Introduction

We would like to thank Akasa for supplying the review sample.

Most of you probably know Akasa from their cooling solutions or their accessories; however the fact is that the same company has released quite a few PSUs addressing mainly users with low budget. In general Akasa is a company which shows high interest mainly to the mainstream market, since they want to provide affordable products with as high as possible price/performance ratio. Hopefully the same will apply to their newly released Venom Power series of PSUs. This series currently consists of only two members with the stronger one having 750W capacity while the other has 550W.

Today we will take a detailed look at the Venom Power 550W, which besides the poisonous name has a single +12V rail, utilizes a semi-modular cabling design with only two fixed wires, is equipped with a silent 135mm fan and according to Akasa its efficiency exceeds 80%. Here we should note that the new Venom Power units are not certified by the 80 Plus organization, so they don't feature the corresponding badge. The main reason behind the lack of an official efficiency rating is that these units are compatible only with 220-240VAC input and not with 115VAC, the input that 80 Plus uses to evaluate desktop PSUs.
Nevertheless the lack of this badge means lowers cost, since it doesn't come free but requires an amount of money to be paid. Also throughout our tests we will easily find out more about the efficiency of the Venom Power 550W so you will get the idea. We should also not forget to mention the price of this PSU since it is one of its stronger selling points. In EU online stores we found it for about $75, a fairly good price for a modular 550W PSU.

Specifications

Akasa does not provide any information about the operating temperature range of this unit, so we assume that 40°C is the maximum that it can tolerate. Also since this unit is not equipped with OTP (Over Temperature Protection) we have to be extra cautious with the internal temperature of the hotbox, else we will destroy the PSU. The 135mm fan is equipped with sleeve bearings and to be frank in a budget unit like this we didn't expect to see an expensive double ball-bearings fan.
The PSU's length according to Akasa is 158mm but we measured it at 160mm, so most likely someone messed with the specs. The warranty is restricted to two years, the minimum allowed for products sold in the EU and the price is set at $75, a decent amount for a modular 550W PSU. Finally this unit is only compatible with 220-240VAC power grids so it isn't available in the US market and thus it cannot have an official 80 Plus efficiency rating, since this organization evaluates desktop units only at 115VAC.


There is a single +12V rail which can deliver up to 540W, so it will easily cope with the only two PCIe connectors that this unit is equipped with. The minor rails are quite strong at 150W, an amount of power that most likely will be never exploited by a contemporary PC system and the 5VSB rail has sufficient juice with 15W max power.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The good thing is that there are only two fixed cables, the main ATX cable and the EPS one while all others are modular. However the number of available PCIe connectors is small, even for the mere 550W of this unit. Akasa should equip it with modular cables that have two PCIe connectors each, instead of one, a move that would greatly boost its usability. Also the length of the main ATX and EPS cables is restricted at 510mm, nevertheless most likely a PSU with such low capacity will be installed in a medium or small sized case. The number of peripheral cables is adequate for the small Venom PSU and the distance among all connectors is the right one, according to ATX spec. Finally all connectors use 18AWG gauges, which are ideal for this unit's capacity.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail we do not have anything to comment about its power distribution.

Packaging

The package that protects the Venom 550W is small and features a nice design. On the front side, with a large badge Akasa advertises the 80% efficiency of the unit which however cannot be certified officially by the 80 Plus organization; nevertheless we are able to certify if Akasa's claim about efficiency stands and will do so, of course. The capacity description is highlighted with big green fonts and the interested user will also find out that this PSU has a single +12V rail and utilizes a modular cabling design. The rear side offers some additional info about the unit's specifications/features and also a list of the connectors can be found there. Overall a nice package which will be appealing to consumers who are impulse buyers, buying directly off shelf, based on the design of the box.