EVGA SuperNOVA 650W G3 Power Supply Review

A Detailed Look

The EVGA Supernova 650W G3 power supply enclosure is painted matte black and measures 150mm (5.9”) long. The same compact chassis is used for all G3 Series power supplies, up to and including the 1000W model. The back panel includes an AC receptacle, main power On-Off switch, and an ECO Thermal Control fan mode switch (On enables fan-less operation).

The 650 G3 power supply incorporates EVGA’s ECO Intelligent Thermal Control System for fan speed control. This allows the end user to select silent, fan-less operation for low to mid power applications if desired.

With the ECO Intelligent Thermal Control System turned ON, the power supply cooling fan does not start spinning until the internal component temperatures reach a pre-programmed setting. The fan then starts out at low speed and gradually ramps up based on load and temperature (see graph above).

The power supply uses a 128mm, seven blade fan on the bottom for cooling.  The EVGA labelled fan (H1282412L) is rated for 0.18A at 12 VDC and is controlled by the ECO Thermal Control System. It features a hydraulic dynamic bearing for long life and quiet operation. This is EVGA’s name for a FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) which is an enhanced sleeve bearing with tiny V-shaped grooves to control and pressurize the flow of lubricating oil. Note: the 750W, 850W and 1000W models use a similar, slightly higher speed fan (H1282412H) rated for 0.35A at 12 VDC.

The front panel on the 650W G3 incorporates eight modular cable connectors nicely keyed and labelled to prevent inadvertently plugging a cable into the wrong connector.

All of the modular cables are sleeved with a black nylon mesh covering.

Under the Hood

Here are a few pictures showing the layout and components inside the EVGA Supernova 650W G3 power supply.  The Supernova G3 Series is built by Super-Flower and is based on a second generation Leadex platform.

The G3 series features a modern LLC resonant circuit design with DC-to-DC converters for increased efficiency (the VRMs are located in the top-left corner of the photo above).  All of the line filtering components reside on the PCB (bottom-right corner). The layout of components is clean while the soldering appears to be very good. All of the capacitors used inside the G3 PSU are high-quality Japanese made (primarily Nippon Chemi-con) electrolytic and solid polymer caps. The 650W G3 uses a single primary electrolytic bulk capacitor rated for 390uF, 400V and 105°C.