Under the name of Cybenetics is a company that has specialized in carrying out quality tests and granting certifications for power supplies with a much higher level of demand than that of the classic 80 PLUS. What sets them apart, what do they consist of and why are they better?
While it is true that the 80 PLUS standard has caused power supply manufacturers to launch more efficient products, the certification has some important shortcomings. The reason for this is that 80 PLUS only measures the efficiency at four different load levels and does not take into account, for example, the level of noise generated by the source. Therefore, a more complete certification is needed.
What is Cybernetics?
It is a quality certification created by a Cypriot company with the same name, which is responsible for carrying out the corresponding tests. Its founder is Aris Mpitziopoulos, an engineer with a doctorate who became famous for years for his analyzes on highly prestigious hardware websites such as Techpowerup and Tom’s Hardware of the different power supplies that came to them for analysis.
Therefore, we are not dealing with a label originated by the manufacturers, but with a certification raised by a third party with much higher levels of demand. And it is already known that those who make the law cheat and the fact that 80 PLUS does not measure certain parameters or does so with less precision is something that PC PSU manufacturers can take advantage of.
And what differentiates Cybenetics from the 80 PLUS certification? The fact that they assess power supply efficiency by making use of an extremely advanced and well-equipped laboratory for their measurements.
Efficiency
The efficiency level of a power supply is not only measured by Cybenetics over the entire power range, but they can perform up to 1450 different tests. This is important due to the fact that in a power supply the level of efficiency can vary according to the level of load and have a very high performance with high power and much worse at low powers. Keep in mind that the 80 PLUS only measures the load level at four different power levels, so a PSU can be very efficient at those levels, but have worse efficiency outside of them.
Cybenetics’ certification for efficiency is called Eta, which refers to the Greek letter η, and has a nomenclature very similar to 80 PLUS to make it more understandable for users. Therefore, the Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Titanium certifications in Cybenetics are similar to their 80 PLUS counterparts and, therefore, measure their power factor, however there are two additional parameters that are measured in Cybenetics.
Vampire Power
This is the power that your power supply can use when the system is off. Consequently, it is wasted energy. To be certified by Cybenetics it is necessary that the power supply does not waste more than 0.25 W when the system has been turned off.
5VSB rail
The second element that is taken into account in the Cybenetics Eta certification is the 5VSB rail, which is one of the weak points of the power supplies. This power port is typically used to power a USB port to charge or power devices.
Noise
Cybenetics noise certification is also named after a Greek letter, Lambda or λ, and is responsible for measuring the level of noise that the power supply can generate. For this, 7 noise levels have been created to measure the amount of noise that a power supply can generate. This is important for many users, as they may find themselves with a power supply that is as efficient as it is noisy.
Apart from the certification for the noise of the power supplies, they also have a test called Delta or Δ, which is in charge of measuring the level of noise that PC cases can tolerate. The reason for this is that there is a close relationship between thermal performance and the level of soundproofing that a box can provide, and although the Delta test does not give us the thermal performance, more and more people are aware of the need to soundproof as much as possible. the chassis of your computer.
They also measure the efficiency and noise of graphics cards
Cybenetics maintains a database where they store the results in which they measure the same elements as in the power supplies. The benchmarks are run on a PC running an i7-10700K overclocked to 4.8 GHz on all cores and running the game Metro Exodus at 2560 x 1440, with graphics on high, no Ray Tracing.
The test is not carried out directly on the graphics card, but it is expected that it has been working for a while and reaches a temperature corresponding to normal performance. When this occurs is when they measure noise and efficiency. At the moment they do not have any program assigned for this, but it is very possible that in the future graphics card manufacturers will begin to use a certification like the one used in power supplies.
Cyberetics and its beta testing program
In this case it is not a specific test, but a program that the people at Cybenetics have so that power supply manufacturers send their new designs to undergo the corresponding quality tests and can improve their products before launching them on the market. market. When we talk about a quality product, we are not referring to its efficiency or performance, but rather that it must meet a series of satisfaction conditions before being put up for sale and reaching the general public.
All companies have quality departments that ensure that the products that reach us meet a series of requirements. Many of them are granted by industrial standards that must be followed by all manufacturers. Unfortunately, in the case of the 80 PLUS certification, this does not follow any standard and although it is an important step forward, there must be an impartial evaluator who is the one who gives the certification and does so under a parameter with a certain level of demand.
For a good manufacturer of power supplies, if their products are good, it will not be a problem to go through a more demanding certification than 80 PLUS. In changed for those who do not give importance, because the thing is different. And this is especially aimed at all those 80 PLUS White type power supplies with certain deficiencies in terms of efficiency and noise level that demonstrate the deficiencies of said certification.