Internal Inspection:
Removing four screws allows you to slide the cover off and access the internal components. The below left image shows the back side of the 135mm fan, which reveals that it is an eleven bladed Young Lin Tech model DFS132512H. The below right image provides an overview of the internal components, which shows that everything is neatly arranged, connections are well made, and that for the most part the components seem to be high quality. The heatsinks are somewhat unique as they look like a bunch of aluminum rakes. Although the overall size may seem slight, the quantity should provide plenty of surface area to dissipate the heat.
A closer inspection revealed that there are no potentiometers to adjust voltage rails, which might be a good thing. You probably don't want to encourage anyone to open the unit and run the risk of a slip up allowing a huge capacitor to discharge.
The Cables:
As mentioned, all cables are well wrapped in black mesh which extends from end to end, even between individual drive connectors. We'll start our examination of all cables by looking at the motherboard power leads shown in the below left image. Here we see the 24-pin ATX motherboard connector, a 4-pin 12V connector, and an 8-pin 12V connector. The length of these (and all other) cables is ample to reach just about any corner in even the largest of cases. The only problem I could see with them is trying to hide them all in a smaller case. As you will see as we proceed there are a high number of connections, and since none are modular, cable management could become an issue.
With a quick glance you may assume that all of the cables shown in the above right image are for drives, but take a closer look... These are all PCI Express leads! There is a total of six 6-pin connections and three 8-pin connections. While you easily have more connections than you could possibly use in one current system, you should be prepared for whatever the video card developers may have up their sleeves in the future.
The next image shows the balance of the cables; for 4-pin powered drives, floppy drives, and SATA drives. There are a total of seven 4-pin drive connectors, two floppy connectors, and eight SATA connectors. While this should be plenty for even some of the most heavily populated cases, I have a feeling that you could daisy chain splitters to your heart's content without issue.
Installation and Operation:
Installing a power supply is generally rather straight forward, and with a unit like this the cable management may be the most time consuming portion of the process. There are two things I discovered that are worth keeping in mind, though. The first is that the unit is deeper than the typical ATX unit, which may create issues when being fit into some cases out there. I actually couldn't get it into a Thermaltake Armor Case at all, and had to remove a top mounted case fan from an Enermax CS-10182-BA to get it in.
The other issue is with the orientation of the SATA power connectors. I hadn't really considered it until this point, but most power supplies I have used recently have the wires perpendicular to the connector. This allows the wiring to run flush against the back of the drives, which allows for a neater installation and for the wires to fit into tighter spaces. With SATA drives mounted into sideways mounted drive cages in the Enermax CS-10182-BA, I was not able to close the case's side panel since the power connectors stuck out so far and because the length of cable between connectors created such a rigid loop from drive to drive. While right angle adaptor cables that would fix this problem are available at many online outlets, it shouldn't be necessary.
As for the power supply in operation, I have no complaints. The fan was extremely quiet no matter what the load, and the exhaust air never got warm enough for concern. As for the performance, we will get to that next...
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