| XG MAGNUM Silent 500w Power Supply | |||
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Product: XG MAGNUM Silent 500w Power Supply Debuted at CES in 2005, the XG MAGNUM is the newest XG power supply to hit the market. Promising clean, reliable power, and options such as modular cabling and support for any ATX system, the XG MAGNUM could turn out to be a must have for a gaming rig. Package contents- In the package, you will receive:
Specifications/Features-
Packaging- The unit itself comes in formed Styrofoam, inside a sturdy cardboard box. Inside, there is another similar box containing the cables and instruction manual. While large, it is both stylish and functional.
Cabling- NOTE: Due to a problem with the rubber grommets on the ends of the cables, XG removed them on my unit in order to get this out on time. As I do not have a section of cabling with them on, the cables pictured here have plain wires showing at the ends. From this picture in the instruction manual, you can get a general idea of what the finalized wires will look like.
The cables included with the unit are rounded off, and bound with a UV reactive material. It is silver mesh underneath, with a clear plastic shell. The ends of the cables are enclosed in rubber grommets so as to hide the unsightly wires. The cables are modular; they plug into the power supply. Unlike the Medusa of cabling given with other units, this enables you to use only the cables you need, and keep clutter out of your case. I found them to be long enough for any standard use, and in my case they had to be looped around a bit to take up the slack. There were plenty of cables to handle all the components in my case, which is saying a lot . Power Supply- The power supply is a heavy unit, clad in silver with plenty of holes and cutouts for breathing. With no fan to cool it, it needs all the air flow it can get. (It does have a fan, but it is only used when the unit gets too hot . ) Notable features include an external heat sink on the back, and an LCD display window. The LCD display contains a temperature readout, watt usage, and the voltage output of the ATX 12v plug.
In order to cool such a power supply, XG incorporated heat pipe technology to channel the heat from inside the unit to a heat sink outside your case. I find that works well, and the unit’s temperature levels out at about 46 degrees Celsius. The silent operation is also noticeable. I never noticed how much noise my Enermax power supply made until I put the MAGNUM in. My case went from a heavy din to a whisper. If you are building a computer with acoustics in mind, a silent power supply such as this is recommended. The one downside to all this silent, heat pipe cooling is that the unit does not provide an exit fan for your case. My previous power supply had a fan not only in the usual position, but underneath pointing at the CPU. The power supply provided a handy escape route for heat. Some heat sinks are even designed to vent into the power supply to remove CPU heat quickly - keep that in mind, as this power supply will not provide any ventilation. On the inside face of the unit there are 5 Molex connections for cables, one for the motherboard cable, and another for the extra motherboard cable. The main motherboard cable is split into two parts: one with 20 pins, and another right beside it with an extra 4. Should you need 24 pins, plug them both in side by side, or leave the extra plug unplugged for a straight 20 pins. The cables fit snugly and securely without any complications. Off to one side there are red LED indicator lamps for which plugs are being used. They look like warning lights, but are just notifications of use.
Installation- Installation was very easy–assuming the unit will fit in your case. I had a unique problem in that my case needed a mounting plate, and that required a trim with the Dremel before it would slide over the external heat sink. Generally speaking, though, the unit should fit in any case that takes a standard ATX power supply. Installing cables was just as easy: use only the ones you need, and plug them in. After everything was plugged in, plug in the power cable and flip the red power switch. The switch is red, and glows when it is in the on position. At once the LCD display lights up with a blue glow. While the effect is nice, it stays on all the time, and the screen has a horrible viewing angle. The back of my computer sits about two feet from a wall, and I had to stick my head directly behind the display in order to see the data. From any other angle, you will see every part of the display lit up. After powering up, the unit responds like any power supply should: it goes on, provides power, and turns off when told to do so. You can feel the heat sink. radiating heat, and after warming up to 46 degrees, it levels out.
After hours of gaming, I was able to get the unit up to 50 degrees. At that point, the fan will kick in to push some air over the heat sinks This fan is rather noticeable since the unit is silent otherwise, particularly due to the fact that the fan whines. You will notice a small whine to your computer when the fan is active, not loud, but defined. Furthermore, the unit will exert a ton of heat into the case. The unit becomes hot to the touch, and will warm the metal of the case around it to a mild degree. While not dangerous, the unit is adding heat to the case instead of blowing it out like a conventional power supply. Results- The unit was tested by running SiSoftware’s Sandra burn-in test. This test runs just about every component of your computer, stressing the machine to its limit. The test was run 100 times sequentially, once at standard clock speed, and again at a slight overclock. Test Bed-
Conclusion- This power supply definitely meets expectations of performance and functionality. It provides clean, reliable power to your components with style. From the unit’s good looks to the classy rounded, modular cables, the power supply is a stylish addition to a performance machine. The unit is silent, cools well, and the LCD display is a cool addition. It is a must-have for people watching the noise output, but also for those looking for a good, solid power supply.
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