Conclusion:
As computers become more advanced, your power supply must also advance. PCI-Express video cards are quickly becoming the standard for video cards, many of which require a special power connection. If you are building a new system, but not planning on overclocking, running dual video cards, or pushing the system to its maximum, the ArrowMax PSF-500SP is a good choice to help keep the cost down. A Home Theater PC or a family computer would run nicely off this power supply.
No matter how decent the performance is, there are a few issues. The biggest issue is the low power on the 3.3V+ and 5V+ rails and the efficiency. Pushing a maximum of 140W is very weak. This should be more than sufficient for most home systems, just not enough for an enthusiast or gaming system. The efficiency is another issue, having less than 70% efficiency is pretty weak. If it was 75% or more, I could let it pass. Once again though, if you are building a "low-end" system, this is probably not a major concern.
The second issue I have with this power supply is that the cables are unwrapped. While the power supply is not designed to be a show piece, wrapping the cables could help improve air-flow in the case by allowing the user to route the cables easier.
Finally, motherboards such as the DFI Expert require the use of an 8-pin 12V power connection, instead of the 4-pin 12V connection. This power supply does not provide this type of connection.
A search of PriceGrabber did not return any results, however ArrowMax has a suggested retail price of $49.99 for this power supply, which is a good price for a low end 500W power supply. There are more expensive alternatives which will provide a higher efficiency, higher power ratings, and wrapped cables than the ArrowMax PSF-500SP provides, but generally not for this price.
All in all this is not a terrible power supply. If the cables were wrapped (or if that is not an issue for you), the total power on the 3.3V and 5V rails was higher by 30W, and the efficiency was around 75%, I could award the ArrowMax PSF-500SP a near perfect score. However, given the unwrapped cables, and the low power rating, I have to take a few points away. I award the ArrowMax PSF-500SP Power Supply a final score of 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Final Rating (3.5 out of 5 stars):  
Pros:
» Good performance
» Long cables
» Quiet 120mm Fan
» Plenty of leads for a non-enthusiast system
» Low price
Cons:
» Unwrapped mess of cables
» No 8-pin 12V power cable
» Low efficiency and slight power fluctuation during load
» Not Modular (not designed to be modular)
Special thanks to ArrowMax for providing the PSF-500SP 500W power supply Bigbruin.com for review!
Please drop by the Bigbruin.com Forum and feel free to post any comments or questions.
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