W1zzard
11-15-2005, 04:21 PM
[PAGE=Introduction & Packaging]
Introduction
I would like to thank Cooler Master (http://www.coolermaster.com) for supplying me with the unit for review.
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/package1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/package2.jpg)
Box contents:
Power supply unit
Power consumption readout
Power Cord
24-to-20-pin power adapter
Screw Package
Instruction Manual
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/contents_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/contents.jpg)
<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Connectors</th>
<th align="center">Main Power</th>
<th align="center">5.25"</th>
<th align="center">Floppy</th>
<th align="center">4 Pin CPU</th>
<th align="center">SerialATA</th>
<th align="center">PCI-E Aux Power</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">ATX 24 Pin</td>
<td align="center">6</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
</tr>
</table>
Additionally there is one 6-pin workstation and one 8-pin EPS power connector available.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/cablelength.gif
[page=The PSU]
The PSU
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu4.jpg)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/fingerprints_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/fingerprints.jpg)
The black shiny color of the RealPower 550W takes fingerprints very easily as you can see in the above picture. Wiping them off with your bare hands doesn't work that well, a Kleenex does the trick.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/cables_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/cables.jpg)
Only the ATX power cable is sleeved, the other cables are running the bare wires.
Watts Viewer
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power1.jpg)
The Watts Viewer is a nice extra to get a feeling of how much power your system consumes. While this is sure not scientifically accurate, our testing showed that it is pretty close to what's happening.
I find the tiny meter is very hard to read, especially when your case is standing on the ground.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power2.jpg)
Cooler Master gives you two bezels, one in black and another silver one. The silver one will look good in beige cases too.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power3.jpg)
Behind the scenes the Watts Viewer is really just a voltmeter connected to the PSU without any circuitry. Very nice if you are looking into some modding. Just grab the blue and purple wire (inner pins of the connector) and hook them up to any voltmeter and you got your readouts.
[pagE=PSU Inside & Test Equipment]
PSU Inside
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/warranty_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/warranty.jpg)
Opening the PSU voids your warranty, and to make sure Cooler Master can detect this in case of an RMA, they added this small sticker on top of one of the four screws. Getting the sticker off with a razor blade is VERY hard without destroying the sticker. I couldn't do it.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside4.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside5.jpg)
All our warranty losing efforts were for nothing. There are no trimmers or other interesting parts inside. But seeing how clean everything is, gives me a feeling that the people who designed this unit know their stuff.
Test Equipment
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/setup.jpg
The PSU is connected to an APC SmartUPS which supplies clean 220V input.
AC current is measured using a Peaktech 4010 desktop RS232 multimeter with 0.02A accuracy.
To measure DC output voltages of the PSU we use a 20-bit data acquisition system calibrated to 10uV accuracy.
Power Factor is measured using a generic Power Efficiency Meter.
Measurements for Ripple Voltage were obtained using a 30 MHz HAMEG Analog/Digital Oscilloscope.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/noisetest_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/noisetest.jpg)
Sound level measurements are performed with an IEC Type 2 Sound level meter and this setup.
It consists of three high-power resistors and a Socket A motherboard. The motherboard creates a small load which makes sure the PSU turns on (some PSUs require a minimum load). Since there is no hardware installed in the motherboard, its power draw is negligible. The three resistors create a static load of 320W (120W @ 12V + 50W @ 5V + 150W @ 12V) - a typical high-performance system. This setup is also used to determine the power conversion efficiency of the PSU.
[page=Performance]
Performance
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/sticker_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/sticker.jpg)
<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th colspan="8">Cooler Master RealPower 550W</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>AC Input</th>
<td colspan="7">115V / 230V 10A, 50-60 Hz</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>DC Voltage</th>
<td align="center">+3.3V</td>
<td align="center">+5V</td>
<td align="center">+12V1</td>
<td align="center">+12V2</td>
<td align="center">+12V3</td>
<td align="center">-12V</td>
<td align="center">+5VSB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Max. Output</th>
<td align="center">30A</td>
<td align="center">30A</td>
<td align="center">18A</td>
<td align="center">20A</td>
<td align="center">10A</td>
<td align="center">1A</td>
<td align="center">2A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="center">191 W</td>
<td colspan="3" align="center">360 W</td>
<td align="center">12 W</td>
<td align="center">10 W</td>
</tr>
</table>
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psugraph.gif
Tested on: P4 3.0F @ 4.0 GHz, 1.45V. ABIT Fatal1ty AA8XE, 1GB OCZ PC2-5400 EB, Radeon X850 XT, Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/ripple.jpg
Above image shows the Ripple Voltage measurement (5 mV per vertical division, 0.1uS per horizontal division). 13mV from peak to bottom is a good result. Ripple Voltage was measured at idle.
<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 12V</th>
<td align="right">81.852 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 5V</th>
<td align="right">11.203 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 3.3V</th>
<td align="right">6.479 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Power Factor</th>
<td align="right">0.94</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Ripple Voltage 12V</th>
<td align="right">13 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Power Efficiency</th>
<td align="right">76% (320W:418W)</td>
</tr>
</table>
Standard deviation is a statistical term, which tells how far away from the average the measurements are. In other words it's the average of the average.
A large standard deviation indicates that the data points are far from the average and a small standard deviation indicates that they are close within the average.
[PAGE=Fan Noise, Value & Conclusion]
Fan Noise
The fan of the RealPower 550W is temperature controlled. The higher the PSU's internal temperature, the faster the fan will run.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/fannoise.gif
Especially under load this PSU is not very quiet.
Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
The Cooler Master RealPower 550W is sold for around $110 which is certainly not cheap but the added connectors and power meter have its price.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Three 12V rails
PCI-E power connector
24 Pin ATX, 20 pin adapter included
EPS and Workstation connector
Watts Viewer
Nice black finish
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Cables not sleeved
Takes fingerprints
A bit loud
12V line could be more stable
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.5</th>
<td>Cooler Master has engineered a nice PSU with a load of extra features. The Power Consumption readout is a nice gimmick for your case, especially if you are into case modding and want to add a custom touch to your system.<br />
Three 12V rails make sure that your system is stable at all times, an extra PCI-Express power connector completes the package. A bit more stability on the 12V line would have been nice, but the line is far from being unstable.<br />
However, for a price of over $100 I would expect that all power cables are sleeved.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/recommended.gif</td></tr>
</table>
Introduction
I would like to thank Cooler Master (http://www.coolermaster.com) for supplying me with the unit for review.
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/package1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/package2.jpg)
Box contents:
Power supply unit
Power consumption readout
Power Cord
24-to-20-pin power adapter
Screw Package
Instruction Manual
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/contents_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/contents.jpg)
<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Connectors</th>
<th align="center">Main Power</th>
<th align="center">5.25"</th>
<th align="center">Floppy</th>
<th align="center">4 Pin CPU</th>
<th align="center">SerialATA</th>
<th align="center">PCI-E Aux Power</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">ATX 24 Pin</td>
<td align="center">6</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
</tr>
</table>
Additionally there is one 6-pin workstation and one 8-pin EPS power connector available.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/cablelength.gif
[page=The PSU]
The PSU
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psu4.jpg)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/fingerprints_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/fingerprints.jpg)
The black shiny color of the RealPower 550W takes fingerprints very easily as you can see in the above picture. Wiping them off with your bare hands doesn't work that well, a Kleenex does the trick.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/cables_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/cables.jpg)
Only the ATX power cable is sleeved, the other cables are running the bare wires.
Watts Viewer
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power1.jpg)
The Watts Viewer is a nice extra to get a feeling of how much power your system consumes. While this is sure not scientifically accurate, our testing showed that it is pretty close to what's happening.
I find the tiny meter is very hard to read, especially when your case is standing on the ground.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power2.jpg)
Cooler Master gives you two bezels, one in black and another silver one. The silver one will look good in beige cases too.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/power3.jpg)
Behind the scenes the Watts Viewer is really just a voltmeter connected to the PSU without any circuitry. Very nice if you are looking into some modding. Just grab the blue and purple wire (inner pins of the connector) and hook them up to any voltmeter and you got your readouts.
[pagE=PSU Inside & Test Equipment]
PSU Inside
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/warranty_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/warranty.jpg)
Opening the PSU voids your warranty, and to make sure Cooler Master can detect this in case of an RMA, they added this small sticker on top of one of the four screws. Getting the sticker off with a razor blade is VERY hard without destroying the sticker. I couldn't do it.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside4.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/inside5.jpg)
All our warranty losing efforts were for nothing. There are no trimmers or other interesting parts inside. But seeing how clean everything is, gives me a feeling that the people who designed this unit know their stuff.
Test Equipment
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/setup.jpg
The PSU is connected to an APC SmartUPS which supplies clean 220V input.
AC current is measured using a Peaktech 4010 desktop RS232 multimeter with 0.02A accuracy.
To measure DC output voltages of the PSU we use a 20-bit data acquisition system calibrated to 10uV accuracy.
Power Factor is measured using a generic Power Efficiency Meter.
Measurements for Ripple Voltage were obtained using a 30 MHz HAMEG Analog/Digital Oscilloscope.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/noisetest_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/noisetest.jpg)
Sound level measurements are performed with an IEC Type 2 Sound level meter and this setup.
It consists of three high-power resistors and a Socket A motherboard. The motherboard creates a small load which makes sure the PSU turns on (some PSUs require a minimum load). Since there is no hardware installed in the motherboard, its power draw is negligible. The three resistors create a static load of 320W (120W @ 12V + 50W @ 5V + 150W @ 12V) - a typical high-performance system. This setup is also used to determine the power conversion efficiency of the PSU.
[page=Performance]
Performance
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/sticker_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/sticker.jpg)
<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th colspan="8">Cooler Master RealPower 550W</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>AC Input</th>
<td colspan="7">115V / 230V 10A, 50-60 Hz</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>DC Voltage</th>
<td align="center">+3.3V</td>
<td align="center">+5V</td>
<td align="center">+12V1</td>
<td align="center">+12V2</td>
<td align="center">+12V3</td>
<td align="center">-12V</td>
<td align="center">+5VSB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Max. Output</th>
<td align="center">30A</td>
<td align="center">30A</td>
<td align="center">18A</td>
<td align="center">20A</td>
<td align="center">10A</td>
<td align="center">1A</td>
<td align="center">2A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="center">191 W</td>
<td colspan="3" align="center">360 W</td>
<td align="center">12 W</td>
<td align="center">10 W</td>
</tr>
</table>
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/psugraph.gif
Tested on: P4 3.0F @ 4.0 GHz, 1.45V. ABIT Fatal1ty AA8XE, 1GB OCZ PC2-5400 EB, Radeon X850 XT, Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/ripple.jpg
Above image shows the Ripple Voltage measurement (5 mV per vertical division, 0.1uS per horizontal division). 13mV from peak to bottom is a good result. Ripple Voltage was measured at idle.
<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 12V</th>
<td align="right">81.852 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 5V</th>
<td align="right">11.203 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Standard deviation 3.3V</th>
<td align="right">6.479 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Power Factor</th>
<td align="right">0.94</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Ripple Voltage 12V</th>
<td align="right">13 mV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Power Efficiency</th>
<td align="right">76% (320W:418W)</td>
</tr>
</table>
Standard deviation is a statistical term, which tells how far away from the average the measurements are. In other words it's the average of the average.
A large standard deviation indicates that the data points are far from the average and a small standard deviation indicates that they are close within the average.
[PAGE=Fan Noise, Value & Conclusion]
Fan Noise
The fan of the RealPower 550W is temperature controlled. The higher the PSU's internal temperature, the faster the fan will run.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower550W/images/fannoise.gif
Especially under load this PSU is not very quiet.
Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
The Cooler Master RealPower 550W is sold for around $110 which is certainly not cheap but the added connectors and power meter have its price.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Three 12V rails
PCI-E power connector
24 Pin ATX, 20 pin adapter included
EPS and Workstation connector
Watts Viewer
Nice black finish
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Cables not sleeved
Takes fingerprints
A bit loud
12V line could be more stable
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.5</th>
<td>Cooler Master has engineered a nice PSU with a load of extra features. The Power Consumption readout is a nice gimmick for your case, especially if you are into case modding and want to add a custom touch to your system.<br />
Three 12V rails make sure that your system is stable at all times, an extra PCI-Express power connector completes the package. A bit more stability on the 12V line would have been nice, but the line is far from being unstable.<br />
However, for a price of over $100 I would expect that all power cables are sleeved.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/recommended.gif</td></tr>
</table>