Spire SP-ATX-600W Power Supply

For testing I’m using a SunMoon SM-268+ ATE (active test equipment) to load up to six rails at five preset loads. I’m also using a USB Instruments DS12M Stingray USB O-scope to log the ripple which I’m saving as an image file.

The results are a mixed bag at best just going by the voltages. The 12V rails dipped to borderline ATX spec (11.40 for 5%) under full load and the 3.3V got very close to the limit of the spec as well. The 5V stayed further above spec than either of the the other three but it still dropped .14V through the course of the load tests.

Now, what you aren’t seeing here and won’t see in the ripple results is the very poor voltage stability. The rails fluctuated by hundredths of volts at a slow enough rate to not show up as ripple but fast enough to result in bouncing voltages. The voltages I’ve listed are an average of the highest and the lowest voltages I saw during tests four and five.

During tests 1-3 the voltages looked pretty stable. Now, the fan never got loud during the tests but I think a bit more voltage to the fan wouldn’t be a bad thing as I started smelling the odor of cooking electronics at tests four and five. During test five the unit was pulling so much juice from the wall (800W) that it coupled with a window mount AC unit actually tripped a breaker. The RocketeerIV did restart and finish the test after I reset the breaker so that is to it’s credit. Although I’m not willing to place bets on how much longer it would have survived under full load.

SP-ATX-600W	+3.3V	+5V	+12V1	+12V2
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Test 4
Test 5

Surprisingly the Rocketeer IV does fairly well on ripple with the 12V rails reaching about 65mV on test 5 and the 5V rail hitting about 47mV. The 3.3V rail stayed the cleanest at a mere 37mV at test 5 so all the rails were under the ATX spec of 50mV for the 3.3V and 5V rails and 120mV for the 12V rails. Truly remarkable considering the lack of filtering on the AC side. Still, the stability of the rails is enough to negate the good ripple results because even if the rails are fairly clean the voltages have more wobble than a drunk on a bicycle.

The Spire Rocketeer is basically an also ran. It’s got the goods to be called a 450W PSU but by no means is it a reliable 600W unit. It’s better than bundled PSU’s but that’s about it, it’s not really worth consideration for a serious gaming PC. When I add up the lackluster performance, the basic appearance and lack of sleeving I’d be hard pressed to recommend this PSU to anyone under any circumstances. That said I’m awarding the Spire Rocketeer IV SP-ATX-600W a 4/10 and relegating it to the "only in times of dire need" category. It’s simply a "it’ll work until you get something better" PSU.

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