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Appeared on: Thursday, March 05, 2009
Akasa Freedom 750W PSU

1. Features, specifications

Akasa's debut in the Power Supply Unit (PSU) market is the Freedom Power series of PSUs, which is rated at 80Plus. Today we have in our hands the 750W version of Freedom Power PSUs, which features a typical efficiency of 92.25%. High efficiency combined with Active PFC reduces energy cost without compromising the performance. Low-energy waste means the PSU is producing less heat and therefore it needs less cooling and works quieter.

Akasa says that the Freedom Power 750W PSU provides up to 750W of power 24/7.

The provided 12V (up to 720W) provided output is balanced over six 12V rails. With six PCIe 2.0 connectors available, this PSU is capable of supporting systems with triple top-end VGA cards.

The PSU has a modular cable design with common connectors for easy cable management. Each of the eight modular cables has identical PSU connectors and can be plugged to any free port on the PSU backplate.

All cables are fully sleeved and a cable management kit is provided for even further airflow enhancement.

All three primary load bearing cables (main 24-pin motherboard, ATX12V CPU and single branch of PCIe) are hard-wired (fixed) to provide a balance between the consistency of standard PSU and convenience of modular cables.

- Features

- Technical specifications

  Application Full range 750W (Real Power) PSU
  Designed for AMD and Intel systems
  Form factors Intel ATX 12V 2.3 design guide
EPS 12V 2.92
ATX 2.2 ATX 12V
  Dimensions 150x180x86mm
  Efficiency Always > 84%
  Fan 140 x 140 x 25mm
  Fan speed 700-1600 RPM
  Bearing type Dual ball bearing
  Ventilation Honeycomb vent structure
  Color Satin Black
  PFC Active (99%)
  Mainboard power 1 x 24/20 pins
  8/4-pin ATX12V 1
  8/6-pin PCIe 2.0 4 (3 detachable)
  6-pin PCIe 2 (1 detachable)
  SATA 12 (detachable)
  Floppy 1 (detachable)
  Molex (4 pin) 8 (detachable)
  Cables finish Black Mesh Sleeve
  AC power input range 100V to 240V
  Protection Over Power/Voltage/Current/Temperature       short Circuit
  Product code AK-PSS075FGM-BK
2. A closer look

The Akasa Freedom 750W retails for ~€160Euro (including VAT), which is among the highest prices for the category.

The package is relatively big as it includes many goodies together with the main PSU. The various certifications on the front as well as other stickers and logos are there to tease the demanding user:

Despite the high cost of the device, it seems that it is not officially certified for CrossFire or Nvidia SLI, since we could not find the corresponding logos on the box. Akasa claims that the PSU is capable of supporting systems with triple top-end VGA cards, which means that even the official certifications are missing, the PSU should be able to offer sufficient power for these configurations.

In the box everything is well packaged and securely placed into a transparent plastic case:

The contents are the following:

The device is not bigger than any typical PSU, meaning that it could fit in any PC case:

The product is Intel ATX v2.3 compliant, meaning it is designed to meet the safety and reliability requirements of modern systems.

The top side of the PSU is covered by a 140mm fan rated at 700-1600 RPM - a fairly silent combination.

.

The device has a matte black finish and it is what Akasa calls "Satin Black". The rounded edges make handling easier and the honeycomb design of the rear side offers better cooling.

The PSU' specifications and ratings are also available on the side of the device:

The power supply has six +12V rails which offer 0-20A and 0-33A of output. All six rails are powered by a single source inside the PSU, which is a typical configuration for the majority of PSUs available today. However, an independent source design is theoretically better since each rail could have a more stable performance no matter if the PSU is fully loaded or not. Of course, such designs are more expensive. Akasa claims that the available power is efficiently balanced over six 12V rails (720W).

The +3.3V and +5.5V outputs are also contributing a combined wattage of 170W.

The eight connectors are equally sized. Akasa recommends the following placements for each cable:

Connectors Included # Overall Length

ATX 24 pin & 20 pin compatible 		x1 570mm

EPS/ATX12V 4+4 pin 		x1 703mm

PCI-E 6+2 pin 		x6 600mm

SATA 		x12 720mm

4 pin Peripheral 		x8 1000mm

Floppy 		x1 1000mm

Many of the available cables are lengthy enough for easy installations even in high PC towers. In addition, the 8 molex type and 12 SATA power connectors will allow you to power all the devices in your loaded PC case while the six PCI-e 6+2 connectors are enough to power triple-graphics cards setups.

3. Basic tests

Which factors contribute to a quality power supply unit? Well, it should be able to perform as rated even under heavy loads and of course, it should offer reliability in time.

Though our measuring equipment is yet upgraded in order to offer hardware measurements for the provided outputs of the PSU, we have to compromise with simpler testing procedures, which however may lack accuracy.

We tried to give our system enough load either through extensive CPU+3D usage via 3D Mark Vantage and PC Mark Vantage. Our test PC was as follows:

All PSU ratings were monitored with Everest Ultimate Edition v3.0. The following table lists the industry wide specifications for DC Output Voltage Regulation.

 

After running both benchmarks, the monitored outputs showed us how much stress the PSU had taken. A summary of the results is available in the following table:

Minimum
Maximum
+3.3 V
V
3,24
3,26
+5 V
V
4,89
4,92
+12 V
V
12,20
12,25

It looks like the PSU is capable of keeping the variation of voltage within the acceptable limits.

4. Final thoughts

What we liked about the akasa Freedom power 750W PSU is its modular design that will simplify the cable connections inside your PC, the six (6) PCI-e 6+2 connectors capable of powering multi-VGA setups and at the top of all these, its stable operation even when it is loaded, as our simple tests indicated.

In addition, the length and the amount of the provided cables is enough to power all the devices of your PC tower. Last but certainly not least, the device is backed by a 3-year warranty for piece of mind.

The relatively high retail price of the Akasa TruePower 750W (~€160) is the only drawback here. Although the overall package is complete and will satisfy you, other popular 750W power supplies can be purchased for around €100.

- The Good

- The Bad



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