TOP-800P8 U14 (800W)

Although this PSU belongs to the P8 series too, its internal design proved to be completely different from the TOP-700P8 U14 (see above). I want to apologize for the lack of photographs. Photos of the interior of these two PSUs were lost due to technical reasons while I was preparing this review.

Well, the difference can be spotted on the outside, too, even though it is a small one. The position of the On/Off switch and the shape of the vent holes are somewhat different here.

The PSU is longer than the standard ATX unit, unfortunately. This is not dictated by technical considerations. As you can see in the photos, the 14cm fan and the PCB fit in easily, leaving a lot of free space.

The PSU has the following cables and connectors:

• Mainboard cable with a 20+4 connector (45cm)
• CPU cable with a 4+4 connector (48cm)
• Two screened cables for graphics cards with 6-pin connectors (65cm)
• Two cables with three Molex connectors on each and one mini-plug for a floppy drive (46+15+15+14cm)
• Two cables with four SATA power connectors on each (46+15+15+15cm)
• Three fan cables (70cm). The PSU automatically regulates the speed of the fans depending on its temperature. When the PC is shut down, the fans go on working at a low speed for a few minutes, powered by the standby source.

The mainboard and CPU cables have plaited sleeves. The graphics card cables have Topower’s traditional thick plastic casings, and it’s not easy to lay the cables normally in the system case. On the other hand, you don’t notice this problem much after the P7 SEZ and P7 FEZ series models in which all the cables are not only covered with plastic but also have plastic knobs on the connectors.

The PSU can yield up to 720W via its +12V rail (which is split into four outputs) but the allowable load on the +5V and +3.3V rails is as high as 240W. That’s quite a lot for an ATX12V 2.0 power supply.

The PSU has an active PFC device but its operation is accompanied with one defect. There is a high level of noise the PSU sends back into the mains. The oscillogram above shows the mains voltage (in blue) and the voltage consumed by the PSU (in red). It’s clear that the latter is modulated at a high frequency, and there are also short spikes superimposed on that modulation. This must be the result of some defects in the operation of the active PFC device in the way it is implemented in the TOP-800P8. I didn’t observe this problem with other Topower PSUs.