The acronym BFG means many things to many people. To the young reader, the three letters might mean “Big Friendly Giant”. The seasoned gamer would beg to differ—BFG clearly stands for “Big ******* Gun”. The truth of the matter is that it doesn't really matter what you think of when you hear the letters B-F-G. Today the curious three stand for “computer hardware”.

Indeed, BFG Technologies, whatever its name might suggest, is one of the most well-known names in the computer hardware market today. I first found out about BFG through their line of video cards a few years ago. At just seven years old, this “young” company has expanded quite quickly. BFG entered many new markets along the way, one of which was the power supply market.


Here at OCIA.net, we're no strangers to power supplies. However, I've personally only had the chance to look at one BFG PSU before, the impressive “performance series” LS-680: a non-modular unit aimed towards the middle-of-the-line crowd. Today, we're going to have a look at a higher end unit, the EX-1000, “enthusiast series” modular power supply weighing in at 1KW of power. Full specifications follow:

• ATX12V 2.2/EPS12V 2.91
  
• Quad +12V Rails
  
• Silent 135mm Intake Fan
  
• Efficiency: >80% Typical
  
• MTBF: > 100,000 Hours at 25C, > 20,000 Hours at 40C
  
• 1000W Continuous Rated at 40C
  
• PCI Express Ready
  
• Safety Approval: UL, CB, TUV, CE, and FCC
  
• Dimensions: 15cm x 8.6cm x 16.5cm (5.9”W x 3.4”H x 6.5”D)
  

The specifications make no mention of the EX-1000's biggest selling point: its frequency conversion technology, which allegedly allows the unit to behave like smaller power supplies on small loads in order to maintain efficiency. Does this new idea work, and does the EX-1000 perform up to “enthusiast” standards? Continue on as we find out…