Sytrin Nextherm PSU460

Examination:

Beginning with the exterior of the Sytrin Nextherm PSU460 power supply, it utilized a high quality black casing, which in our tests appeared to be a quite durable coating. Its external appearance is somewhat similar to SilverStone Strider PSU units we have reviewed in the past. When it comes to active cooling with the PSU460, it utilizes two fans measuring in at 80mm and 92mm. These sleeve-bearing fans at the rear and bottom feature "Smart Cooling & Noise Control Design" with the PSU460. Sytrin's philosophy with their SCNC (Smart Cooling & Noise Control) solution is to increase both of the fan speeds (and ultimately noise and airflow) when the PSU wattage increases as well as the internal temperature. Thus, the PSU should be relatively quiet in less demanding environments, and while the PSU begins to heat up, the fan speeds will adjust accordingly. At the end of the power supply accompanying the 80mm exhaust fan is the power connector and power switch. No 115/230V power switch is needed as the Sytrin Nextherm PSU460 utilizes Active (PFC) Power Factor Correction rather than being passive. The sides of the unit remain relatively free of any air holes or other markings, while on one side is the Nextherm ICS-8200 PSU460 part sticker. The sticker contains the various specifications for AC and DC input/output with the voltage, current, frequency, and Amperage. Each of the dual +12V rails provide 18 Amps, thus in total there are 32A available and 384W on the +12V rail. NVIDIA's official SLI specifications recommend at least 350-420W with +12V @ 20A, while their most demanding specifications at this time call for 500-550W +12V @ 30A.

At the bottom of the power supply is the 92mm intake fan, as well as two stickers, with one reading "Breakage Invalid", which we take to mean as voiding the warranty for opening up the power supply. Moving onto the power connectors, the various interfaces include a main 20/24-pin ATX motherboard, one 8-pin ATX, one 4-pin ATX, six 4-pin molex, two FDD, two SATA, one PCI Express, one fan monitor, one 4-pin molex (dedicated for use with the PC AirCon cooling), and one PSU signal output connector. With the Nextherm PSU460 originally being devised for use with the Nextherm ICS-8200 chassis, the blue colored connector is designed for use with the PC AirCon thermo-electric cooling and the PSU signal output is designed for Wattage monitoring, however, the power supply unit should be compatible with any ATX chassis. The product features for the PSU460 does state the unit is NVIDIA SLI PCI Express supportive, however, there is only a single 6-pin PCI Express connector, thus rendering the device inoperable using SLI with the 6800 series or higher, unless of course a molex to PCI Express adapter was used. The Sytrin Nextherm PSU460 460W, is NOT officially endorsed by NVIDIA for SLI usage, or ATI for CrossFire usage. Another area for possible concern is the lack of Serial ATA power connectors. With the PSU460, only two SATA interfaces can be found, which may be enough for some users, however, for being dubbed a "High-end Server Level Power" we certainly would have expected to see additional connectors, likewise, molex to SATA power adapters could be used. One of the benefits, however, to the cabling with the Sytrin PSU460, is the cable sleeving. Unlike some power supplies that only sleeve the main connections, all of the cables extruding from the 460W power supply are sleeved in a black mesh material.

Voiding the "Breakage Invalid" sticker, we opened up the Sytrin Nextherm PSU460 460W power supply unit. Removing the top portion of the case, we were greeted by two aluminum heatsinks with copper running through the middle portion of the cooling setup. The 92mm Globe Fan used with the PSU460, is attached to the power supply through a 2-pin fan connector, which is indeed removable if you wish to swap out the fans. As far as the internal layout goes, some areas are crowded more than other power devices in our facilities, but there should be sufficient airflow inside of the Sytrin Nextherm PSU. As mentioned above, the PSU460 utilizes two fans of sizes 80 and 92mm. These sleeve bearing fans, at the rear and bottom, are covered by chrome fan grills, are produced by Globe Fan with a part number of S07138812M and S01138812H. The 92mm S07138812M is rated for 52.2 CFM @ 32.8 dBA with 2500RPMs, while the 80mm S01138812H is rated for 39.80CFM @ 32.6 dBA with 3000 RPM.