with any retail boxed PSU. One exception is that Vantec has included 9 zip-ties. Four mounting screws for your PSU are also included. It never ceases to amaze me that Vantec always seems to go that extra mile. Sure, screws and zip-ties are no high dollar item, but you probably will use them at some point regardless. The other exception is the Serial ATA ready factor. Two adapters are included that plug into the 4 pin Molex, and go to a 15 pin SATA drive. A nice manual is also included. It tells you more than you need to know, and more stuff than most people will understand. No lie there...

    In picture 5, you can clearly see all the power connectors. Well, except for the auxiliary, that most people won't need unless you have a server board that uses it. Unless you want to sit there and count them, I'll do that for you now. We have: one 20 pin for motherboard power, one auxiliary, one 12 volt for P4's, nine 4 pin Molex, and two Berg (floppy) connectors. If that isn't almost enough for even a highly tricked out box, maybe you have too much stuff in your PC then. :)

 

(3) The PSU	(4) Accessories	(5) Cables galore

    Picture 6 contains the sticker that adorns the side of the PSU. It has all pertinent specs on it. Wee see that peak output is 500 watts. Most cheesy PSU manufacturers would call this a 500 watt PSU then. Not Vantec. Picture 7 shows you the back of the PSU. You will find the adjustable switch from 115 Volts to 230 that many other PSU's have, an on/off switch, a three setting fan control switch (Auto/Medium/Low), and lastly, the input and output AC power fittings. Output? Yes, plugging in a CRT for example to the back of your PSU turns it on and off with your whole system then. I wouldn't go connecting a power strip to the back of the PSU personally, but having a normal power plug on the back of the PSU is kindly received here. Can anyone say, "water cooling pump" that turns on and off with the rest of your system?

    Before we move on and seeing what makes this baby tick, I want to point out the lower fan is only 15mm deep. While it seems to move enough air, it's no high CFM pusher by any means. But having that there pulling heat from the CPU up and eventually out is a good addition. While I am on the subject of fans, it should be noted they are both ball-bearing. Honestly, they are quieter than the 80mm Vantec "Stealth" fan I looked at previously. There is none of that ball-bearing noise that you can hear with the stealth fans up close.

 

(6) Specs on PSU	(7) Back and fan control	(8)Bottom fan (15mm)

Inside:

    Breaking the rules (of course) I'll take this baby apart to show you what's inside. Ok, so it's not nice to poke fun, but I feel I have to. A warning on the last page of the manual states; "Don't open the power cover without any authorizations; It will cause thunder-stroke danger." Uh, what? (Editor's note: What Vantec meant to say was "We have managed to contain the wrath of God in every Vantec Ion. Opening the cover will unleash its wrath upon your household.") Whatever thunder-stroke is, I never got it. Yet... The rest of the manual is very clear and well written. Except for that. I found it funny anyway...

    The below two pictures show the inside of the PSU. In picture 9, those two capacitors are probably the largest I have ever seen! In picture 10, you see the other side of course, and where the fans hook in. You modders should be happy that there is even one more space to plug in a fan. Is there a triple fan PSU on the way?

 

(9) Big caps!	(10) Room for controlling three fans

The graph and test:

  Test System

• Abit KG7-Lite

• AMD 1700+ JIUHB 302 on a Volcano 9 CoolMod running at Full during testing (CoolMod not engaged)

• 2x256 Generic (re-branded Micron) PC 2700

• WD 45 gig ATA 66 hard drive

• GeForce 1 32 meg DDR

• Samsung 16x DVD

• HP 2x CDRW

• Lian Li PC-6010 with aquarium side panel (not hooked up for testing, but the air pump was on)

• 1 CCFL

• 3 Sleeve bearing fans

• Motherboard Monitor 5

    Testing was done as follows: A dual fan PowMax 400 watt PSU was used against the Vantec dual fan Ion. Idle voltages were not taken; only full CPU load voltages. Negative rail voltages are not available on the test motherboard. "Load" is defined as running Sisoftware's Sandra and Prime 95 in loops for a half hour and then taking a voltage readings at about 5 minute intervals. "Load OC" is taken with the 1700+ overclocked to 1.7 GHz, and the previously mentioned software in loops. "Extreme Load" is defined by utilizing all the extra Molex connectors and 2 extra Y adapters I found and hooking them up an additional 6 hard drives to the Ion PSU. They were not hooked up to any IDE device. Most have bad sectors and range in size from 2 gigs to 10 gigs, but do create load in their state of being idle, even if they aren't seeking data. PSU voltages do tend to fluctuate regardless. There is a margin for error not only in the readings that MBM 5 takes (from the BIOS), but in the timing as well. I tried to document the voltages as best as I could and average out the readings I took after the half hour period of full load.

 

The Graph

    What the results do show is some fluctuations on both PSU's. What it doesn't show is that the PowMax PSU gets very hot. The Ion does not seem to exert even half as much heat in stress testing. The noise from the Ion is practically nonexistent due to the thermal regulation of the fans through circuitry. I only did the "Extreme load" test just out of curiosity. Also, what the graph doesn't show is that the Ion is relatively more stable when it comes to keeping a voltage at the desired voltage specification. The PowMax voltages jumped around a lot more, which you can tell by the odd ball 3.5 volts on the 3.3 volt line. The PowMax however, is in my personal workstation, (PIII 1 GHz) which I reluctantly removed for testing, and did not want to blow it up in a potentially "Extreme load" situation. Voltages are generally the same on my system from what we see above in relation to the PowMax.

 

(11) Extreme load - to show I wasn't kidding

Summary:

    Those with full towers will appreciate the sheer length of the cables on this PSU. The mainboard cable is 2 feet in length, and the other wires stretched out reach 3 feet. So, those with smaller towers will definitely need to use the included zip ties for cable management. If you want a quiet PSU, this is it. If you want a high quality PSU, this is it too. This PSU will be powering my test machine personally for a long long time. Speaking of, the Ion has a MTBF of 140,000 hours. The manual has that and other great information. Not being a Power Supply expert by any means really, the manual has so many charts and tables of things I've never heard of. It's obvious to me that Vantec knows what they are doing with PSU's, and it shows by the weight, the silence, and low heat that the Ion demonstrates.

Pros:

• The absolute quietest dual fan PSU I have ever heard!

• Weighs in at around 6 pounds

• Dual fan speed control

• Long power cables

• Mainboard cable is sleeved

• SATA ready (via two adapters)

• Comes with zip-ties

• Cost ~$70 USD

Cons:

• Power cables maybe too long for some (I'd rather have them longer than shorter any day though)

• Voltage readings, while inconsequential, weren't 100% perfect

 

"A PSU that deserves to be in your PC!"