Apparently the new Venom Power 550W PSU has an ace up its sleeve and this ace is of course its affordable price. For a mere $75 you can get yourself an average performance, modular 550W unit. Usually at this price point you will find only non modular units, especially in the EU where prices for PC products tend to be higher compared to US. Also this PSU features a nice appearance, has only two fixed cables and ripple suppression on all rails, except 5VSB, is very good. Usually in lower cost PSUs ripple suppression is overlooked leading to system instabilities and unnecessary stress on all components that the PSU feeds. However the good aspects of this PSU are restricted to the above. The downsides I spotted are the loose voltage regulation especially at +12V, the only two PCIe connectors that cripple its usability, the 5VSB's overall lousy performance and of course the short warranty period. Also through cross load tests I figured that this PSU cannot handle highly unbalanced loads, due to the outdated group regulation design it utilizes.

To sum up, the new Venom Power 550W surely doesn't set any new performance records but it has an affordable price and it is modular, something that will be of great interest to many users. The unit also feature over 80% efficiency, good ripple suppression and comes with an appealing appearance, at least to my taste. Also at lower loads it doesn't produce significant noise and with the fan working at full speed the noise is not so loud. If you can live with only two PCIe connectors, its average overall performance and you are on a tight budget but still want a modular unit, then take a look at it.