Power supply Vinga 500W (VPS-500B)

"Why do you always test "gold" and "platinum"? An average computer user needs something simpler, more budget-friendly." If you've had such thoughts, then we're pleased to present the current review.

The power supply Vinga VPS-500B costs only about $50, and at this price, it is the most affordable 500W solution with an 80 PLUS Bronze certification and the ability to operate in a wide voltage range. Moreover, the manufacturer promises the presence of Taiwanese capacitors and a 3-year warranty. Well, it's definitely worth taking a look inside the device and testing it on a real configuration, which is exactly what we did.

Specification

Packaging and Delivery Set  

If in the case of previously tested Vinga sources the packaging modestly omitted the capabilities of the devices, here the manufacturer decided to boast about the electrical table and indicated the applied protections - here they are, the little things that were so lacking.

The delivery set includes a power cable, standard screws, and a couple of cable ties. Considering the price, nothing more is needed.

Appearance

The ordinary appearance of the Vinga VPS-500B and quite adequate dimensions won't allow you to quickly identify the manufacturer. However, there will be no problems with installation, and the common black color will blend into the vast majority of modern cases.

Inside, there is a 120 mm fan. We have the usual "grill" type grid - no brand sophistication, everything is simple and the source does not suffer from it.

The rear part is filled with honeycomb holes, through which heated air is expelled instead of bees. There is also space for the input power socket and the power button.

The most interesting external element of the PSU is the sticker with a list of electrical characteristics. The maximum load on the device can reach 500W, and almost 99% of it can be provided by the most demanded +12V line. A maximum of 70W is allocated for the +5V and +3.3V channels - a small figure, but this power should be quite sufficient. However, testing will allow us to make an informed conclusion on this matter.

All cables are directly output from the power supply - in a budget solution, we didn't expect anything else. There are no ribbons, but there is nylon braiding, fixed with heat shrink. The wire gauge was chosen with a thickness margin - 18 AWG (1.02 mm in diameter with a cross-sectional area of 0.82 mm²). Their length will easily help with hidden installation.

The complete cable system configuration looks like this:

The main connectors are represented by a 20+4-pin ATX and a 4+4-pin ATX12V. Almost any graphics card can be connected using two 6+2-pin PCIe connectors, and six SATA (on two separate wires) and three PATA with FDD are provided for powering peripherals.

Internal Structure

To access the inside of the case, only 4 screws needed to be unscrewed. We immediately note the good passive cooling - two radiators are quite large, and several rows of fins significantly increase the heat dissipation area.

The internals are cooled by a 120-mm fan Aobos AAM1225S1AN (12 V, 0.16 A, 1.92 W), apparently based on a sleeve bearing. We have already seen a solution with a similar designation inside the 550-watt PSU Vinga VPS-550G, but there it consumed slightly more power - 2.64 W.

The electromagnetic interference filter includes four Y- and two X-capacitors, a pair of chokes, and a ferrite barrel at the input terminal. There is also a fuse and an important component such as a varistor (model STE-14D561K), located behind the radiator. Overall, this unit is well-executed, which is usually not typical for budget devices.

Voltage rectification is performed by a diode bridge GBU1006, rated for a current of up to 10 A. Since this element is attached to the main radiator, we are not worried about its heating and preservation.

Also on the radiator are the power elements of the PFC unit: a diode CMPFCD86 and a pair of transistors SIF15N50C. The latter have an on-resistance of 490 mOhm, which is quite high. The lower it is, the more energy-efficient the source will be.

Next to the APFC module choke is the input electrolytic ChengX (220 μF x 450 V). The packaging claims the use of Taiwanese capacitors, but we couldn't determine the place of manufacture of this element. Its quality is rated as low online. As for the 220 μF capacity, this is a relatively small value. Inside 500-W solutions, even at a budget level, elements of 270-330 μF are often found. However, belonging to the high-temperature series still gives some reason for joy when reviewing this unit.

The operation of the source is controlled by the PWM controller ST L6599. It is specifically designed for use in PSUs with a half-bridge topology, which is also used in the tested model.

A thermal sensor is fixed on the second radiator, whose readings determine the fan's rotation speed. The heatsink dissipates heat from the Schottky diodes, which are represented here by 4 pieces: a pair for the +12 V line and one each for the smaller ratings.

The label indicates the maximum current for each channel. How accurate are the stated figures? Let's calculate.

The maximum current is calculated using the formula I/(1 - D), where D is the duty cycle used (assumed to be 30%, i.e., 0.3), and I is the maximum current supported by the rectifying diode.

+12V Line

The average rectified current of the Schottky diode MOSP S30D45CS is 15 A. Since we have two diodes connected in parallel, the total current is 30 A. Substituting into the formula: 30 A/(1-0.3)=42.9 A.

Multiply by the channel rating to get the allowable power: 42.9 A * 12 V = 514.8 W. Excellent value, even higher than stated!

Also note the low maximum voltage drop across the diode - only 0.55 V, which positively affects the heating and energy efficiency of the device as a whole.

+5V Line

The average rectified current of the Schottky diode MBR3045CT is 15 A. Substituting into the formula: 15 A / (1 - 0.3) = 21.4 A.

Multiply by the channel rating to get the allowable power: 21.4 A * 5 V = 107 W. Higher than the stated figure, so it's a pass!

The maximum voltage drop here is higher - 0.62 V, but this figure is still good - we've encountered elements with a value of 0.84 V! Of course, not in bronze solutions...

+3.3V Line

The markings on the transistor were not visible. It seems that an analogous +5V channel model is used, in which case we have the same current of 21.4 A, only multiplied by 3.3 V. As a result, we get 70.6 W.

Overall, the obtained indicators are noticeably higher than stated. We wouldn't be surprised if the Vinga VPS-500B can operate even under overload, which is rare in this price range.

Voltage stabilization is carried out on a group principle. We have two coils that should withstand quite a large load.

The element base of the filtration unit also has ChengX capacitors. However, there are also a couple of reliable solid-state solutions.

The packaging indicates the presence of five different protections designed to preserve your components in case of non-standard situations:

• overvoltage protection (OVP);
• undervoltage protection (UVP);
• short circuit protection (SCP);
• overpower protection (OPP);
• inrush current protection (SIP).

Cross-load characteristics

According to the ATX12V standard, the permissible range of voltage deviations for all power lines is ± 5% of their nominal value.

During cross-load tests on the main power lines of the Vinga VPS-500B, the following voltage deviations were recorded:

• +3.3 line: from -1% to +3%;
• +5 line: from +1% to +3%;
• +12V line: from -2% to +1%.

Voltage stabilization was at an appropriate level - deviations on all three lines did not exceed permissible norms. And their maximum indicator was only 3% with a 5% tolerance.

Noise and ripple across the entire voltage range

For the ATX12V standard, the following permissible norms regarding ripple levels (peak-to-peak) are provided:

• +3.3V and +5V lines: 50 mV;
• +12V line: 120 mV.

Ripple is also in order - their low level left a quite pleasant impression, again, on all three channels.

Standby power line +5VSB

The voltage on the standby power line of the Vinga VPS-500 varies within permissible limits depending on the load: from 5.21 to 5.18 V, not exceeding ± 5%.

PFC

Table showing the change in PFC depending on the power supply load:

Load* − load as a percentage of the power supply's nominal power.

In addition to the good state of voltages, we have a high PFC coefficient. Already at a consumed power of 150 W, it reached 0.94, while the maximum value of 0.99 was recorded at a load of over 350 W.

Efficiency

And how about energy efficiency? As per tradition, we checked this aspect, and the Vinga VPS-500B does not give cause for concern - the device fully complies with the declared 80 PLUS Bronze standard.

The most efficient source was found to be at half load of 250 W, which is close to the power consumption of a system unit based on a 65- or 95-watt processor and a graphics card at the level of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060. In this mode, the fan will have to dissipate 38 W of heat, while at nominal load (500 W) this figure will reach 88 W.

Cooling System and Temperature Mode

The noise level of the device can be indirectly assessed by the fan speed at different load levels. The interval after which the fan speed was measured and the subsequent power increase was about twenty minutes. The measurement results are marked with points on the graph. At the same time, the ambient temperature for the power supply was approximately 27°C. It should be noted that the air inside the computer case may be somewhat hotter, with a temperature of 40°C being quite acceptable. At the same time, the load created by the computer system is variable, which facilitates the temperature mode of the power supply.

The fan in the Vinga VPS-500B power supply is set up quite interestingly. At a load of up to 300 W, it rotates very quietly at a speed of 400-450 RPM. Then the fan speed sharply increases in the range from 300 to 345 W, reaching a nominal mode of 1450 RPM. After this, with an increase in load, the rotation speed does not change, and the noise remains very comfortable, at a level below average.

At nominal load and a rotation speed of 1450 RPM, the highest temperature was observed at the main transformer - 82°C. Recall that these indicators were obtained under prolonged constant load, so in real conditions with variable load, they will be even lower.

Extraneous Noise During Power Supply Operation

As practice has shown, throughout the entire range of nominal power, the Vinga VPS-500B does not produce additional noise in the form of annoying coil whine or characteristic transformer hum.

OverLOAD

The load on the tested model was increased to 600 W (+20% to nominal). At the same time, the output voltages still remained within the norm, and the source operated properly.

Practical Tests on a Real Configuration

For building a real computer system, a powerful 6-core processor Intel Core i7-4960X operating in nominal mode was used. As a video accelerator, we used a rather power-hungry model ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 AMP! with factory overclocking. Note that the purpose of this experiment is to reproduce real loads of a productive PC and check how the power supply works in practice.

Measurements were carried out in two modes: "Idle" and "Maximum Load," which was created using the utilities Linpack and FurMark 1.10.4. During testing, the total power consumption of the system was measured using the Seasonic PowerAngel device, and the voltage on the +12V, +5V, and +3.3V power lines was recorded using the MASTECH MY64 multimeter.

As a result of measuring the power supply voltage on the output lines, the following values were obtained:

The output voltages of the Vinga VPS-500B during testing on a real configuration do not exceed the permissible range. Both under load (Burn mode) and when the system is idle (Idle mode), there are no drops below the nominal, and the deviations themselves are a maximum of 0.02 V, which is very small. However, the +3.3V line indicators are still close to the maximum allowable mark of 3.47 V.

Power consumption in idle and off state of the computer

The power consumption of the tested power supply in the off state of the computer and in sleep mode corresponds to the indicators of other power sources of similar capacity that have been in our test lab.

Conclusions

Priced at less than $50, the Vinga VPS-500B power supply turned out to be a very interesting representative of the budget segment. Its main advantage is the ability not only to deliver the claimed 500 W of power (and even more) but also to demonstrate high-quality power delivery with no voltage drops. It also has a good level of efficiency and the ability to operate in a wide range of network voltages, for which it deservedly received the 80 PLUS Bronze certification. The presence of a full-fledged EMI filter with all components, a number of protections, long and thick wires in nylon braid with a sufficient number of relevant connectors is also pleasing - in many ways, the Vinga VPS-500B is an example to follow.

However, let's not forget that this is a budget model with the usual savings for this price category. Yes, the capacitors used do not have the best reputation, although the 3-year warranty from the manufacturer still allows you not to worry about the device's failure for some time. As for the fan operation, it will not disturb you with noise. However, under certain loads (up to 300 W), increased heating of components is possible due to low rotation frequencies. In fairness, we note that at loads above 350 W, the fan accelerates to the nominal 1450 rpm, and in this mode, the heating of internal elements is far from critical.

Advantages:

• high efficiency level (80 PLUS Bronze certification);
• presence of a large power reserve (at least +20%);
• good voltage condition on power lines;
• small deviations when changing the load on the 12-volt channel without drops below the nominal;
• presence of a full EMI filter;
• low ripple;
• presence of a number of protections;
• ability to operate in a wide range of network voltages;
• low power consumption in sleep mode and when the computer is off;
• use of long wires in nylon braid;
• quite quiet cooling system;
• active reactive power compensation method.

Features:

• use of capacitors with not the best reputation.

Author: Oles Paholok 
Translation: Liliya Masyuk

We express our gratitude to ASUS, Intel, Thermalright, Transcend, Western Digital and ZOTAC for the equipment provided for the test bench.