500W to 550W: 12 Power Supplies Compared
by Christoph Katzer on February 20, 2009 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Arctic Cooling Fusion 550R - Overview
Arctic Cooling is famous for their CPU coolers, which were very popular in the late 90s and early 2000s. With prices of around $20-$25 and very good performance, they sold a ton of these coolers. Eventually, Arctic Cooling started selling cases with power supplies made by Seasonic. That leads into today's review, with Arctic Cooling now selling power supplies under their own brand -- a potentially lucrative proposition, provided you have a product that can stand out from the competition.
The Fusion 550 is the first power supply from Arctic Cooling, and given their previous use of Seasonic power supplies in their cases, it should come as no surprise that the Fusion is manufactured by Seasonic. The difference is that Arctic Cooling uses their own fans, which are supposed to be nearly silent while still providing good performance. Arctic Cooling mounts one of these fans on the front of the PSU, with the fan actually located outside of the casing. This fan will funnel air into the PSU, and possibly do so with less acoustic noise than the competition.
In a case of interesting marketing, don't be fooled by the Eco 80 emblem on the top of the power supply. This sticker has nothing to do with the 80 Plus certification from 80Plus.org, despite some striking similarities. We will see later that the Fusion 550 does manage to achieve 80% or higher efficiency, but since this power supply did only come with 230VAC it was not able to be certified by the 80 Plus programme. Arctic Cooling does however have a multiple input version now that comes with the real certification.
When we open the casing, we find a standard Seasonic layout. Right in front of the fan is a large heatsink that will get plenty of airflow for cooling. A plastic shroud is also present to help channel airflow into the optimal locations, further helping control heat. A heatsink on the side won't get much airflow, but since there aren't many components attached to that heatsink it shouldn't be a problem. A Nippon Chemi-Con capacitor fills the primary role, with Ostor capacitors in the secondary. Ostor might be one of the cheaper capacitor options, but we didn't encounter any problems with these components.
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just4U - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link
Excellent!! I am curious as to how those solutions compare to standalone "standouts". I think the days where we see some no name powersupply that isn't very good in systems (as a general rule) are gone. That's been replaced (in North America) now with seeing solutions by Antec, Fsp, ect as the standard. So the comparison's are of interest.vailr - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - link
Any idea when any "Gold certified" ~500W PSU's will be available (on Newegg, or another online vendor)?Such as:
Thermaltake W0338 TP-500AH3NCG 500W
Seasonic SS-550LT 550W
Channel Well PUK500V-G 500W
Discussed here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...">http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...
Christoph Katzer - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - link
I think we will see first units in summer.Mastakilla - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - link
I'm looking for a cheap 450W - 550W Powersupply (cheap but still a bit decent, around 50 euro), so I was really interested in this article...Unfortunatly the only PSU in pricerange, the Artic Cooling, is unfindable in the Benelux (EU). Also the next in price (Tagan Superrock), which actually is too expensive already, is unfindable here...
so I still don't know what to get
Kiijibari - Sunday, February 22, 2009 - link
Buy an Enermax 525W, they were tested earlier here on anandtech and are very good PSU.They should be available easily in Europe :)
cheers
Kiiji
Mastakilla - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link
Thanks for the tip, but those enermaxes are again waaaaaaaay above budget (89+ euro!!)The Corsair CX400 is 43 euro
That Artic Cooling 550W is 68 euro (shipped from DE)
I'm looking for something in between... (around 50-55 euro)
like a decent 450-500W Powersupply...
MadMan007 - Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - link
Corsair VX450 or HX450 (we unfortunately do not get the HX450 in the States :( Sad because it's 80+ Bronze)Kiijibari - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link
Sounds like you are looking for a (very) good *and* cheap PSU.That is imo impossible. You either get cheap China crackers or good, expensive ones.
Do you *really* need ~500W ?
If not then try the Enermax 425W. That is my last idea, otherwise I would suggest to raise your budget :)
cheers
Kiiji
Mastakilla - Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - link
no, you're wrong...the Corsair CX400 apparently isn't that bad and is VERY cheap...
I'm willing to pay a little more for a little better, but it seems like paying a little more will only get me worse :(
Paying A LOT more does get better though, but then I'm over my budget for the pc i'm composing...
Christoph Katzer - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - link
Try Caseking.dehttp://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Netzteile/Arct...">http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Net...0R-80Plu...