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Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester Review
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Written by Munk   
Article Index
Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester Review
Specifications and Features
Testing
Conclusion
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Being a computer enthusiast or serious gamer these days means you will need some serious horsepower. Although having a tricked out 426 HEMI inside your computer case would be cool it wouldn’t be very practical. The horsepower I am speaking of is your power supply. One faulty voltage and your whole system crashes constantly, while you see any glimmer of hope for a stable system fly out the window. Just like in the pit, enthusiasts have tools to make sure that their machines are well tuned, one of which is usually their trusty digital multi-meter. I for one hate this method of testing my power supplies; it is awkward and can be a shocking hazard. This is where products like the Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester come in to play; let’s have a look at this product and see if it is the answer to all of your power supply testing dreams:

 

Product provided by: Coolmax USA

Price: $14.81

Closer Look:

The packaging for the Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester is well designed. The flame logo on the front makes me think of retro, circa 1970, styled packaging which is cool in its own right. The back of the packaging has a simple break down of the nominal voltages you will wish to achieve during your testing. Also included is a picture of the LCD in use and where each connector is placed. The back packaging also explains the range in which the tester shows voltages, anything outside of this range will result in a beeping error, this will let you know right away if your power supply is damaged.

 

The device itself is well designed and very simple to use, there is only one button to turn it on. One thing to make mention of for anyone that did not know this; the Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester can turn on your power supply with out it being connected to your PC which makes testing very simple.

 

 

You can connect a wide variety of connectors to the Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester such as: a 24(or 20)Pin, 6 Pin, 4 pin, molex, and SATA power connectors.

 

 

 Let's check out the specs and features on the Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester:

 


Specifications and Features:

 

 

 

Let's test out this unit and see if it is what you are looking for:


Testing Setup:
  • Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q9450
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6
  • Memory: OCZ SLI Ready 2 x 2GB
  • Video Card: Nvidia 260 GTX
  • Power Supply: Mushkin 800w Modular Power Supply
  • Hard Drive: Seagate 750GB SATA
  • Optical Drive: LG DVD-RW
  • OS: Windows Vista Ultimate
Testing:

For testing I will be putting the Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester up against the internal voltage sensors on my  Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 using Speed Fan a popular free to use benchmark/monitoring software, which monitors voltages and temperatures. I will be testing two power supply's for quality control. The PSU's used will be the Mushkin 800W PSU I currently use and the Collmax USA 950 PSU I will be reviewing shortly. For the sake of simplicity I will only be listing the +3.3v, +5v, +12v, voltages.

Coolmax PSU:

The product designs with LCD to show ATX power voltage. Easy to plug with ATX power 24 pin and plug in (P4/P6/P8) to show the voltage on the LCD panel.
Easy to check ATX power supply
Aluminum case
Accurate voltage indicator +/- 0.1V (+12V1/+5V/+3.3V/5VSB/+12V2/-12V)
ATX P.G. value display
Lower or higher P.G. values alarm
ATX output connectors check
Lower voltage detected alarm
Over voltage alarm
No voltage detected alarm
Manual:
Plug-in your ATX power 24 pin and plug-in (P4/P6/P8) into the tester.
Turn on your ATX power supply
LCD shows each voltage and P.G. value on the screen automatic and you can hear 2 beep sounds.
ATX power output connector checking one by one.
If power output is working, the LED will light on.
If power output failed, the LED will not light on.
Plug-in (HDD/Floppy) connector and check LED light (+12V1/+5V)
Plug-in SATA connector and check LED light (+12V1/+5V+3.3V)
Remove the connector after your checking
Do not plug-in 2 connectors into the tester at the same time
(Not include 24 pin connector)
Abnormal voltage detected will not display on the screen.
No voltage detect, “LL” will display on the screen.
When detected Voltage is lower than Min. Value, “LL” will display on the screen.
When detected Voltage is higher than Max. Value, “HH” will display on the screen.
When detected voltage is lower than table value (A), will alarm.
When detected voltage is higher than table value (B), will alarm.
P.G. value detected lower 100ms or higher 900ms, P.G. value is abnormal and alarm.
When abnormal happened, it will alarm and relative digit blink on the screen.
Each Voltage normal range:
+5V, +3.3V, +5VSB is ±5%;
+12V1, +12V2, -12V is ±10%
Each Voltage normal range:
+5V, +3.3V, +5VSB is ±5%;
+12V1, +12V2, -12V is ±10%
 

Normal Voltage range

Display Voltage range

  Lower (A)Higher (B)Min. (C)Max. (D)
+5V5.0V+4.75V+5.25V4.0V6.0V
-12V-12V-11V-13V-10V-14V
+12V112V11V+13V10V14V
+12V212V11V+13V10V14V
+3.3V3.3V+3.14V+3.47V2.0V4.5V
+5VSB5V+4.75V+5.25V4.0V6.0V
PG 0ms990ms

Test (in volts)

Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester

Speed Fan

+3.3

3.3

3.31

+5

5.1

5.16

+12

12.1

3.39

 

 

We now see the draw back of using an internal sensor for your voltages. Speed fan is picking up the -3.3 volt as the +12v voltages. The internal sensors vary from motherboard to motherboard as well I have seen much stranger voltages from motherboards I have used in the past.

Mushkin PSU:

Test (in volts)

Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester

Speed Fan

+3.3

3.3

3.30

+5

5

5.06

+12

12

3.26

 

Again we see a weird variance between the 12v numbers. One thing worth noting is that the other voltages are very similar. I have also tested the Mushkin in the past with my multi-meter and the voltages are bang on with only hundredths of a volt differentiation between the two.

I tested two more power supply’s I had kicking around for de-soldering caps from, that I know where bad. Once I plugged them in and booted up the Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester it beeped and displayed errors just like I hoped it would. The tester did very well in these tests, let's check out the final thoughts:


Conclusion:

Overall the Coolmax USA LCD Power Supply Tester did incredibly well during testing. The voltages were bang on, the error message was clear as day, and the over all use was very straight forward. If you have ever had to use a multi-meter to test a power supply in the past you will be in Sto-vo-kor (uber geek heaven) using this multi-meter. The ability to turn on the power supply and test it all in one unit was impressive and takes a matter of seconds compared to the old testing standard.

As always the most important question is would I recommend it? Yes, and here is why, it was by far the easiest, most accurate, and fully functional tester I have used to date. The simple to read LCD beats the old LED color coded testers hands down. I recommend this tester for anyone, not just enthusiasts or major gamers. With this simple device which costs under $20 you can save yourself a pricey trip to your computer tech and find out if your power supply is the root of all of your problems instead of spending money for hours of tech work before he finds the issue.

Pros:

  • Simple to use
  • No Need to Power up your PC
  • Easy to Read LCD
  • Remarkably Accurate Voltages 
Cons:
  • The First few Times you Plug the 24 Pin Connector in it is a Bit Stiff (not really a con but something to keep in mind)

 

 

 

 

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