Tech Review - Lian Li MAXIMA Force Power Supplies
Hello again, my name is Rodney Reynolds and welcome to another video review. Today I’m looking at Lian Li MAXIMA Force 650 watt and 750 watt power supplies. Once included with both of this power supplies is a users manual, screws for mounting the power supply in the case and the power cable. The Lian Li MAXIMA Force line of power supplies come in 3 wattages, 470, 650, and 750, I’ll be reviewing the 650 and 750-watt models. All of this power supplies look the same but aside from the technical specifications the 750-watt model is a little bit longer than the 650 watts model. Both of this power supplies offer enough power for most medium two high-end computer systems, so how is this wattage determined?
Well to understand that, we need to know what rails are. Rails are basically well-regulated transformers that convert domestic current into the voltage that your computer system can use and there are essentially two different rails. The 3.3/5.0 rail and the 12.0 rail, for the 650 watt power supply, the approximate maximum peak output of the 3.3/5.0 rail is 191 watts and the 12.0 rail is 540 watts. For the 750-watt power supply the approximate maximum peak output of the 3.3/5.0 rail is 190 watts and the plus 12-foot rails is 648 watts.
The 3.3/5.0 rail is responsible for the motherboard, memory, PCI cards and so on while the plus 12.0 rail is responsible for the hard drives, optical drives, fans, CPU, video cards, etc. Also some might be interested to know the peak amps on a trail for the 650 watt power supply, a plus 3.3 volt and the plus 5.0 rails are 25 amps each ten 3 plus 12 foot rails are 90 amps each.
For the 750 watt power supply plus 3.3 volt and the plus five-foot rails are 25 amps each and the four plus 12-foot rails are 18 amps each. Please note that a single plus 12 foot rail is usually preferred in a multiple video card setup. There are a number of report of things to remember when selecting a power supply. The first is wattage, determine which wattage you are going to require, buy the amount of hardware you will be installing. Generally speaking, a medium to high-end gaming writ require a 500 to 700 watt power supply. If however you are going hard-core and having multiple video card setup with lots of other hardware, select a power supply that’s around 800 watts or more. Second its should be at or above 80% efficient at typical load the efficiency of this power supplies are rated above 80%.
Third, it should meet the latest ATX and other current standards, environmental directives, over voltage, under voltage and other protections. This power supplies meet all current standards. Fourth, I’d recommend choosing a power supply that has a PFC, APFC or active power factor correction is something that also assists the power supply in being more efficient and therefore stable on the load. APFC basically reduces total harmonics, corrects input voltage and it allows for a full and voltage range. Thankfully, this power supplies have APFC.
Fifth, there are three main certifications, 80 plus, NVIDIA S align and ATI crossfire, many of today’s high-end power supplies meet one or more of this certifications. Unfortunately, this power supplies give out.
Sixth, look for a power supply that uses Japanese capacitors, this ensures a much more reliable product than a power supply with low-grade capacitors. These power supplies use Japanese capacitors.
Finally, get a power supply that has enough leads for your setup; also consider a power supply that has a modular design because it reduces the cable mess inside the case.
Now lets have a closer look at this power supplies, again the 750 watt model is just a little bit longer than the 650 watt model, but still both of these are extremely compact and will fit into any ATX case currently on the market including most home theater PC and other factors cases. They both have a very distinctive ROTH paint finish, the housing is steel and it comes with a very quite 120-millimeter fan. These fans have no problem keeping the inside of the power supply cool along with the many honeycomb ventilation holes. This ensures maximum cooling, so the power supply should remain cool in almost any environment. Here’s the power cable connection, power switch and also a switch for turning the fans LED’s on or off. These power supplies have plenty of long leads and they are all sleeved which reduces the cable mess inside the case and will improve their flow. Unfortunately though, power supplies don’t have a modular design rather all the leads are hard wired into the power supply and can't be removed, modularity is usually preferred because only the LED’s that are required are connected. Thus, unused cables are not cluttering up the case.
Finally, have a listen to the 120-millimeter fan. Both of this power supplies perform very well, they are made from quality components that have a very quite 120 millimeter fan, overall I would give this 650 watt mod a great rating and the 750 watt model a kick ass rating, until next time. Take care.
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