Specifications

Efficiency is 80 PLUS Gold and the maximum operating temperature for around-the-clock operation under full load is only 40°C. Cooler Master should have aimed for 50°C, but probably sought to play it safe. This PSU is obviously Haswell ready since it employs DC-DC converters to generate the minor rails, and installing it will also be a breeze because it uses a fully modular cabling design and is tiny. The V550 is, in fact, one of the smallest fully modular 550 W units available on the market as only SilverStone has similarly sized offerings. The V550 is essentially as big as the VSM550; however, not all the cables of the latter are modular. Cooler Master's V550 also comes with all available protection features, including OTP (Over Temperature Protection).

Cooler Master used a new fan with an LDB bearing, which looks identical to an FDB bearings, operates quietly, and lasts for quite a while. The VSM units use good quality, double-ball bearing fans; however, the Silencio fans with LDB bearings are even better. Although the capacity is low and the PSU's high efficiency could easily allow for it, the V550 doesn't feature a semi-passive operation. Given its fan spins at low speeds at light and mid loads, this is absolutely fine since a passive operation increases operating temperature significantly, which shortens the longevity of such significant components as electrolytic caps. The provided warranty is also quite long at five years; however, Cooler Master's asking price is way too high and should be revised to help with this product's sales figures.


The single +12V rail is strong enough for a moderately strong system with a single VGA, even if it is a high-end one. The minor rails are also strong enough, and the 5VSB rail is as strong as it should be for a low capacity PSU.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The V550 has enough cables for its category and capacity. While some of you would probably like it to have two pairs of PCIe connectors instead of one, PSUs with a capacity of 550 W are used in single-GPU systems, not stronger gaming stations with SLI or Crossfire configurations. There are two free sockets on the PSU's modular panel, so you could increase the number of PCIe connectors or add an additional EPS connector by purchasing those additional cables seperately.

Cable length is good overall for a mid-capacity PSU, but the 4-pin Molex connectors could afford to be a little further apart. Every connectors also uses 18AWG gauges, which is as the ATX specification recommends.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on when it comes to its power distribution.