Tagan joins Nvidia ESA initiative with new PSUs

Author: Richard Swinburne
Published: 27th November 2007
Comments (8) Stumble
Tagan joins Nvidia ESA initiative with new PSUs

Tagan BZ PSUs will be compatible with Nvidia ESA

We took a first look at Nvidia's Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA) earlier this month - it's a system where all the bits tell the motherboard how they're doing.

Graphics cards, CPUs, memory and even hard drives have been monitored before, but never really stuff like power supplies. Considering the PSU is the one thing that keeps it all alive, knowing if it's all hunky-dorey inside the steel box should certainly be worth noting. Yes, you can read overall voltages with a voltmeter, but what about temperatures, fan speeds or independent rails?

Tagan is claiming itself as the first power supply company to support Nvidia's ESA with its new BZ PSU range (The Gigabyte Odin GT we reviewed here pre-dates the Nvidia ESA spec and has its own proprietary monitoring system). It features:
  • new "PipeRock" modular cables that come with colour-coded backlit LED housing,
  • Four +12V rails with a "turbo" mode to combine them all into one,
  • Quad GPU support,
  • Gold-plated connectors,
  • 80+ efficiency,
  • Thermally controlled fan,
  • EMI reduction technology with extra ground wire to reduce noise,
  • Black anti-scratch painted chassis.
Tagan states that the PSU comes with two sensor chips which have a wireless technology built in that's compatible with the ESA architecture, so it can talk to ESA-enabled motherboards and other equipment without needing to take up another USB port. The sensor chips are placed under the both large heatsinks and are responsible for keeping an eye on the PSU voltages, temperatures, fan speeds etc.

Personally I still can't decide whether it will make a difference, but it remains to be seen how seamlessly ESA components integrate together. I like the LED backlit modular connectors - they do look pretty funky, but it's also yet another load of little lights to add to an already "all year Christmas" computer case.

So, is Tagan onto a winner? Let us know your thoughts in the forums
Quote Bauul 27th November 2007, 17:17
I wonder what sort of wireless frequency they're thinking of using, and hopefully it won't interefere with any WiFi networks. They're slow and unreliable as it is without interference from the power supply.
Quote DXR_13KE 27th November 2007, 19:50
"Four +12V rails with a "turbo" mode to combine them all into one,"

what is the advantage of this?
Quote Anakha 27th November 2007, 20:38
Hey, it looks like someone listened to my comment about using Wireless USB to simplify intra-case communication...

Though, I do have to ask, does the PSU come with the dongle required to listen to this "Wireless" signal? Preferably in the form of something that plugs into an internal USB header, rather than having a lollipop stick hanging out the back of the PC...
Quote Clocked 27th November 2007, 21:34
Quote:
Originally Posted by DXR_13KE
"Four +12V rails with a "turbo" mode to combine them all into one,"

what is the advantage of this?

Who knows, but I'm immediately sceptical of anything that has a "turbo" mode...
Quote Cupboard 28th November 2007, 08:08
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clocked
Who knows, but I'm immediately sceptical of anything that has a "turbo" mode...
LOL:)

Is this just one of the first wireless USB devices? that could be rather cool.

*waits eagerly for review* ;)
Quote Impossible 28th November 2007, 19:31
Power over wireless ;)
Quote Kipman725 28th November 2007, 19:36
4 rails into one is so they can be ATX spec complient and still be able to power multi gpu monster rigs as the ATX spec requires cut off at 18A per 12V rail and each graphics card is drawing from only a single rail and some cars peak current is above 18A. PPC have done this for ages without having a button to disable it as they understand the sillyness of a spec that dosen't take into account the hardware out there.
Quote wharrad 28th November 2007, 23:31
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clocked

Who knows, but I'm immediately sceptical of anything that has a "turbo" mode...

That's what my last girlfriend said.....

(ok, that was poor, but someone had to do it!)


It's all shiny and everything, but you can already monitor most of the important stuff in a powersupply anyway... rpms, voltages and I'm sure temperatures on a few. But yeah, suppose a 'ISO' standard would be handy.
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