NZXT HALE90 Modular Power Supply

Introduction:

“Environmentally Friendly” and “Green-wise”, probably weren’t your top concerns when building your dual video card, full towered space heating, monstrosity. Then you got your first power bill.  Introducing NZXT’s new line-up of 80+ GOLD certified power supplies. 80plus.org is in the business of certifying the power efficiency and consistency of power supply units.

NZXT’s HALE 90 750watt Modular PSU

“NZXT introduces the 80+ gold certified HALE90 series built from the ground up specifically customized for gamers and enthusiasts and offers incredibly efficient operation that will meet the needs of even the most power hungry enthusiasts.”

Join us as we explore the HALE, we are going to compare it side by side with another power supply to see if all the “Green” hype makes a quantitative difference.

Features:

Here is the features list from NZXT’s Site

• 80+ Gold certified: The HALE 90 series from NZXT operates at ultra high efficiency, at 20%, 50% and 100% loads, efficiencies are 87%, 90%, and 87% respectively.
• Single140mm two ball-bearing fan operates with minimal noise even at full load. Maximum decibel levels are 20db for wattages between 550-750W and 30db for 850W and above.
• Strong Single Rail Design: A single +12V rail provides stability and ease of use making the most out of your power supply. Offers stable & clean current delivery under heavy load.
• Modular cable design: Modular cable design allows the user to pick and choose which cables they want to use, optimizing cable management and airflow inside the chassis. Flat cables allow for easier routing and bending inside the computer chassis during wire management.
• Hybrid LLC resonant Topology circuitry allows the HALE series to create highly efficient power supplies ranging from 550W-> 1000W.
• Full range Design from 100V – 250V with Active PFC.
• 100% Japanese Capacitors: High quality components for longer life time and better reliability.
• Latest CPU support for all the latest INTEL and AMD CPUs like Corei7, i5, AMD Phenom II X4, X3.
• Latest GPU support, ideal for latest DX11 GPUs and comes with 8pin and 8(6+2) pin PCI-E connectors.
• Large tower support: The Hale Series of power supplies have extended 8pin CPU connectors for wire management in large cases which have PSUs mounted at the bottom.
• Compliance with ATX 12V v2.2, EPS 12V v2.91, and SSI EPS 12V v2.92 Specifications.
• Environmentally Responsible: Consuming less than 1W during shut off status Complies with the newest EuP ( Energy-using Products) requirements and USA Energy star standards.
• Continuous Power: The HALE 90 series listed wattage is the continuous operating wattage.
• Keeping it safe: The HALE series offers over voltage, current, power, under voltage, and short circuit protection. The power supply will automatically shutdown to prevent any damage to your system or misuse.
• Warranty: 5 Years

This feature set is quite impressive, at first glance it looks like a remarkably comprehensive design. I took particular note of the long 8 pin chord with bottom mount psu cases in mind. This is a particular sore spot for most enthusiasts. In some cases the best cable management falls victim to short cables. According to this NZXT has come to the rescue.

Specifications:

Connectors Included:

Again it is hard to see what they could have left out. I’m very eager to see what this actually looks like.

Packaging:

Top Face

Bottom

My first impression is that this box is heavy, this is a good thing. In my experience the weight of a power supply almost directly corresponds to its quality, and longevity. In that regards NZXT has made a bold statement by putting their warranty right on the front of the box. While this is by no means a new tactic, it goes to say something for their belief in the product.

The box itself is large, but doesn’t draw attention to any one area. The small window on the top of the box only gives a small glimmer of the product itself. It was difficult not to rip this open as soon as it came in.

Inside the package is very well secured, I foresee very few issues in shipment for this product. The contents are in your standard plastic bags, however the foam surrounding the psu on all sides is about half of an inch thick.

Having dealt with modular power supplies in the past there are no real surprises inside the box. Obviously the power supply is white, this distinctive look will defiantly stand out inside any case. It almost makes me wish for the days of black-light reactive bedrooms. The bag the modular plugs are contained in is made of a thick canvas, in the past i have seen these made of nylon or even mesh. The canvas is the better of the three options, as it will hold up over time. Kudos NZXT!

A Closer Look:

This isn’t the largest power supply I have seen but it would certainly be cramped in a small form factor system. The modular cables are pretty standard. The length is appropriate to suit most management systems I have encountered.

The ATX 8 pin is segmented so they only had to include one wire. This is nice it removes one additional cable you have to find a home for. My previous power supply had dedicated wires for both 4pin and 8 pin mother boards. You can see the typical modular output, 8 nodes for the included wires.

Instalation:

Test Rig:

• MotherBoard: Jetway HI06
• CPU: Intel i5-750
• GPU: Nvidia 9800GTX+
• Cooling: Thermaltake Frio
• Ram: Patriot Sector 5 Viper II DDR3

Installation of a power supply is very straightforward, there were no hiccups. And as promised the 550mm ATX cable allowed for significantly easier cable management than previous power supplies have.

As I did note before this power supply does have some size to it. It was no problem to place in my Thermaltake V3 mid tower case, however, I believe this could easily pose a problem if this were a smaller rig.

Testing:

The grading scale used to rate these power supplies is awarded by  80plus.org. Of the over 2300 power supplies rated by this organization, less than 300 are Gold plus certified, there is only one Power supply with a higher rating, and it appears to be server grade. This is a prestigious level to attain. Essentially the certification means that the power supply is at least 87% efficient all load capacities. In fact at 50% capacity these power supplies are 90% efficient. By comparison some cellphone chargers don’t reach 15% efficiency.

To test this power supply I used a Kill-A-Watt to compare the kilowatts per hour in comparison with my previous power supply an OCZ mod Xstream-Pro 700 watt.  Thus we will be able to see the real benefit (if any) of a 80+ gold certified power supply over a standard 80 Plus model.

Well the numbers don’t lie. There is a noticeable difference over simply an hours time between the two power supplies. I was surprised, its also important to note that my power requirements are quite meager by comparison to some systems with the new 400 series nVidia cards. I have been using the power supply for approximately four days and I have observed that my system temperature is two degrees cooler than it was previous. NZXT’s promise of a cooler, more efficient design holds up.

Here are two graphs from NZXT’s page detailing their results in the test environment. This power supply seems practically silent, I have had power supplies in the past that contributed significantly to the “wind tunnel” effect some people complain about on their rigs.

Conclusion:

When you look at the whole package, its hard to deny. The prospect of Having a unique, more power efficient power supply doesn’t have any drawbacks. Even excluding the increased power efficiency of this power supply, they have still included longer cabling for increased compatibility and airflow, a unique appearance, and a rock solid 5 year warranty. I am hard pressed to find drawbacks to this PSU. I frequently leave my system running, to perform any number of tasks I may not want to wait around for, while the power savings are seemingly marginal by comparison, they add up over time. Those savings alone probably won’t warrant everyone rushing out and replacing their existing 80plus; however with a power range from 550 to 1000 watts, you should defiantly consider NZXT’s HALE 90 line up for your power supply.

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