The PSU

The top of the power supply shows the big 135 mm fan which is has a shiny metal Cooler Master logo on top.


On the back of the case you find the connectors for all modular cables. As you can see they are color coded, so it's easy to figure out which cable goes where.


The rear of the PSU is covered by mesh which allows plenty of airflow. What is REALLY missing is here a power switch. I don't understand why power supply manufacturers skip this part that costs cents but adds a lot to the product. The sticker is funny. It says "It is dangerous if the wall outlet is not specified for 125Vac/15A or 250Vac/10A". Uh .. so the PSU is gonna explode, I will die and my house burn down when using it with my German 230V power? The actual PSU specifications sticker says 100V-240V operating range, so you will be safe, don't worry.


Both sides of the power supply have the same sticker, which allows you to read no matter how the PSU is installed in the case.


The motherboard connector is a single chunk of 24 pins. Other manufacturers offer a 20+4 system here which ensures that the cable will fit into all motherboards. Usually you should be able to put a 24 pin connector into a 20 pin plug, but some few motherboards have components where the extra four pins would go.


CPU power comes from either an 8-pin or 4-pin connector. They are on two seperate cables that are both fixed to the PSU. So no matter which motherboard connector you use, you will always have a spare cable hanging around in your case that needs to be tucked away.


The PCI-Express power connectors are color coded, which means it's easy for novice users to decide where to put them. Please note that the black 8-pin power connector has a solid piece of plastic between the right most pins. This means that it will not fit into a six-pin VGA card at all. But why? Most cards have some space around the 6-pin connector so you can plug in an 8-pin cable as well.