Cybenetics was formed with one purpose in mind; to introduce new efficiency and noise certification standards for personal computer power supply units (PSUs). As compared to the currently available programs, the volunteered certification program offered by Cybenetics aims to add greater accuracy to efficiency testing and at the same time to provide an authentic verification of the PSU's operational noise level.
Beyond efficiency and noise certifications, Cybenetics also offers PSU Beta testing and evaluation reports which can lead to significant time and money savings in the process of increasing the quality and the performance of the tested products.
The Cybenetics test procedure has been developed through many years of PSU evaluation experience. The methodologies in place have been forged after numerous hours of testing and experimentation to obtain accuracy and reliability.
Cybenetics has introduced a new efficiency rating called ETA, after the Greek letter “Ηâ€, which is based on a highly sophisticated methodology that takes into account many different factors. Contrary to the currently available efficiency rating programs that test only three or four different load points; the ETA program incorporates load combinations using a unique, custom-made application to account for the efficiency results of thousands of different load combinations through a unique proprietary application. This process allows Cybenetics to use a single value rating to represent the PSU’s true overall efficiency.
Moreover, and very importantly, Power Factor, Vampire Power and the +5VSB rail’s efficiency are also taken into consideration in the final rating, whereas these measurements are not even considered in other efficiency certification tests. Finally, all tested PSUs must be compliant with the ErP Lot 6 2010/2013 and ErP lot 3 2014 directives and also meet all requirements mentioned in the (EU) No 617/2013 regulation: (a) 85% efficiency at 50% of rated output power; (b) 82% efficiency at 20% and 100% of rated output power; (c) Power Factor of at least 0.9 at 100% of rated output power.
Cybenetics also provides a noise certification, named LAMBDA. Utilizing an advanced methodology and a highly sophisticated controlling/monitoring program, the power supply’s noise readings are recorded throughout its entire operational range. Those readings are subsequently converted to sound pressure levels (SPL), averaged, and converted back to dB(A) again. According to Cybenetics, there is no such noise certification program available for IT products and the company’s purpose in the future, is to expand this program to other hardware parts, as well.
The ETA certification comprises of five levels (A+, A, B, C, and D), while LAMBDA consists of seven levels (A++, A+, A, B, C, D, and E). Each manufacturer or brand can choose to either use the corresponding certification badges depicting the level alone, or a more comprehensive badge that includes the actual overall efficiency or noise rating. In addition, each badge will be tied to the specific product through a short-URL and a QR code, which will be printed on the badge. This will allow users to easily find a PSU’s evaluation report certified by Cybenetics.
Cybenetics evaluation reports also include a number of other test results (e.g. efficiency and load regulation at 10%-110% load; ripple performance; hold-up time; etc.), which will provide useful information not only to everyday users but also to experts and PSU reviewers who do not have the proper equipment and software to apply the methodology.
For both certification programs, Cybenetics primarily uses 115Vac; however, the ETA program will include a number of tests using 230Vac to check compliance with various EU regulations.
