So did you happen to get a nice new
powerful video card for Christmas? I hope your power supply is up to
the job of handling it, if not the product I’ve got for review today
might interest you.
Today for review I’ve got a
supplemental power supply from FSPGroup called the Booster X5, it’s a
450 watt PSU that fits into a 5.25” bay of your case, it’s made
just for your video cards with four PCIE power connections built in.
The idea behind this product is to give the user a little extra power
for those newer, power hungry video cards, it’s a great way to
supplement your standard power supply if it can’t handle it instead
of going and buying an entire new power supply for your system.
Product
Name: FSP
Booster X5 450Watt Multi-GPU Power Supply
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: FSPGroup
Tech
Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
FSP
Booster X5 450Watt Multi-GPU Power Supply
Powerful ADD.ON To Enhance Your
PC.GAMING System Performance | WITHOUT THE HASSLE
DEDICATED MULTI.GPU POWER
BOOSTERX 5 QUAD PCI.E OUTPUT
45O.WATT (500.WATT MAX.) TOTAL
OUTPUT
SAFETY: UL, CSA, VDE, NEMKO,
CNS, CE, CB, FCC
FULL RANGE INPUT / OVP / OVP /
SCP OUTPUT
RoHS / LEAD.FREE / GREEN
PRODUCT
2-YEAR QUALITY ASSURANCE
WARRANTY
Features:
QUAD PCI-EXPRESS
2X(6.PIN)+2X(8.PIN)
INDEPENDENT POWER.BOOST TO ATX
PSU
DUAL FRONT IN.TAKE COOLING FANS
.99 ACTIVE.PFC | ULTRA-HIGH
EFFICIENCY
5.25″ STANDARD DRIVEBAY
TYPE ADD.ON
NVIDIA SLI READY CERTIFIED
PENDING
7-COLOR SWITCHABLE FRONT PANEL
AUTO POWER RECOVERY SYSTEM
COMPLETE INSTALLATION KIT
SPECIFICATIONS:
EFFICIENCY: 85%+
LOW RIPPLE | LOW OPERATING
NOISE
OPERATING TEMPERATURE: 0 TO
+50C
STORAGE TEMPERATURE: -20 TO
+65C
HUMIDITY: 10-90% NON.CONDENSING
OVP: OVER VOLTAGE OUTPUT
PROTECTION
OCP: OVER CURRENT OUTPUT
PROTECTION
SCP: SHORT CIRCUIT OUTPUT
PROTECTION
100% HI.POT TESTED
MTBF: 100,000 HOURS @ 25C
AMBIENT
OUTPUT.CONNECTORS:
STANDARD PCI-EXPRESS 6.PIN ::
2 OUTPUTS
ADVANCED PCI-EXPRESS 8.PIN :: 2
OUTPUTS
INPUT :
FULL RANGE INPUT (U.S.) /
WORLDWIDE
PATENTED INPUT FUSE PROTECTION
BUILT-IN
{mospagebreak title=Unboxing Video and Still Pictures}
Unboxing
Video and Stills:
{mospagebreak title=Installation and Testing}
Installation and Testing:
I installed the Booster X5 in my
main system since I’ve got two video cards running, one is a Diamond
Radeon 4870 1gig powering my Envision 22” LCD monitor and as a
secondary card I’ve got a Connect3D X1800GTO powering two 17” LCD
monitors. The Diamond card requires two PCIE connectors while the
Connect3d card requires only one.
The X on the front of the Booster
X5 is actually a button that allows you to change the colors of the X
to match your case or suit your moods. There are also two small fans
on either side of the X as well that act as intake fans to cool the
power supply internals, they’re fairly quiet, adding only minimal
noise to the case overall.
Installation is easy, it installs
in a 5.25” bay, since it’s a power supply I mounted it in the top
most bay because, as we know, heat rises. As we saw in the video and
still pictures, there is a pass though PCI bracket for the power of
the Booster X5, it gets connected separately from the system to your
wall outlet.
One thing I noticed is that the
power connector is only a two prong, I would think that since this is
a power supply it would be the standard three prong grounded type but
it’s not, though most of us are or should be using some sort of
grounded power strip for our systems so it’s not that big of a deal
The Booster X5 seems to work fine,
I used it while playing games and going about my daily business and
had no problems at all, though since I’ve got a 750 Watt Corsair
power supply in the system I don’t have much need for a Booster like
this in my system personally, but I can see where it might make a
nice addition for someones system where they need something to power
their video cads but just can’t afford a new, larger power supply.
FSP is a well known and respected company when it comes to making
power supplies so it should be reliable and dependable.
The Booster X5 is available for $76.49 direct from FSP here: http://www.shopfsp.com/
Summary
and Comments:
The FSPGroup Booster X5 seems to
get the job done at powering video cards, it’s a great way to add
more power to your system if you need it. The Booster X5 is something
that can take the load off of your system PSU, or add more power to
your system if your main PSU can’t handle the load of these new power
hungry GPUs on the market today. It’s a nice option instead of going
out and buying a new PSU for you system, you can just add this in and
you’re all set.
DragonSteelMods gives the FSP
Booster X5 450Watt Multi-GPU Power Supply a 4.5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Colors change on panel
-Seems well made
-Works as it should
-Relatively quiet
Cons:
-Not grounded
I
would like to thank FSPGroup for the chance to review the Booster
X5 and for their support of DSM.
review# 543