Sansun Arctic 550W
Power Supply Unit
Challenging today's PSU heavyweights with a new design is something that should not be tried without solid weaponry. Today courageous Sansun is going to the battle with the Arctic 550W, a power supply loaded like a war vessel at a very sweet price. Will it be enough to frighten the big players? let’s see now…
The package
Straight from Taiwan, the Sansun Artic 550W arrived in what look to be a pre-production package with just the PSU, a bunch of cables and no manual or mounting screws. To know exactly how the final bundle will look like we cannot do more than recommending checking Sansun site here
The first impression is rather good. A sober case covered with high gloss finish with 2 fans and a whole connector panel for modular management of the cables. This feature allows to only plug the necessary cable in order to reduce clutter inside the case.
The first inventory reveals the following connectors and fully sleeved cables. The sleeving is near perfection and the wire are long enough (between 48 to 68cm) to match any combination. All plugs are standard and don't offer the easy grip feature found in a growing number of high-end PSUs.
3 x 3-pin fan connectors with 3 x (not sleeved) fan wires
1 x 4-pin 12V connector with 1 x dual 4-pin connector wire (perfect for dual-cpu motherboard)
1 x 6-pin PCI-E connector with 1 x 6-pin connector wire
2 x 5-pin SATA connector with 2 x dual SATA connector wire
4 x 4-pin Molex 5V & 12V connectors with 4 x dual 4-pin Molex connector (with 2 with floppy connectors)
1 x 20+4-pin main connector (no 20-to-24-pin adaptor necessary)
Mounting and Testing
Before mounting the PSU we have to decide whether or not attaching the needed wires to the PSU or mounting the PSU first and then attaching the wires. In our case, we think it would be easier to attach the cable to their respective connector before mounting the whole.
If you chose this option, make sure to make the complete inventory of your requirement or else you could end up wasting long minutes trying to change the attached PSU cables inside the PC case...
Once all is in place then it times to switch the whole on. First, the two LED fans are spinning very quietly. The 120mm fan is just on top of the processor radiator and sends its glowing luminescence in the whole case.
The 80mm backside fan of the PSU is cooling down the inside. Thanks to vents located on both side of the PSU, this fan has a greater efficiency and remains very quiet even under constant load. Last, but not least, this fan still spin during a minute or two after the PC is shut down in order to exhaust the last puff of hot air…
The testing phase is impressive too. From light to heavy load, the voltage regulation is simply excellent, within +/-2% on all lines at all test. Here are the data collected:
Conclusion
Considering the price of the Arctic 550W we cannot do less than to give Sansun a perfect 10/10 for bringing this level of features and performance at such reasonable price! For around 95$ you will get a powerful, rock-stable high efficiency PSU ATX 2.0 with dual 12V rails, PCI-express connection, environmental friendly Active PFC, a silent pair of efficient LED fans, a handful of fully sleeved cables and a modular design that should fit every needs. Great value!
What we liked most
- Superb value for money
- Fully sleeved long cables
- Great fan control thanks to 3x fan headers
- Modular design
- Power Cooler LED Fans (80mm & 120mm)
- Rock stable under any circonstances
- Very good efficiency at full load
- Well protected against adversity
…and less
- No easy grip Molex
- Not SLI ready (but wait, it’s only 95$!)
Specification
- ATX 2.0 compliance for better efficiency with savings up to 25%
- High gloss finish
- Modular connection system
- Active PFC (environmental friendly)
- 8cm+12cm fans for higher ventilation
- Support 6-pin PCI-Express connection for high end VGA card
- Black sleeved cables for improved air flow inside the case
- Whole cable tie
- Low acoustic noise
- Protection:
Short-circuit, in-rush current, overflow, over-temperature, over-voltage, over-current and under-voltage
Good Read
- AMDboard's PSU Special
- About Active PFC
- PFC decoded
Special thanks to Neilson at Sansun for allowing AMDboard.com to review the Arctic 550W |
