VisionTek delivers a good power supply for first time system builders or mainstream users who don't want to break the bank.

Introduction, Specifications, Availability and Pricing

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Today we're looking at a new power supply unit from VisionTek. VisionTek has a long history for their video cards going back many years. Enthusiast's embraced the company and eventually VisionTek brought their products into the mainstream with retail outlets like Best Buy, CompUSA and Game Stop.

Throughout the years the company has undergone several changes and has branched out in different directions, now offering a multitude of products including SSD's, memory, power supplies and more.

Ever since VisionTek began offering power supplies, they have had a very close relationship with Topower. The VisionTek 700W Modular unit today proves that they are still working with Topower as it is a rebranded TOP-700WB power supply.

The unit looks great on paper with plenty of power, multiple 12V rails and a decent selection of modular cables.

Let's dig into this unit and find out if it's of the quality that enthusiasts expect from VisionTek.

Specifications, Availability and Pricing

DC output is quite decent for the VisionTek 700W Modular power supply. The unit is capable of 26A on the each of the 12V rails and have a combined maximum output of 612W. Both of the minor rails are rate for 26A each which is very healthy for a 700W unit and have a combined maximum output of 160W. The 5Vsb rail is rated for a modest 3A.

The VisionTek 700W unit isn't the most feature-rich unit on the market, but it has more than enough for most. It has almost all of the features that we look for, but does lack Over Temperature Protection. The unit is also not rated for 100% continuous output at 50C, but it does state that it has a service life of up to 100,000 hours at 25C. The power supply is partially modular and fully sleeved. The only natively wired cables are the 20+4 pin main and ATX 4+4.

A quick search will yield a plethora of places to buy the VisionTek 700W Modular power supply. This time around Amazon comes in with the cheapest price of $87.24 with free Super Saver Shipping.

That's a very decent price considering what you're getting from the unit. Warranty on the unit is a short two years.

Packaging

Simple black and white packaging is used for the VisionTek 700W Modular unit. On the front we have a great shot of the power supply along with wattage and efficiency.

The back has a rather decent list of features and specs.

On the top we find the I/O specifications of the unit.

The bottom gives us a good list of connector availability, but it doesn't list cable quantities or cable length.

One side has a good list of connector availability for the unit.

The other side of the box is blank with the exception of the unit's serial number.

Inside the Box

Packaging is rather skimpy on the inside of the box. Here we see that the power supply is only protected by the box and a layer of bubble wrap. Modular connectors on one side and the power cable on the back side make the unit fit snugly inside the box, though.

VisionTek has a rather glossy finish on the unit and as you can see from the picture above, it is rather susceptible to showing fingerprints. On the top of the unit, we find the serial number.

One side of the power supply displays the I/O specification label.

VisionTek chose to leave one side of the power supply blank.

This power supply has a very open back and appears to allow for more airflow than the typical honeycomb mesh that we are used to seeing.

Eight modular connections are available on the front, but there are only six modular cables included. If you were inclined, you could come up with additional cables provided you weren't already maxing the power supply out.

If you think that the fan looks a bit smaller than usual, it is because you are correct. While most power supplies utilize a 140mm fan on the bottom to provide airflow for the unit, the VisionTek 700W Modular PSU makes use of a 120mm fan instead.

Included with the unit are six modular cables. Only the PCI-E connectors are blue while everything else is black.

VisionTek makes sure that you're covered on the cable management. Also included with the unit are five Velcro cable ties, two zip ties, mounting screws, AC power cord and user manual.

Cabling Arrangement and A Look Inside

Cabling Arrangement

VisionTek does a great job making sure that you can use all the juice that this unit provides. Dual ATX 4+4/EPS12V connectors make sure the power supply is capable of supporting dual processors and the dual PCI-E cables make sure that you can power a duo of power hungry GPU's.

Peripherals are taken care of as well with a total of eight SATA connectors, four Molex connectors and one FDD connector. There are also two unused modular connectors on the unit. You could purchase or make additional cables for the VisionTek 700W Modular power supply if you needed more than what is provided out of the box.

VisionTek's 700W Modular power supply features dual 12V rails. While the manual doesn't specify how the rails are split up, it is rather easy to trace things back to the PCB. 12V1 powers the main connector and half of the modular connections. 12V2 handles the rest of the load which is comprised of the fixed ATX 4+4 connector and the other half of the modular connections. Unfortunately, it's impossible to know which connector is which unless you break open the unit.

A Look Inside

VisionTek could have gone with a much smaller enclosure if they wanted to, but would have probably had to change to a smaller fan to cool the unit if they did so.

A single, Chinese-made Asia X capacitor adorns the primary side of the VisionTek 700W Modular power supply.

The same capacitors can be found all around on the secondary side of the PSU.

Cooling for the unit is provided by the BTek A1225M12S 120mm fan.

Test Results and Final Thoughts

Test Results

Our load tests utilize a couple of FAST ATE active load testers and a variety of other equipment such as an oscilloscope, power conditioner, temperature probe and a power consumption meter. You can read more about our standard testing approach here.

The tests performed are based around six conceivable setups that are out there and progressively load down the PSU up to the power supply's limits or 1000W, whichever comes first. Since our test equipment's limits are greater than that of the VisionTek 700W, we can test it to the maximum.

Let's start by taking a look at the voltages to see how well this unit did during testing. Starting with the 12V rails, we see 2% regulation from start to finish across both of them. The 12V1 rail showed a total drop of .21V from start to finish and 12V2 showed a total drop of .19V from start to finish. The 5V rail did just as well as it and managed to stay within 2% of specification with a total drop of .08V from start to finish. Moving towards the 3.3V rail, we see that regulation was within 3% with a total voltage drop of .07V.

DC output quality was close to what we expected from the VisionTek 700W Modular unit. We started off seeing 15mV of ripple on the 12V rail during Test 1. As we increased the loads, the ripple had increased to 26mV at a little less than half load. By the time we had the maximum load of 700W we were seeing 49mV of noise.

The VisionTek 700W Modular is rated for 80Plus Bronze efficiency. This means that the power supply must perform at 82%/85%/82% efficiency at 20%/50%/100% loads respectively. As you can see, the VisionTek 700W Modular passed on our bench and wasn't close to failing at any point.

Final Thoughts

One thing is very clear when taking a deep look at this power supply. VisionTek is no longer geared towards providing products strictly for enthusiasts.

The VisionTek 700W Modular power supply has decent voltage regulation and it slipped a little bit for showing a little bit high during the first test on the 3.3V rail. DC Output Quality started out rather well, but simply didn't impress us as it was loaded down. Finally, the unit is only rated for Bronze efficiency. This just doesn't cut it in the enthusiast world these days.

None of this means that the power supply is a bad unit. It simply means that it isn't meant for enthusiasts. Instead, VisionTek does a fantastic job of nailing an entry level or mainstream power supply.

For a sub-$100 power supply, you get enough power drive multiple GPU's, modular cabling, some cable management and decent quality all the way around. If you're building a PC for the first time, the VisionTek 700W Modular power supply is well worth your consideration and won't hurt your wallet too much.