FSP Booster X3 300w 12v PSU

Appearance & Connectors

As previously mentioned, the Booster X3 unit fits in a 5.25″ drive bay and shares the same dimensions as many CD/DVD drives.

As a result of this, FPS have not paid any attention to making the top/sides of the unit aesthetically appealing as they will not be seen. Instead they have focused all of their efforts on the front of the unit which has a blue illuminated dome etched with the FSP logo.

The front of the unit is made from black plastic and has grills that allow the fans mounted inside the unit to blow hot air out of the front of the case. It is also worth noting that the clear plastic dome on the front of the unit can be removed if it proves to get in the way of the drive bay door found on many modern PC cases.

The back of the unit has 3 plugs which all need to be connected in order for the unit to work. Starting from the left, we have the dual PCI-E connector, the molex connector (used to sense when the pc is turned on) and the main AC power plug.
Just above the plugs is a large grill, which allows the fans to draw air from inside the case over the PSU components.

The insides of the Booster X3 are well laid out, with plenty of room for the fans to pull air over the components. Aluminium heatsinks have also been used on the hottest components and have fins for better heat dissipation.

I was unable to find any adjustable potentiometers inside the unit, but after seeing the voltage output from other FSP units I’m hoping these won’t be necessary.

The installed fans are manufactured by Protechnic Electric and are their 40mm MGA4012ZR models. Unfortunately I was unable to find any specs for these fans online.

As the Booster X3 requires mains voltage, FSP have included a PCI Bracket, which allows for mains power to be routed inside your case.

I was slightly disappointed to see that the PCI-E connectors could not be plugged in indepentently. Instead you are required to have both PCI-E connectors in at all times. This shouldn’t pose a problem for most people using the Booster X3 as they will be running an SLI/Crossfire setup, but it would have been nice to have two separate cables never less.