FSP X3 Booster: a dedicated 300W PSU for your Graphics Cards

Cases & PSU/Power Supplies by piotke @ 2006-08-09

Today we test a dedicated power supply which relieves your main PSU from the load created by the latest high end VGA Cards. The X3 Booster allows you to use to re-use your older PSU and still run the latest hardware. Find out of the X3 can handle a high end Crossfire setup in an overclocked Core 2 system.

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Introduction

Introduction

Madshrimps (c)


Some time ago I tested the Silverstone SST-ST75ZF. This power supply was capable of feeding configurations needing up to 750 watt without problems. The less interesting part was the price tag. If not so long ago you upgraded your PSU to a 450-500W model thinking it was going to be enough for the some time to come, it might be quite a waste of money to upgrade the PSU again so you can use the latest graphics cards.

The cost of those video cards is already quite high and adding a new PSU to the total will surely make you a lot poorer, the alternative is to re-use an older ATX power supply and hook 2 of them to your system, however this is not quite user friendly, requires more room and so it doesn?t fit in most cases.

FSP Group (also know as Fortron) send us a dedicated VGA power supply which fits in a spare 5.25? bay and doesn?t come with a hefty price tag. While it can be used to power a single VGA card, its main purpose is to give your system the extra energy to use SLI/Crossfire and so the X3 Booster has two 6-pin PCIe connectors.

Specifications

Madshrimps (c)


So what exactly is the X3 Booster? It?s PSU has the size of a DVD drive it will fit every normal case with a free 5.25? drive bay. The PSU needs to be fed directly from the wall outlet. The only task of this power supply is to transfer the 220 Volt AC to 12 V DC. The 12 Volt is divided over 2 PCIe connectors. Together they can supply 300 watt continuous power, with a peak up to 400 watt. That?s as much as a normal power supply, but only for your VGA cards. Mad enough?

Madshrimps (c)


Features

  • Independent Power Source
  • Supports Dual Graphic Cards
  • Quad GPU System Compatible
  • Over Clock Running to 400W Peak
  • Auto-Power-Recovery System (APRS)
  • Blue LED/ High Gloss Black Front Panel
  • No System Compatible Issue
  • Improve System Stability

    Specifications

  • High efficiency (over 80%)
  • Color: silver
  • Input voltage: Full range
  • Noise: < 30 dBA
  • Input Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz
  • Hold-up Time:10ms at 230Vac
  • 2 PCI Express Connector

    Manufacturers' website

    Let's take a look at what?s in the box ->
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