| Article Index |
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| Tagan 700W 2-Force II ATX Power Supply Review |
| Page 3 - In Operation and Testing |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
| All Pages |
Today we’re having a look at the new 2-Force II series of power supply from Tagan in
700W form. Supposedly packed with features, we see if it’s good value for money.
Tagan has such a massive range of power supplies at present, it’s often hard to differentiate them from each other.
Their range consists of:
- Black Series – 330W-480W
- Easycon Series – 430W-580W
- 2 Force Series – 430W-580W
- Dual Engine Series – 500W-800W
- Easycon XL Series (Reviewed Here) – 500W-700W
- TurboJet Series – 900W-1100W
- 2-Force II Series – 400W-900W
- PipeRock Series – 500W-900W
- TurboJet Plus Series – 1100W-1300W
The choice comes down to not only how much power you need, but also how much cooling you need, how much cabling you need and whether you want modular cables or not. Gone are the days of going in the PC shop and saying “I need a power supply”, you are now bombarded by options.
The 2-Force II series we’re looking at today ranges from 400W up to 900W, and the model we have in our possession is in the middle of the range at 700W. The general specs of the 2-Force II range is as follows*:
- All range series from entry level to heavy user. (400W~900W)
- (20+4)PIN patent motherboard connector for 20pin and 24pin sockets.
- 12V (4+4)PIN patent CPU power connector for 4PIN and 8PIN sockets.
- PCI-E (6+2)PIN supports present PCI-E 6PIN and future PCI-E 8PIN specification of graphic card. (500W~900W)
- TG800/900-U33 has four cables of PCI-E for super high-end graphic card.
- Copper-shielding PCI-E cables with patent REMI technology to reduce ripple and noise and enhance display performance.
- Unique ground wire with golden pin can release static electricity from power supply and avoid damage.
- Internal OVP (Over Voltage Protection) and OCP (Over Current Protection) function avoids sudden power surge damage peripherals.
- Universal AC input range for all countries: 100~240VAC with active PFC for better electricity performance.
- 80%+ electricity efficiency average saves money and reduces losing power become heat.
- Manual +12V rails “TURBO” mode can integrate +12V rails into single rail with more DC output for heavy +12V loading.
- TSCT (Tagan Silence Control Technology) keeps under 30dBA even full-loading and hard to recognize by human ear.
- Thermal control fans are adjustable automatically by temperature inside of the power supply. Fan speed up when temperature rises.
- Black mesh and copper-shielding cables help user to optimize airflow for thermal release.
- Special outlook for blowhole design with Chinese cut for window decoration.
- I/O switch with water-proof cover avoid water and dust adhesion.
- Big I/O switch bears bigger current and more safety.
- Embedded AC socket without screw avoid interference with PC case.
- 400~500W: 2 rails of +12V, ATX12V Ver.2.2, 600~700W: 4 rails of +12V, over ATX12V Ver.2.2 and meet EPS12V Ver.2.91, 800~900W: 6rails of +12V, over ATX12V Ver.2.2 and EPS12V Ver.2.92
- Independent +12V rails only for graphic card power meet configuration of Nvidia and ATI.
*Taken directly from http://nanopoint.com.tw
{mospagebreak title= Page 2 - Cables and More Specs}
There is an absolutely huge bundle of cables coming out of the 2-Force II, more than I would imagine could ever be used within a single PC box, but I suppose it’s always better to have too many connectors than not enough, and I have to admit I’ve seen a few PCs that would use them all. The rundown of connectors included is as follows:
- 1 x 20+4pin motherboard connector
- 1 x 4+4pin CPU connector
- 1 x 8pin (6pin + 2pin) PCI-Express connector
- 1 x 6pin PCI-Express connector
- 8 x 15pin SATA connectors
- 6 x 4pin Molex connectors
- 2 x 4pin Floppy drive connectors
- 1 x Ground Wire connector
That’s a huge list of connectors, and thankfully a few Velcro strips/ties are included with the power supply to help tie up all the cables you won’t be using to keep your case nice and neat (these strips were missing from our demo unit however, some other review place must have pinched them :P)
The picture above shows the power outputs for the different voltage rails within the 2-Force II, and in order to comply with the latest ATX regulations (ATX 12v Ver. 2.2 and EPS12V Ver. 2.92) which the 2-Force II does, if the +12V rails produce more than 18A of power, they must be split. In this case it means they must be split into 4 separate 12V rails, able to deliver up to 20A each or 56A in total. Each 12V rail is designated different supply tasks. The first rail (12V1) has the motherboard (20+4pin) connector and the Molex and SATA drive connectors, 12V2 takes care of the ATX12V/EPS12V (4+4Pin) connector(s) only, while 12V3 and 12V4 are used to supply power for the PCI-Express 6-Pin/8-Pin VGA connectors. The +3.3V and +5V rails are able to supply 24A and 26A respectively, which is a very substantial amount compared to many PSUs on the market and will help maintain CPU and RAM stability, especially when being overclocked.
A switch on the rear of the power supply, with the options of “Turbo” or “Normal” gives the option to combine all the +12V rails into one should your power requirements necessitate it. Although this doesn’t comply with the ATX standards, the option is yours.
APFC (Active Power Factor Correction) is included in the 2-Force II, as you would expect, but it also included OVP (Over Voltage Protection) and OCP (Over Current Protection), which will automatically cut the current to the PC should the incoming voltage or amperage be too great to protect the components inside. The 2-Force II also has a very high (claimed) efficiency rating of 80%, which is amongst the highest we’ve seen from a Power Supply and as such is the best you’d expect to find.
While all the cables are covered in a mesh braid to reduce clutter inside your case, the PCI-Express power connectors are also REMI (Reduction of Electro-Magnetic Interference) shielded thanks to braided copper sheathing and noise filters, to ensure power to your video cards remain as stable as possible.
The 2-Force II is certified as CrossFire compatible from ATI, and is SLI compatible also. One of the PCI-Express power connectors has an additional 2-Pin connector to make the 2-Force II compatible with the upcoming 8-Pin PCI-Express power connector which will be appearing on video cards very soon.
Cooling in the 2-Force II is handled by 2 x 8cm fans, one drawing air into the back of power supply and one blowing out, instead of the now very common large intake on the base of the power supply. The fans are exceptionally quiet, using what Tagan describes as TSCT (Tagan Silence Control Technology), the fans will never reach over 30dBA even when under full load. It’s true that it runs nice and silent, we had it running an SLI system with 3DMark06 in a loop and the noise could never be heard over the standard Intel CPU fan. Under lighter loads or in cooler conditions the fans will slow down to an appropriate speed as they are thermally controlled by the PSU.
In Operation:
To test the 2-Force II in operation, we are going to test its stability by comparing its voltages under load and at idle. A highly capable and stable power supply should have a minimum of difference between the two values. Most motherboards allow around 5%+/- variation in the voltages away from their intended values, we’ll see how the 2-Force II performs.
The Test Setup:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 CPUASUS P5N32-E SLI, nForce680i Motherboard
2 x XpertVision GeForce 8600GT Video Cards (@640/850Mhz) running in SLICorsair TWIN2X 2GB PC2-8500 Memory Kit (2 x 1GB)Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA-II Hard DriveWindows XP Pro SP2
The load test will be conducted while the system is running 3DMark06 and Quake 4 demos to stress the system as much as possible. Results were recorded by a digital multimeter, not by the motherboard’s on-board sensors, which would not be accurate enough to give proper results.
The Results:
As you can see there is an almost insignificant difference between idle and on load, certainly less than the accepted tolerance amount by both the motherboard manufacturer and by Tagan. This means the 2-Force II should be a great power supply when you really start needing to push the boundaries in regards to overclocking.
Conclusion:
We don’t have a price for the 2-Force II here in Australia yet, but I’d expect it to come in $20-$30 cheaper than the equivalent Tagan EasyCon XL power supply due to its lack of modular cabling, but seemingly very similar specs, so we should hopefully see it sell for under the AU$200 mark.
The connections the 2-Force II provide should be sufficient for even the most packed PC cases, as it gives you power connectors for 14 drives (+2 floppy drives), so you’re unlikely to ever need splitters or extra connectors. The motherboard connectors will support just about every motherboard on the market, even quite a range of server boards.
The only feature missing from the 2-Force II is modular cable support, but that’s available from the Tagan EasyCon XL which has very similar power output specifications, and going without modular cables, I’m sure we’ll see, will save you some cash as well.
For build quality and stability, as well as the number of included cables, I’d highly recommend this power supply to anyone in need of something high-power for their newest ‘beast’ PC.
OzHardware Rating – 9/10
