Specifications

Efficiency is only Bronze since this PSU belongs to the mainstream category, and its maximum operating temperature at which full power can be delivered continuously is restricted to 40°C. This, however, won't stop us from testing it at 40°C - 45°C as we do with all PSUs we evaluate. Protection features include all but the crucial OTP (Over Temperature Protection) feature, which is, in our humble opinion, essential to a unit with a 40°C max operating temperature.

A sleeved-bearing fan handles the cooling of the unit. This helps lower production costs since ball-bearing fans are more expensive (but they also last longer). The length of the PSU is minimal considering its capacity, and it makes the unit compatible with an extra small chassis. Finally, the warranty is long enough for a mainstream category PSU, and the price looks decent after the unit's specifications are taken into account.


There are two +12V rails with high enough maximum current output each, but their combined power output is significantly lower than the overall output of the unit, which is an indication that the minor rails are generated through conventional methods and not with the help of DC-DC converters. Speaking of the minor rails, their max combined power is high and will practically be of no use to a modern system since contemporary systems utilize these two rails lightly by drawing most of the juice from the +12V rail. Finally, the 5VSB rail is strong enough with 3 A maximum current output.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The number of connectors is small, even for a mainstream unit. We don't mind the lack of a second EPS connector much since a budget PSU like this won't be used with a server mainboard, but only having two peripheral connectors looks pretty strange. Two molex connectors are, in most cases, barely even enough for the chassis fans, so Fractal Design ought to provide more, especially since they are knee-deep into chassis design. Overall cable length is satisfactory, but the distance amongst PCIe connectors is silly small at only 7.5 cm. Considering the rigidity of the PCIe cables, it was really tough to snap both PCIe connectors on each cable onto our fixture sockets and the latter aren't that close to each other as they are on VGAs. Finally, all connectors use 18AWG guages, which is the minimum that the ATX spec recommends in most cases (22AWG wires are only for sense wires and FDD connectors).


The limited number of +12V rails doesn't allow for optimal power distribution. This is clearly seen in the second row of the above table; it describes the connectors that are fed by the second +12V rail. As you can see, the EPS connector is mixed into the second PCIe cable with two attached PCIe connectors, so you better use the PCIe cable with solid yellow wires if you plan on using a single VGA since it is powered by +12V1. Now, you will have to mix the EPS connector with two of the PCIe ones if you plan on using two double-PCIe input VGAs.