Contents
- 1Introducing the Crono PS350N
- 1.1Packaging and accessories
- 2Connectors & cabling
- 2.1Casing & cooling
- 3Input filtering
- 4Primary side
- 4.1+5 V stand-by rail
- 5Secondary side
- 5.1Build quality
- 6Load testing
- 6.1Loading +5 V SB
- 6.2Hold-up time
- 6.3Combined loading
- 6.4Combined loading ripple
- 6.5Crossloading, overloading
- 6.6Crossloading, overloading ripple
- 6.7Fan speed, temperatures and noise
- 7Conclusion and evaluation
- 7.1Thanks
- 7.2Discussion
Conclusion and evaluation
The Crono PS350N, surprisingly, delivered the rated power both in combined loading and crossloading, for that it gets another of our new awards. But it still failed to deliver the power in accordance with the ATX specification, so according to my evaluation methodology, it is not deserving of an evaluation. Overall impression of the unit is the best of all the gutless wonders I have tested so far. Note that also the SilentiumPC Elementum E1 SI-350 is a low-end unit, but being based on up-to-date CWT platform it is not really a gutless wonder. The PS350N at least does not pose a health or property hazard as it uses proper safety rated filtering components and there is safe stand-by supply IC which should not fry your motherboard.
On the other hand it still has high no-load power consumption of the stand-by supply, so high that it does not comply with European standards thus the CE mark is bogus. It also lacks any kind of PFC so I seriously doubt it passes on harmonics suppression, another reason why it cannot comply with appropriate standards thus cannot be marked as compliant. On top of that the regulation of −12V rail is poor, even with my high 0.4A draw the voltage went through the roof at 100% power output. And crossload regulation is still equally bad to all the other cheap units. I think that with some investments to the PFC, better secondary silicon and faster fan with proper speed control, this unit may become half-decent with efficiency also peaking close to 80 %. In current state there is no reason to buy it even as a backup.
 Pros |
+ cheap + working overload protection + good ripple suppression + proper safety-rated input filtering components |
 Cons |
− low efficiency − poor component quality − no fan speed control − runs hot at higher load − bad voltage regulation − inefficient stand-by circuit |
 Be aware of… |
/?\ buying this unit |
Thanks
I thank our supporters for donations for buying such units.
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