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XG Magnum 500 Power Supply Review

When it comes to power supplies you usually don’t hear much about them. They seem to sit in the computer, make noise, and power all the fans and devices and any other flashy lights you may have in your case. Most power supplies either have a huge fan on the bottom or none at all and create a lot of the noise in your computer case. If you could get your hands on a power supply that was completely silent then you would have the next step in getting a killer computer system. The XG Magnum is one of these coveted silent power supplies. It comes in 500W and 600W specifications. Today we take a look at the 500W model.

Company:

XG, a division of MGE Company, www.xgbox.com

Price:

$145.00 US at NewEgg.com

Ratings

Price:
Install/Setup:
Usability:
Support:
Average Rating:

Getting Started

This power supply at first glance is a sexy beast. When I pulled it out of the box it seemed well built and stream line. When looking at the XG Magnum 500 you will see that there are no fan ports anywhere. To tell the truth, when I had it apart there is a little 80 mm fan tucked inside that even when at peak power you could not hear. Around this fan you will see nothing but copper. The entire inside of this power supply is nothing but heat pipes and copper to keep the sound down but also cool effectively. Sticking out the back is the heat pipes that while running you can tell are working just by how much heat it given off by them.

Also on the back of the XG Magnum 500 and 600 there is a LCD screen that tells you how hot the power supply is getting and how much wattage your PC is sucking from the power supply. This alone is a great idea as with all the peripherals, lights and fans connected to the power supply you want to make sure that you are not over taxing your power supply and hurting your components.

The next great thing about the XG Magnum is the modular cables. The cables that come with the power supply are magnetically shielded and come with a variety of connectors. The XG Magnum comes with standard 20 pin ATX with also the extra 4 for the SLI and PCI express systems that need the 24 pin ATX. It also seems to have enough connectors for the internal components but may lack in extras for the lights and front panel displays. When you are looking at the area were the connectors are connected to the power supply you will see 4 red LED which show you exactly what rail is currently being used.

Click on picture to enlarge image

Usability

The installation of the XG Magnum was sort of disappointing. Not in the sense that it was hard but that it did not fit in the case. They don’t call it a Magnum for nothing. It is just barely too big to fit in my Liann-Li PC60 case. After reading on the box and finding in small print “Magnum only fits “Standard Square” power supply mounting”. If it would have fit then with the modular design you don’t have to fight with all the cables when trying to install into your case. Before buying this power supply make sure that you do your measuring and make sure it will fit.

Test System

The system used to test the XG Magnum 500 is as follows:

• Asus A8N SLI-Deluxe
• AMD 3200 + OC 2450GHz
• 1 GB Kingston Hyper X DDR PC 2700
• 2-Asus TOP GeForce 6600 GT in SLI
• 1-Maxtor 250GB Sata
• 1-Western Digital 120 GB ATA
• 1-Maxtor 20 GB ATA
• Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Pro
• Windows XP SP2

Features and Specifications

• SATA enabled
• Active PFC
• Dual 12v lines
• PCI Express
• Ultra Silent dBa
• High Performance Heatpipe Technology
• LCD Displays: Temperature, Wattage, and all 3 voltage lines!
• Voltage Activity Lights monitor your voltage activity
• Most advanced Airflow & Cooling design ever developed!
• 2mm super thick Anodized Aluminum Chassis
• Includes Two PCI-Express power connections & 24 Pin Connector
• External Radiator keeps the heat outside your system
• Power Distribution Maximum Values: +3.3V: 25A +5V: 30A +12V1: 15A +12V2: 15A -12V: 0.5A -5Vsb: 2A +5v & +3.3v = 150W
• Total Continuous Output = 400W
• Over Voltage Protection: +12v1 & +12v2: 15.6v +5v: 7v +3.3v: 4.3v
• Magnetically Shielded Modular Cables Included:
  • 1-20/24pin ATX power: 20"
  • 1-4pin and 8pin power: 1st segment to 8pin 20.5" / 2nd segment to 4pin 9"
  • 1-double SATA power: 1st segment 20.5" / 2nd segment 9" 1-double 4pin molex: 1st segment 20.5" / 2nd segment 9"
  • 2-double 4pin molex + floppy power: 1st segment to molex 20.5" / 2nd segment to molex 7" / 3rd segment to floppy 7"
  • 2-6pin pci-express: 20 3/4"

Pros:

• Looks awesome
• Massive, passive (mostly) cooling using innovative heat pipe design
• Quality components for reliable long-term operation
• Nice LCD status display
• LIFETIME warranty

Cons:

• Maybe a little better viewable angle for the LCD
• Case compatibility could be improved

Adding It All Up

The XG Magnum 500 power supply looks great and also is very silent. If you are looking for a way to quiet down your system then the XG Magnum is for you. The LCD monitoring display on the back of the Magnum 500 is the best feature of the power supply. The added weight the Magnum 500 adds to your system is well worth it if you can fit it in your case. A power supply upgrade is a simple way to extend the life of your system and something you will probably have to do as you upgrade other components. Adding an XG Magnum 500 is definitely something you should consider!

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