Nexus NX-8040 400W Power Supply Review

Table of Contents:

Intro
1- Packaging
2- Exterior Impressions
3- Interior Impressions
4- Output Characteristics

Performance Tests
5- Efficiency Testing
6- Voltage Regulation Testing:
7- +12V AC Ripple Testing
8- Noise and Heat

9- Conclusion


Product Number: NX-8040
Price: $111.89 at Directcanada
Packaging: Retail
Fan Size: 1x 120mm
Warranty: 2 Years
Availability: Now


Cable Lengths and Connectors:

- Molex: 7 Connectors (modular)
o 2x 25 ½” (2 connectors)
o 1x 31” (3 connectors)

- SATA: 6 Connectors (modular)
o 2x 31” length (3 connectors each)

- PCI-E 6-Pin: 2 Connectors (1 modular)
o 2x 20” length

- 4-Pin Floppy: 1 Connector
o 1x 31” length (at end of one 25 ½” Molex cable)

- 20+4 ATX Connector: 18 ½” length

- 4+4 Pin CPU connector: 2 Connectors (1 modular)
o 2x 20” length



Nexus is a relatively young company which was established back in 2000 in the Netherlands. Their primary focus for the last few years has been on processor, case and chipset cooling with a few forays into watercooling and case design. They have also been releasing power supplies as well and within the last few months they have released a whole new lineup of high-efficiency, low-noise units in 400W, 500W and 600W outputs. Here is what they have to say about these power supplies:

Nexus power supplies are designed to provide your PC stable and efficient power to guarantee perfect PC performance. Yet we have set everything to work to make these power supplies the quietest in the market. By using high quality components and performing a 100% burn-in and functionality test these power supplies are guaranteed to comply with our high standards. So we are proud to be able to say that Nexus power supplies have the lowest defective rate and are amongst the most reliable power supplies in the market.

Even though Nexus is a newcomer to the power supply scene, this does not stop them from loading up all of their power supplies with some pretty impressive features. All of their new power supplies feature APFC, modular cables and 80Plus certification just to name a few of the highlights. I highly recommend you check out their product page for more info: The Nexus NX-8040 Real Silent Power Supply 400 Watt - 80 Plus with modular cables

All of their new power supplies are FSP-built and carry a 2-year warranty. The warranty length is a bit of a disappointment considering many of their competitors attach 3-year warranties to their products. In addition, at nearly $112CAD, the 400W unit we are reviewing here today is extremely expensive when compared to even some high-performing 500W power supplies. Is the price premium justified? Read on to find out….


1- Packaging


The packaging of the Nexus 400W really does not leave much to the imagination since every single bit of information you could want is written clearly on the box. The front has a throw-back to the supposedly silent running of the power supply with what looks to be someone’s mother telling them to shut their trap. Nexus has seen fit to describe every feature with detail on the back of the box as well as giving other information like the output capabilities.


Here at Hardwarecanucks we have seen two ends of the packaging spectrum: packaging that could stop a liter of nitroglycerin from making a hole in the world and at the other end of the spectrum, packaging that needs some serious beefing up. Unfortunately, this Nexus power supply falls into the category of "where is the the protection?" with typical FSP-style packaging which protects…nothing. The power supply is free to move whatever way in the box which could be a real pain for anyone who is familiar with UPS’s style of shipping-box brutalization.

Interestingly, even though this power supply is priced quite high, the accessories you get are paltry at best. You get the modular cables and some mounting screws with nary a power cord, instruction manual, modular cable carrying pouch nor case sticker in sight. There is really nothing extra included that would take away some of the sting of coughing up $112 for a 400W power supply.


2- Exterior Impressions


The Nexus power supply is encased in a sleek black powder coated finish which surrounds a 120mm center-mounted fan. The housing is slightly longer than that of a standard power supply but this is something that is present in nearly all modular power supplies. The only cables which are not modular are the fully-sleeved 20+4 pin ATX cable, one PCI-E and the 4+4 pin CPU connector. All in all, the finish ion this power supply is thankfully muted and it runs well with its supposed stealthy-running characteristic.

The modular interface holds the usual suspects with connectors which correspond to each type of connector though there is one surprise. You can see that there is a space for a SECOND CPU connector and indeed an additional connector is provided in the bundle of modular cables. Out of all the power supplies that we have reviewed here, this is the first that can potentially be used for a quad CPU server or workstation motherboard.


Unlike some competitors, Nexus sleeves the cables which are attached directly to the power supply all the way into the housing and then protects them with a plastic grommet. This works well to protect the sleeving from what could be some sharp casing edges around the cable pass-thorough hole.

All of the modular cables are sleeved as well and are of a good length. As mentioned before, there is an extra CPU cable and PCI-E connector which can be used to run SLI. Both of these extra connectors are hardly ever seen on a 400W power supply and their inclusion here speaks volumes about Nexus’ confidence in this power supply.


3- Interior Impressions


Spartan layouts are the hallmark of FSP-built power supplies and this one is no different. Like many of the FSP units we have looked at in the past, this one carries a single OST primary cap and a combination of CapXon and Teapo caps on the secondary. The heatsinks are extremely small but this is par for the course on a 400W power supply. This unit seems to be an FSP Epsilon unit which is also used for OCZ GameXstreams.

The PCB holds some interesting information; the PCB is used for FSP-built power supplies ranging from 500W all the way up to 1010W but there is no mention of it being used for a 400W unit. I wonder how all of those people who bought the FSP made OCZ GameXstream 1010W will feel when they realize their power supply is built around the same chassis as a 400W Nexus unit……


The modular interface is VERY cleanly laid out without any excess solder. This is actually one of the better modular interfaces we have seen in terms of overall build quality.


4- Output Characteristics


The rail breakdown of the Nexus 400W is reminiscent of all of the other FSP Epsilon units; it has 4 +12V rails rated at 18A each for a total of 380W available on the +12V, +5V and +3.3V rails combined. This is one situation where that whole “combined rails” rating Nvidia and ATI give for their graphics card power recommendations should get thrown out the window. Even though (according to the GPU manufacturers’ completely misleading information) this power supply should have enough amperage to power a pair of 8800GTX cards, this is hardly the case. While it looks like this Nexus power supply can put out quite a bit of power, the 380W combined rating is what should be taken into account. Nonetheless, Nexus has a 400W power supply that seems to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.



PERFORMANCE TESTS:

Instruments Used:

Belkin 1100VA UPS
Rexus PSU tester
Fluke 187 Digital Multimeter
UPM Power Meter
USB Instruments Stingray USB O-Scope
USB Instruments Differential oscilloscope probe

Test Platform:

DFI Lanparty SLI-DR Expert
AMD X2 3800+ (at 2.6Ghz)
2GB Corsair PC4000 Ram (at 520Mhz)
EVGA 8800GTS (Stock, OC 650/1900, SLI, SLI OC 650/1800)
1x Samsung Spinpoint 250GB SATA Hard drive
Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570 Case
Pioneer DVD Writer
4X 120mm Noctua NF-S12-1200 fans

Important note:

Because of processor limitation, 8800GTS cards in SLI are seriously bottlenecked in Company of Heroes. Thus, while they still drew quite a high amount of power, when coupled with a higher end system or playing at higher resolutions they would probably draw much more.
One way or another, I would NOT recommend anything under a good 700W power supply for a pair of 8800GTS cards. These tests are done as benchmarks ONLY.


5- Efficiency Testing:

To test efficiency, plugged in the UPM power meter to the Belkin UPS and the highest sustained AC power consumption was recorded over the 1 hour test period. All tests were run twice and if there were anomalies, the test was run a third time. All “Startup” results are the peak power output required while powering on the computer between the POST screen and a usable Windows XP desktop.

The first efficiency test’s “Load” value was done with an overclocked processor and the graphics card at stock speeds while running Company of Heroes. The values are the highest peak power draw over the 1 hour test period.

The second efficiency test’s “Load” value was done with an overclocked processor and a heavily overclocked (both 2D and 3D overclocked to the same value) graphics card. Company of Heroes was played while Orthos was running on the processor in the background.

The third efficiency test was run with 2 8800GTS 320MB cards in SLI running at stock speeds with the processor overclocked to 2.6Ghz. Company of Heroes was then run for 1 hour to determine load values.


Efficiency Test #1




Efficiency Test #2




Efficiency Test #3



Before delving into the efficiency numbers I think a few points should be mentioned about the shear potential of this seemingly tiny power supply. While it is most definitely NOT recommended to run these kinds of loads (8800GTS in SLI) on this power supply for any extended period of time, the fact that it ran both cards at all is incredible. In addition, the fact that the Nexus 400W power supply was able to provide this kind of efficient performance while running this kind of hardware left me gob smacked. I tried the same SLI tests with an FSP 400W and an Antec Smartpower 450W and both of those power supplies tapped out long before the Nexus did.

After dragging myself out of a state of unexpected performance-induced euphoria, the efficiency tests were begun. Stunningly, the Nexus 400W provided great efficiency while holding up the weight of a pair of 8800GTS cards. All across the board, this power supply showed that it has the muscle to back up its 80Plus certification.


6- Voltage Regulation Testing:

To test voltage regulation I used the same tests as the efficiency. All tests were done over two tests of 1 hour where the voltage drops were logged with the Fluke 187 multimeter. The multimeter was installed directly on a plugged PCI-E connector for the +12V tests and a SATA connector for the +5V and +3.3V tests. The tests were as follows:

The “Idle” value was done with an overclocked processor and the graphics card at stock speeds while running the Windows Desktop.

The “Load” value was done with an overclocked processor and the graphics card at stock speeds while running Company of Heroes.

The “Load (OC)” value was done with an overclocked processor and a heavily overclocked (both 2D and 3D overclocked to the same value) graphics card. Company of Heroes was played while Orthos was running on the processor in the background.

The “Load (SLI)” value was run with 2 8800GTS 320MB cards in SLI running at stock speeds with the processor overclocked to 2.6Ghz. Company of Heroes was then run for 1 hour to determine load values.


+5V / +3.3V Voltage Regulation:

Once again, I am going to keep this short and sweet; because I do not have (and the typical user does not have either) enough components that draw power from the +5V and +3.3V rails in order to stress them. Thus, I did conduct the tests with the system I had and the Nexus 400W passed every test with flying colors.


+12V Voltage Regulation


Once again, there is a lot to be impressed about with this power supply and this time the awe has to be turned towards the voltage regulation. Even under the load of a pair of 8800GTS cards, the +12V rail never dropped below 12.08V after running through the full hour of the test. Even though the voltage did jump around quite a bit (which can’t be seen in these test results) during the CoH SLI test, it still stayed above 12.08V which speaks volumes for the quality of this power supply.


7- +12V AC Ripple Testing

This is a very significant test in the fact that AC Ripple can be the cause of many common computer problems. Short term effects of excess ripple can be anything from an unstable overclock to memory errors while long term effects can include premature component failure and decreased component performance. The ATX v2.2 ripple tolerance is anything below 120mV on the +12V rail.

To test for ripple the following tests were run twice for 30 minutes while the ripple was being measured by the Singray o-scope. The values were the highest peak ripple measurement.

The “Idle” value was done with an overclocked processor and the graphics card at stock speeds while running the Windows Desktop.

The “Load” value was done with an overclocked processor and the graphics card at stock speeds while running Company of Heroes.

The “Load (OC)” value was done with an overclocked processor and a heavily overclocked (both 2D and 3D overclocked to the same value) graphics card. Company of Heroes was played while Orthos was running on the processor in the background.

The “Load (SLI)” value was run with 2 8800GTS cards in SLI running at stock speeds with the processor overclocked to 2.6Ghz. Company of Heroes was then run to determine load values.



Even though the Nexus 400W unit’s ripple stayed quite a bit below the 120mV threshold, there were some pretty large spikes when the power supply was pushed. This is a hallmark of many FSP designs and it is apparent here as well. While this result is quite good, it is not as outrageously convincing as the other two tests we have conducted.


8- Noise and Heat:

As promised, the Nexus 400W power supply started extremely quiet up until it was pushed hard by the SLI test. The fan speed then ramped up quite a bit but it still did not become overly noticeable over the drone of the various fans scattered throughout my case. It is actually pretty incredible how quiet this unit stayed even when it was being pushed close to its limits. When it was at those limits, the temperature gradually increased until the exhaust temperature leveled out as the fan speed spooled up.


9- Conclusion

The Nexus 400W power supply performed admirably under all of the high-stress conditions we put it under and it exceeded our expectations in nearly every performance category. The voltage regulation and efficiency are top-notch as is the presentation of the power supply itself. With every cable sleeved to perfection and more connectors than a 400W power supply has any business to possess, the exterior is nearly as impressive as the performance numbers. Indeed, this did not behave like a 400W power supply but it seems more like a 500W unit in disguise.

Unfortunately, I have to play Devil’s Advocate here and list some of the shortcomings of this power supply as well. First and foremost is the outrageous price you are forced to pay for the Nexus 400W; at nearly $112CAD it is the same price of some high performance, higher-output 500W power supplies. Yes, you get the modular cables but other than that, there is really no incentive to consider the Nexus 400W over a competitor’s product like the Silverstone ST50EF. For some reason, there wasn’t even a power cord included for the price premium. Another shortcoming is the warranty which lasts a single paltry year. In this day and age where many power supplies are receiving 3, 5 and even lifetime warranties, a 1-year warranty just does not compete.

For its eye-popping performance yet high price, the Nexus NX-3040 400W Power supply gets a 4 / 5 rating.


Pros:

- Impressive voltage regulation
- Good efficiency
- Eye-popping performance for a 400W power supply
- Modular, fully sleeved cables
- Quiet running


Cons:
- Price
- Price (yes, it needs to be said twice)
- Lack of accessories
- Moderate ripple suppression