techETA » Power Supplies

Mushkin Joule 1000W Power Supply keeps the juice pumping

Rafael Hernandez — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:30:35 +0000

Yes high-end hardware requires a more robust power delivery system than the PSU your generic case came with can muster. Thankfully there are plenty of options out there for those with an insatiable need to warm up their room.

The Mushkin Joule 1000 Watt Power Supply not only sports a classy exterior but offers you a choice of three exciting fan colors! Overclockers Club has the review:

There are two slide switches on the rear panel – one that controls fan lighting colour, red, blue, and green or off (none) and another for multi or single 12V rail operation. There are two valid reasons for fitting a 1000W power supply. One, because you can (the word overkill does not exist in my dictionary), or two, because it’s needed. If it’s needed then it can only be for a powerful SLI or Crossfire configuration for which, in my opinion, the single 12V rail configuration is the way to go and that’s the way the testing will be performed.

Antec EarthWatts 750Watt Power Supply goes energy efficient

Rafael Hernandez — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:35:30 +0000

Your mid-range gaming PC isn’t in the market for a 1000 watt power supply but you need something that will effectively handle your current gear and give you some room to grow while being at least moderately efficient.

The Antec EarthWatts 750Watt Power Supply can comfortably handle the majority of PCs out there and can tout its 80PLUS certification if you’re in the market for a very efficient PSU. ThinkComputers has the review:

Antec is a staple in the power supply market around the world. Its Earthwatts line was introduced last year to target the green computing market. This line is designed to be sans no-frills, aside from partial modularity and 80PLUS certification. This SLI-certified, quad-12V-rail unit sports plenty of connectivity for its wattage, with nine SATA and nine device connectors in addition to its PCI-Express cables.

It seems like the storage fiends will be happy with the number of power plugs available.

Sparkle Computer 1250Watt Gold Class 80+ Power Supply will just about handle everything in your insane PC

Rafael Hernandez — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:24:23 +0000

There was a time when 1000Watt power supplies were considered overkill given the rather weak components found in PCs at the time but with today’s much improved multi-GPU performance and energy hungry processors it’s not too far fetched to want a beefy PSU.

The Sparkle Computer 1250Watt Gold Class 80+ Power Supply should handle your needs easily enough with plenty of the features you’d want in a high-end PSU. DragonSteelMods has the review:

Something else I noticed is that all of the Molex cables have a floppy power connection on them and I have to ask why? Who uses floppies anymore really? I think one would have been fine, or maybe two at the most but not all of them.

Well if you’ve got to complain about something in a power supply that’s about as minor a complaint as possible.

Cooler Master GX 750W Power Supply enjoys the stealthy look

Rafael Hernandez — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:22:30 +0000

Power supplies aren’t exactly a hot topic at the forefront of everyone’s mind but they sure do come into play when you’re trying to get your beefy new multi-GPU, six-cored CPU, rig up and running.

The Cooler Master GX 750W Power Supply provides ample amounts of power for your next system build and does so in an all-black chassis. Hardware Heaven has the review:

Out of the box the Cooler Master GX 750W looks like an ordinary black power supply. The chassis is sprayed with a very well applied black matte paint and every cable and connector is black as well. Even though its quality is not comparable to that of a very cheap generic unit, it would look just like one if not for the fans protective grill which is not a separate item but part of the chassis itself. The sticker with the electrical specifications and approvals can be seen at the right side of the chassis.

A respectable unit but you’d better have some nice cable routing features in your case since it lacks the ever popular modular cable system.

Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W Power Supply provides ample energy

Rafael Hernandez — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:01:05 +0000

Getting a high-end system going is getting quite a bit more difficult given the extreme power needs that top end PC hardware requires and when you finally find a power supply that can reliably provide energy to your gear the thing makes more noise than you can imagine.

The Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W promises to dole out plenty of energy while keeping things quiet on the noise front. PureOC has the review:

Taking a closer look at the cables of the Silent Pro the first thing you should notice is that they are flat. Cooler Master has made them this way for improved wire management and greater airflow, hopefully to improve upon better overall temperatures in the chassis. All the cable lengths are very generous for this unit the shortest being the 20+4 pin measuring in at 24″. The cable connectors cover most setup needs, including those for SLI and CrossFire.

Flatter cables should make things easy on those wire routing case purists that despise seeing a single cord.

80 PLUS Platinum Certification Launched

Rafael Hernandez — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:49:53 +0000

Energy efficiency, especially at a large scale, has been a hot topic for a while now and the move to lower PC and server energy consumption has begun in earnest. The 80 PLUS program was designed to showcase power supply products that are highly energy efficient and their newest rating brings even greater energy savings.

The 80 PLUS Platinum designation is reserved for power supplies that hit 90% efficiency at 20% load, 94% efficiency at 50% load, and 91% efficiency at 100% load. So far only server based 230v power supplies are being certified but you can expect to see PC versions sooner rather than later.

So far you’ll only find two PSUs on their list sporting the badge, HP and Super Micro receive the early honors.

Source: DailyTech

Zalman ZM500-RS Power Supply sports high efficiency at low noise

Rafael Hernandez — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:04:40 +0000

While those 1kW power supplies sure are snazzy to look at the truth is most computer systems can work just fine with a PSU with a much lower wattage rating.

The Zalman ZM500-RS sports a, by comparison, meager 500Watt rating but you do get 80 PLUS Bronze certification for energy efficiency and the whisper quiet operation the company is known for. Testseek Labs has a review:

The new series of power supplies recently released by Zalman ha a “RS” suffix in its name which stands for “Resonant Switching”. Compared to Two-Forward Switching, the more advanced Resonant Switching minimizes “switching loss” reduces heat generation, and operates more efficiently by eliminating the need for an output inductor leading to outstanding stability and reliability.

Fancy technology for a power supply but you’ll be sure to appreciate it when the lower power bills roll in.

Cooler Master SNA, Replacement Notebook Power Adapter

Rafael Hernandez — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:36:00 +0000

The freedom a notebook brings allows you to take your work, and or play, with you wherever you travel. Invariably the very act of lugging it around means you’ll likely lose the notebook’s faithful companion the power adapter.

OCIA has a look at the Cooler Master SNA replacement notebook power adapter which should get your system back up and running regardless of make and model. Here’s a peek:

True to its name, the SNA 95 is very slim. The front of the unit is black with the Cooler Master name / logo embossed into the plastic. We also see the LED activity light here, which lights up white when in use and blue when the USB port is being utilized.

Moving around the unit, we see the back half is gray in color. The USB port can be found on the left side of the unit. The attached power cable is wrapped around the removable H-shaped cable reel base for easy portability and cable management. On the bottom we find the socket for the second part of the power cable.

The included USB port is a handy addition for all of those gadgets you’re likely to carry around, then again if you’re powering your notebook you probably have a few extra USB ports to use for recharging your gear.

Enermax Eco 80+ Power Supply, Keeping it Green and Sensible

Rafael Hernandez — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:34:00 +0000

Power Supplies fit into that computing niche of the necessary evil peripheral. The sort of thing which most users don’t give a second thought to and regret it down the line. It can also bite you in the wallet as inefficient power supplies tend to waste more electricity when converting power from the plug to power usable by your computer.

In comes the Enermax Eco 80+ 350W power supply for those with reasonably specced computers, which is the majority of computer users, which boasts over an 80% power efficiency. Driver Heaven has a look:

The base design of the Eco 80+ is very similar to that of the Pro 82+ and Modu 82+ series with slightly lesser components responsible for the lower price and performance. There is only one transformer providing power to all of the power lines, except for the 5VSB line which is powered by its own tiny dedicated transformer. At the primary side of the unit a Hitachi HP3 220μF/400V capacitor can be seen aside a fairly large filtering choke. All of the secondary side capacitors are industrial grade capacitors from CE-TUR (Jen pan). The heatsinks are much larger than what we’d expect to find in a unit with this kind of output.

Capacitors and chokes oh my! A nice unit to keep in mind if you want your next build to draw less power.

Nexus Value 430 and RX-8500, Wide Range Power Supply Options

Rafael Hernandez — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:13:00 +0000

Sometimes you need a little bit of power, sometimes you need a lot, in either case Nexus has a range of power supplies suited to whatever power level your next computer build just so happens to fall into.

RBMODS has a look at the Nexus Value 430 and RX-8500 power supplies which, you might’ve guessed from the names, sport 430Watt and 850Watt (respectively) capabilities. A sneak peek into their findings:

RX-8500 itself has a nice looking piano black coating. As mentioned
before RX-8500 has 13.5cm fan which we can see in the picture. The
power supply is semi modular, meaning that only PCI-E, Molex and
SATA-connectors are modular, yet ATX and +12V power connectors are not.
Power supply has 6 connectors for Molex and SATA and it is compatible
with Quad-SLI setups providing four PCI-E connectors.

Great options for both high-end and budget conscious low-end.