BeQuiet! Straight Power E9 700W PSU Review

BeQuiet! have been releasing great power supplies in 2012, with a focus on minimal noise and great build quality. Today we are looking at the Straight Power E9 700W power supply, a 80 Plus Gold certified design with full 5 year warranty. This is the flagship model in the range. BeQuiet! have a wide range of power supplies in their Straight Power range, some of which are modular. The 700W model we are reviewing today is sadly not, however they do sell a closely matched 680W CM (The CM stands for 'Cable Management' - or modular). It is important to remember, that the supply we are reviewing today is an 'E9' version, The E8 range is an older generation which is 80 Plus Silver certified. The E9 700W supply has achieved 80 Plus Gold Certification and has been redesigned, including cutting edge SilentWings fans. Virtually silent operation achieved through a broad array of meticulous optimizations, including use of custom-designed 135mm SilentWings Fan. SilentWings fan features airflow-optimized fan blade, fluid dynamic bearing with copper core and high quality IC motor controller. 700 Watts of continuous power provide hefty power reserves for those times your PC really needs it all. 80PLUS Gold certification and up to 93.1% power conversion efficiency let you do more work with the same power and reduce your power bills. NVIDIA Hybrid readiness and AMD CrossfireX certification allows you to build powerful Multi-GPU systems with confidence German product conception, design and quality control. We love the BeQuiet box artwork. It is simple, yet very effective. A soft focus, artistic image of the power supply takes centerstage with the product listing underneath. The power supply rests underneath the literature, protected inside bubble wrap. BeQuiet include a regional specific power cable, cable ties, mounting screws, a user manual and literature on the high grade SilentWings fans. Cable Connectors MB 20+4 pin x1 (550mm) CPU 4+4 pin x1 (550mm) CPU 8 pin x1 (550mm) PCI E 8 pin (6 pin +2) x4 (550mm + 150mm) SATA x9 (550mm + 150mm) MOLEX x6 (550mm + 150mm) FDD (floppy) x1 (1250mm) All of the cables are high grade, sleeved and hardwired into the chassis. All PCI cables are 6+2 pin, which is ideal. The E9 700W power supply is designed like all other BeQuiet! power supplies we have reviewed to date. They are instantly recognisable and very attractive. The company logo is embossed into the side of the chassis which subtly enhances the appearance. A large 135mm SilentWings fan takes primary position, protected behind a grill, and with the two tone company logo getting pride of view. The orange strip around the grill is a nice addition. The paintwork is deep and resilient to rough handling. We ran a screwdriver head gently down the side panel of the supply and it didn't damage the paintwork. One side of the power supply is vented to improve air flow. At the side is a power connector and button. Again the company logo is visible here. The other side of the power supply has a little vent along one edge. All of the cables are hardwired entering the chassis here. BeQuiet! Straight Power E9 700W Power Supply DC Output +3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +12V3 +12V4 -12V +5Vsb Max Output 28A 28A 18A 18A 22A 22A 0.5A 3A Total Power 160W 56A - 672W 6W 15W 700W The supply can deliver a total of 56A to the +12V. BeQuiet say that all models in this range can deliver 95% of total available power to the +12V rails. BeQuiet! are using the BQT T13525-HF18 fan in this unit, a 135mm fluid dynamic bearing fan which is rated to a maximum of 1,800 rpm at 22.6dBa. This power supply is designed by FSP - based on their Aurum Gold platform. A pair of Y capacitors start the transient filtering stage. The transient filtering continues on the main PCB, with two X capacitors, two Y capacitors and a couple of ferrite coils. There is no MOV present, but it is not integral to this design. The primary capacitor is by CapXon, it is rated 390uF 400 V @ 85c. CapXon are Chinese capacitors and don't get the same kind of praise from the community as a high grade Japanese capacitor, although they have proven fine in our tests before. Secondary capacitors are also CapXon, although they are rated to 105c. All in all this is a solid design, although some of the soldering quality is a little below par, which is slightly disappointing. On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the 24.5MP Nikon D3X camera and 24-70mm ED lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source. Additional technical assistance: Peter McFarland and Jeremy Price. Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. Due to public requests we have changed our temperature settings recently – previously we rated with ambient temperatures at 25C, we have increased ambient temperatures by 10c (to 35c) in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions. We use combinations of the following hardware: • SunMoon SM-268 • CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs) • CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4) • Extech Power Analyzer • Extech MultiMaster MM570 digital multimeter • Extech digital sound level meter • Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC) • Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA 12V output is combined for our testing DC Output Load Regulation Combined DC Load +3.3V +5V +12V +5VSB -12V A V A V A V A V A V 174W 3.26 3.32 3.25 5.05 11.54 12.10 0.76 5.09 0.12 -12.04 352W 7.53 3.29 7.55 5.03 23.07 12.05 1.52 5.04 0.25 -12.08 525W 11.25 3.26 11.29 5.00 34.51 11.98 2.26 5.02 0.37 -12.11 700W 15.04 3.21 15.05 4.92 46.61 11.94 3.0 4.96 0.50 -12.13 The BeQuiet Straight Power E9 700W delivers decent regulation although there is a marked droop on +3.3V from 3.32 to 3.21 under full load. +5V dropped from 5.05 to 4.92 under full load. BeQuiet Straight Power E9 700W Maximum Load 791W We managed to squeeze 791W from the PSU before it would shut down safely. Next we want to try Cross Loading. This basically means loads which are not balanced. If a PC for instance needs 500W on the +12V outputs but something like 30W via the combined 3.3V and +5V outputs then the voltage regulation can fluctuate badly. Combined DC Load +3.3V +5V +12V -12V +5VSB A V A V A V A V A V 590W 1.0 3.32 1.0 5.02 48.0 11.82 0.2 -12.03 0.5 5.03 190W 18.2 3.19 20.1 4.79 2.0 12.08 0.2 -11.96 0.5 4.98 The BeQuiet Straight Power unit didn't deliver the best results in our Crossloading test, dropping on the +5V output from 5.02 to 4.79. + 12V dropped to 11.82. We then used an oscilloscope to measure AC ripple and noise present on the DC outputs. We set the oscilloscope time base to check for AC ripple at both high and low ends of the spectrum. ATX12V V2.2 specification for DC output ripple and noise is defined in the ATX 12V power supply design guide. ATX12V Ver 2.2 Noise/Ripple Tolerance Output Ripple (mV p-p) +3.3V 50 +5V 50 +12V1 120 +12V2 120 -12V 120 +5VSB 50 Obviously when measuring AC noise and ripple on the DC outputs the cleaner (less recorded) means we have a better end result. We measured this AC signal amplitude to see how closely the unit complied with the ATX standard. AC Ripple (mV p-p) DC Load +3.3V +5V +12V 5VSB 174W 10 10 25 10 352W 10 10 35 15 525W 15 20 45 20 700W 15 25 60 20 Ripple results are decent although at full load the +12V output measures around 60mV. Not a problem result however and well within tolerance specifications (120mV), although it is a little higher than many others we have reviewed in recent months. Efficiency (%) 174W 89.22 352W 91.96 525W 91.12 700W 88.94 The efficiency figures are excellent, achieving around 92 percent efficiency at 50 percent load. This drops to just under 89% efficiency at full load. Great results. We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635. Today to test the power supply we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the unit. We have no other fans running so we can effectively measure just the noise from the unit itself. As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels. KitGuru noise guide 10dBA - Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves 20-25dBA – Whisper 30dBA - High Quality Computer fan 40dBA - A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator 50dBA - Normal Conversation 60dBA - Laughter 70dBA - Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer 80dBA - City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal 90dBA - Motorcycle or Lawnmower 100dBA - MP3 Player at maximum output 110dBA - Orchestra 120dBA - Front row rock concert/Jet Engine 130dBA - Threshold of Pain 140dBA - Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range) 160dBA - Instant Perforation of eardrum Noise (dBA) 174W <28.0 352W <28.0 525W <28.0 700W 30.9 This is an exceptionally quiet power supply, not registering on our equipment, until around 640W load is demanded. Even at full load it is barely audible. A testament to the excellent SilentWings fan incorporated into the unit. Temperature (c) Intake Exhaust 174W 36 39 352W 38 43 525W 40 49 700W 43 53 The large Silentwings fan helps to keep temperatures well in check, rising to a 10c above ambient figure at full load. Maximum load Efficiency 791W 87.6% We measured the efficiency beyond the rated limits of the supply and recorded 87.6% at 791W. Its not a real world everyday rating, but interesting regardless. The BeQuiet! Straight Power E9 700W is a very good choice for an everyday high grade enthusiast system. What makes this power supply very appealing right now are price drops in the United Kingdom, specifically ARIA who are selling the E9-700W for £96.74 inc vat, a drop from full retail price of £134.99 a short while ago. We love the appearance and build quality of the BeQuiet! power supplies, the two tone colour scheme with orange strip really looks beautiful and the quality of finish is second to none. The paint work is both deep and resilient to rough handling over time. Sadly this unit isn't modular which means that an enthusiast user building a media center in a smaller chassis would be better opting for the 580W CM or 680W CM versions. Efficiency of the unit is excellent, hitting a peak around 92 percent. It also is extremely quiet, making it an ideal shortlist product for a user building a new low noise system. The adoption of ultra quiet fluid dynamic bearing fan is inspired. These are without question some of the finest, high grade fans you can get today. Ripple suppression isn't the best we have seen, although to be fair it does fall within rated tolerance specifications, so we can't complain. Crossloading results were also a little disappointing, however the demand placed on the unit can be classed as unrealistic in the 'real world', so we aren't happy scoring the unit down for this. Internally, the FSP design is solid, but far from class leading. We would have liked to see a 105c rated Japanese capacitor in the primary stage, rather than a cheaper Chinese 85c CapXon cap. Thankfully the secondary side capacitors are 105c rated which should help prolong life expectancy a little. As we mentioned, the supply can be bought for £96.74 inc vat. At this reduced price it is hard to fault, if you can find it online for under £100 then we say it is definitely worth buying. Pros: Looks fantastic. Very quiet. delivered almost 800W. good price now in the UK. Cons: Ripple suppression isn't the best. its not modular. Primary capacitor could be better. Kitguru says: A good looking, solid unit that is going to suit noise hating enthusiast users who want to keep the cost of ownership to under £100.