+12V Ripple Testing


With +12V ripple well within the ATX-specified norm, this Tagan unit bucks the trend we have seen with some Topower-built units we reviewed in the last few months. Even with some suspect capacitors on the secondary side, it seems like the BZ900 is able to hold things together for a maximum ripple measurement of 42 mv-pp.


Acoustical Performance

The BZ900 is equipped with a system that Tagan calls Silent Control Technology (or TSCT) which is supposed to keep the noise output of its fan to approximately 25dB under normal operating circumstances. Let’s be honest; 25dB is VERY quiet and this is supposedly only when performing “normal operations” according to Tagan’s documentation. What normal operations refers to is anyone’s guess but we pushed this power supply far beyond “normal” and even when trucking away with our power-hungry test system, the lack of noise produced was remarkable. The BZ900 is one heck of a quiet power supply and will be far from the loudest component in nearly any system.

It was quite obvious that the 135mm fan installed on Tagan’s BZ900 was spinning at minimal RPMs even when we conducted our Full System Stress test and because of this, it seemed its interior heated up quite a bit. Remember, the System Stress Test takes about 30 minutes to run so it has the potential to heat up the interior components of the power supply quite a bit. By the end of the test, the intake temperature hovered between 21.4°C and 22.1°C while the exhaust air measured about 37°C. This is quite a large delta between intake and exhaust temperatures and seems to indicate that the single fan should have spun up a bit more to keep the interior as cool as possible.