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PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI Power Supply Review

When building a new system, one aspect you certainly do not want to neglect is the power supply. As systems components have become even more power hungry, power supplies have increasingly been under the microscope. The quality of the power supply is equally important as to the type of processor you put into your system. A power supply that under or over supplies the advertised power ratings can be detrimental to anyone’s system.

Company:

PC Power & Cooling, Inc., www.pcpowercooling.com

Price:

$219.00 US at www.pcpowercooling.com

Ratings

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

Getting Started

Today, we’ll be looking at the PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI, an ATX 2.0 specification power supply. Featuring two 12v rails, a nominal rating of 510w at 50c and a peak power rating of 650, this unit can easily handle any power hungry component that is thrown its way. The Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI comes with two certified six pin SLI power connectors that will support two of Nvidia’s 7800 series video cards in SLI mode, as well as 6 SATA power connectors – no longer do you need an adapter to power up your SATA drive.

It’s commonly known that the weight of a power supply is directly related to the quality of parts that were used to manufacture it. This was noticed the first time I picked it up, weighing nearly twice was much an Antec 400w. Peering through the rear mesh, it was obvious that the super duty capacitors and heatsinks, as well as other components, were the reason behind the extra weight. Bear in mind, this power supply is not a brick by any standards and will not make your case unbearable to move or carry.

As someone who frequents area LANs with a windowed case, I can not stress how important cable management is when it comes to the looks of the case. PCP&C had users like me in mind when the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI was on the drawing board. Anyone who has braided their power supply’s cables before know exactly how troublesome and tedious it can be, but with this power supply all the cables come professionally braided with shrink tubing on each end. Also as important, if not more, is the length of the power supply’s cables. Being too short or too long can cause headaches when you connecting up your system, but thankfully the Turbo 510 Express/SLI’s cables seem to be just the perfect length for any mid or full size tower.

Click on picture to enlarge image

Usability

Having just received all the parts to build a new AMD X2 system, we decided to see how installing the Turbo-Cool 510 Express was. Quite to my surprise, the installation of the power supply was the easiest of any power supply I had done. I attributed this to 3 reasons: No irregular design or size, adequate cable length, and braided cables.

Using a Fluke 88V Multimeter, we proceeded to test the 12V+, 5V+, and 3.3V+ during boot, idle, and heavy load times. With the creation of the ATX 2.0 specification, all readings must be within 5% of their specified output.

Test System

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

• AMD X2 4200+ @ 2500 (10 x 250FSB)
• DFI nF4 Ultra D
• 2 x 1GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC4000
• eVGA 7800 GTX 256MB (500/1300)
• Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
• 1 x 74GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM
• 1 x 160GB Samsung 7,200 RPM
• Lite-On DVDRW SOH-1633S
• Lite-On COMBO LTC-48161H
• Lian-Li PC-7B Plus Case

The first reading we’ll be looking at is the 3.3+ volt. Out of all of the reading we took, the 3.3+ fluctuated the most, but was always within the 5% variance. Readings of 3.41+ during boot and heavy load time, which were the highest, are only 3% from the optimal 3.3+.

The 5.0+ output was promising as well, with the highest reading of 5.16+ during heavy load being barely over 3%, well within the ATX 2.0 requirements. You can be assured that with a power supply like this, you won’t have to worry about system components being underpowered.

What was the most promising out of all the readings was the 12V+ reading. First, with the output of 12.3+ being barely over 1% within variance it is still well within allotted specifications. Second, the 12.3V+ reading was constant throughout the test, even through the constant overclocking we put the system through.

Without a doubt, this consistency is the result of high quality components and manufacturing process, as well as stringent quality assurance practices that PC Power & Cooling has set in place for its products. As any test of time, many power supply manufacturers will come and go with their products, but only those who produce top notch quality will continue and we have no doubt that PC Power & Cooling, Inc. will be around as they continue to produce high quality products such as the Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI.

Features and Specifications

Adding It All Up

With its sleek black, simple, yet effective design, combined with high grade components and manufacturing, PC Power & Cooling has brought a power supply to the market that will be able to handle anything that is on the market today. And you can be assured, with a 5 year warranty from PC Power & Cooling, you won’t ever be left in the dark.

Because of the fantastic quality we are awarding the PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI Power Supply the UpgradAdvisor.com Recommended Upgrade Seal of Approval!!!

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