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Review: FSP Group Booster X3

by Ryszard Sommefeldt on 21 July 2006, 11:10

Tags: FSP Group (TPE:3015)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qagcn

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Introduction

A recent HEXUS.headline broke news of the latest product to surface from FSP Group, aimed at the enthusiast and somewhat budget upgrader.

Priced at £55 without VAT (~£65 with), their Booster X3 is the first in a new class of PSU designed to fit into a spare 5.25" drive bay and provide power only to your graphics subsystem. Using a 'best tool for the job' approach, the Booster X3 is able to provide 300W (320W peak, under load) output power to your graphics hardware, for up to two cards.

The basic principle for both user classes is simple. If you're a very high-end user, even with a high-end current power supply, why not augment the Booster X3 and take the GPU load away from what you have already, hopefully resulting in better supply to your graphics subsystem and the rest of your workstation.

If you're an upgrader that doesn't want to change PSU for whatever reason, but wants something able to provide for a hungry graphics board or two, just add a Booster X3.

The principles are sound, but execution, price and availability will define whether its a success. Yours truly has had one for a few days, testing it out to see if it works as advertised using a couple of different systems, so here's our quick first-look HEXUS.snapshot before we test it fully on the bench.