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Tuniq Miniplant 950w PSU

Street pricing is around $250 which is a bit on the high side especially considering the Miniplant isn't a modular power supply.  All the cables however are tastefully wrapped in black mesh with matching black shrink wrap for a very clean and pro look.  The lines except for the Molex and SATA cables, are tagged with a label identifying what each cable is for.  Two 8 pin PCI-E and two 6 pin PCI-E lines are here as well as two 8 pin to 6 pin PCI-E adapters so whatever VGA solution you have, the Miniplant has you covered.

Here is a breakdown of the native cables and adapter lines you get with the Tuniq Miniplant.

Native Cables

  • (1) 20+4 pin ATX - 20"

  • (1) 4 pin ATX 12v - 20"

  • (1) 8 pin ATX EPS compliant 12v - 20"

  • (1) 8 pin PCI-E dedicated line - 20"

  • (1) 8 pin PCI-E dedicated line - 20.5"

  • (2) 6 pin PCI-E dedicated line - 20.5"

  • (2) SATA rails with three SATA connections each - 36"

  • (2) Molex rails with three standard Molex + one FDD connector - 37"

Adapters

  • (2) 8-pin to 6-pin PCI-E adapter cables - 4"

Performance

Testing the Tuniq 950w Miniplant power supply will be done by monitoring power output via mainboard sensors in addition to external measurement with a graphical multi-meter to ensure we are getting accurate readings.  The use of the external multi-meter serves as an independent check that voltage measurements are accurate and more importantly, stable over time and under varying load conditions.  Our testing will be done under idle and under variable load conditions in an 'average' real world environment.  Load conditions being our doing some DVD back ups while running some batched Quake 4 benchmarks for extended sessions.  Ambient room temperature during testing was 22.5' C. 

Test Bed

  • ASUS P5N32-E SLI mainboard

  • Intel Core 2 Duo 6600 (2.4GHz) Processor @ 3.0GHz at 1.51 volts

  • (2) 1GB OCZ PC2-6400 Ti Memory (4-4-4-15) at 2.2 volts

  • Inno3D 8800GT OC

  • 250MB Western Digital Caviar SE SATA II HDD

  • Generic 16x DVD-RW drive

  • Windows XP Pro with all service packs installed

  • Zalman GT-1000 Case

Results and Conclusion

Tuniq's Miniplant fits a nice niche that a good number of people fall into.  Anyone looking for a smaller footprint, higher wattage PSU may find what they are looking for in the Tuniq Miniplant.  Our testing showed idle and load voltage readings for the 3.3v, 5v and 12v lines with a maximum variance of 0.2 volts no matter what conditions we put to the Tuniq Miniplant.  Each individual rail was checked with our graphical multi-meter and proved clean and within spec.  Clean, stable power is the primary issue with any power supply.  Secondary to this is the practical uses and aesthetics.  Under power, the Miniplant gave us near silent operation that would please any HTPC builder.  We also found plenty of connectors provided and the length of the SATA and Molex lines was especially pleasing.  As always, mesh wrapped cables with shrink wrap ends makes for a very clean look that performance oriented users demand.

All good things have a flip side and the Miniplant has a few areas for improvement.  The pricing schedule of $250 seems a bit high when you recall that the Miniplant isn't modular.  In the category of 900-1000 watt power supplies, Tuniq is priced a tad below the average.  Being less expensive than the competition is always nice but at this level, the market segment looking at this unit will be far more discriminating.  At a $250 price point, spending a few extra bucks for a modular unit isn't going to matter much in the end.  All in all, Tuniq has released a fine unit that is certified as being 80%+ efficient as well as being certified as SLI compliant.  The Tuniq Miniplant won't disappoint you and is an excellent upgrade option that comes with a three year warranty.

Pros

  • 950 watts of stable power

  • Standard sized PSU

  • Long SATA and Molex cables for full tower cases

  • Plenty of connectors to include two next generation 8-pin PCI-E

  • Sheathed and shrink wrapped cables

  • Super quiet 135mm cooling fan

  • Three year warranty

Cons

  • Not modular


 

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