Introduction

We would like to thank Cooler Master for supplying the review sample.

Made by Seasonic, a highly respected company CM never worked with before then, Cooler Master’s V series catapulted the company back into the high league of PSU manufacturers. All V units do address the high-end category by offering great performance at really nice price tags, but CM was still in need of a worthy line for the medium category, which is why they chose to team up with Enhance again, their favorite OEM, to utilize a new design promising high performance, and so the new VS series was born. It includes five members with capacities ranging from 450 W to 750 W, which covers the low- and middle-capacity segments. CM's "eye catcher" on these new units is the 3D design mentioned under its characteristics, at least on papers. The following pages of this review will take a close, hard look at this feature to figure out whether it is truly special or just another marketing term.

The main subject of today’s review will then be the V550S unit which, like all other VS units, was designed for PC gamers and performance enthusiasts. It is 80 Plus Gold certified, features a semi-modular cabling design with flat and ribboned modular cables, and uses a Japanese bulk cap in the APFC, which will last longer than a Chinese or Taiwanese one. So far, all characteristics look pretty good, but they do follow the classic road the competition adheres to as well. CM does, on the other hand, speak of a 3D circuit design that will, according to them, make all the difference. To speak frank, we are not used to such innovations from Enhance, the maker of this unit, so we are eager to check this 3D feature out in quite some detail.