Testing:

The test system used has some power hungry components by today's latest "Green" standards. All of the components draw a bit more wattage which should help push the power supply harder. If you have the latest energy efficient components, this PSU will probably be more than you realistically need.

Ok, testing with the Power Angel shows the typical power consumption and efficiency under regular system use. The Zalman ZM-MFC2 Fan Controller also provided the amount of wattage being produced by the power supply.

Idle wattage was about 315 Watts keeping the system out of Standby or Sleep modes. At idle all the rails were well within their prospective ratings. There was very little change in the +3.3V and +5V rails, while the +12V1 and +12V2 were only separated by .01 Volts. Otherwise, voltages were steady which is to be expected at idle. Any major fluctuations at idle usually indicates some dirty power.

Under full load, the system was just beginning to draw 490 Watts. At this load, the rails are right for measuring. This is where everything should be monitored for voltage fluctuations or drops that are too low for the rated rail. In other words, you don't want your +12V rail fluctuating up and down too much. For instance, instant 11.95 to 12.10 Volt fluctuations can cause system instability even if there is enough voltage being produced.

The voltages were actually very steady with miniscule variance being reported by my trusty meter. The +12V rails maintained a strong level ranging between 12.09 to 12.13 Volts at it's highest load tests. And the +3.3V and +5V rail held true the entire time never going below specs. This is a tough feat when you push a PSU to 100% and beyond.

How much higher can the power supply go? Well, at 525 Watts, the rails were 11.98, 5.04, and 3.35 Volts respectively again with very steady voltages. This was the maximum wattage the PSU would produce. Anything higher and the protection circuitry would power down the PSU.

If this 500 Watt PSU can do so well, I can't help but be curious how well the ECS7001 would perform. If the series is this strong, it could very well place them in the top performers bracket. Perhaps, we'll have an opportunity to put those internal caps to the test in the future to see.

Conclusion:

So, who needs only 500 Watts of power? And what kind of system would benefit from this rated PSU? The ECS5001 is aimed for users needing the cleanest, most stable power rails for a more entry level gaming system. This PSU would also work fantastic for a server based system. To give you a better picture, I've used my Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad, ASUS Blitz Formula motherboard, 2GB Patriot 1150MHz DDR2 memory, EVGA 8800 GTS 320MB Superclocked, 2 x 160GB SATA II drives, and 1 x ASUS DVD R/RW Dual Layer drive and the system just pulled 500 true watts.

The system refused to operate on just any 500 Watt PSU. Anything not rated for 80% efficiency and offered a good level of quality would just not work. I have no doubt that the ECS5001 can easily power any one of my test systems without issue 24/7.

A Powerful, Clean, Performer!

I suspect that the PSU could very well handle more, but that wouldn't coincide with the PSU's rating. The fact that the NesteQ ECS5001 500 Watt Power Supply can produce even more voltage without a performance hit is always note worthy. This is really the most important thing when shopping for a top notch power supply.

The price tag of the NesteQ ECS5001 comes in at around $115.00 which seems a little high given the wattage. It's right at about that mark where some users who aren't so worried about reliability will opt for a little bigger wattage PSU in another name. However, you're not going to find this sturdy a power supply for much less these days.

Can I recommend the NesteQ ECS Series Power Supplies to anyone including the enthusiasts? Definitely! If your system requires more power or if you have a newer Quad Core Extreme and 8800s in SLI, you'll want to consider something more powerful like their ECS6001 or ECS7001. Otherwise, the ECS5001 won't disappoint any expectations. A big thanks to Acoustic PC for bringing us something surprisingly new.

Got News? Send 'em in!