Introduction

We would like to thank EVGA for supplying the review sample.

High-end products provide prestige to a manufacturer's name, but the mainstream and mid-level ones pay the bills because they sell in much larger quantities. EVGA knows this and has released a mainstream PSU for the budget user's small or secondary system at the same time as their new SuperNOVA units. Today's star, the fresh EVGA Bronze 500 W unit, or 500B, is supposed to get the job done reliably without putting a dent into your bank account. Promising good performance and compatibility with Haswell's advanced sleep states, we are pretty sure many of you will like this little fellow costing $50.

The 500B features a non-modular design, is 80 Plus Bronze certified, and has very compact dimensions. The OEM behind this unit is HEC/Compucase. This specific manufacturer produces affordable units, and we have actually encountered the same platform in our recent be quiet! L8-500 review. But there are differences between the two units sharing the same platform, and we will make sure to point them out to you in this review.

Specifications

The 500B is Bronze certified and EVGA states that it is Haswell ready, though it isn't according to our testing following Intel's guidelines. Here we should note that Intel's requirements for Haswell compliance look crazy and are unofficial, since they still haven't been released to the public. They are only distributed to manufacturers and engineers of various companies enrolling into the field, but would normally be included in the latest ATX spec (v.2.4). We strongly believe that we will have a new ATX spec with an updated Haswell-compliance methodology soon and will continue to use the suggested methodology until it is released. That said, let's continue our description of the unit's specifications and its available protection features. Protections include all the popular ones, which is rare for a PSU of this category.

The 120 mm fan probably uses sleeve bearings. The 500B doesn't feature a semi-fanless mode, which is not a surprise in a Bronze PSU. Its dimensions are compact, so it will easily fit into most cases. Finally, the warranty period is long enough and the price tag is pretty low, so we expect a very high price/performance ratio if the unit performs decently in our tests.

The single +12V rail is strong enough for the specifications of this unit, and the minor rails can deliver enough power to a mid-level system. With 3 A maximum current output, the 5VSB rail is stronger than the average.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

All cables are long enough. The unit comes equipped with one EPS and two PCIe connectors, which corresponds to the normal number of connectors for a unit of this capacity. There are also enough SATA connectors, but we would like to see one or two more peripheral one. All wires are AWG18, which is the normal size for PSU cables.

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

Packaging

The box strictly follows EVGA's design guidelines. Its color scheme is the same as that of both high-end SuperNOVA units we reviewed a while ago. On the front of the box is the model description, and a tiny 80 Plus Bronze badge can be found near the bottom-left corner.


As EVGA is known to do, one side lists some of their achievements.


The rear has some photos of the unit but no internal shots, which would have been nice. Here, you will also find a features list, the specifications table, and a description of all available cables equipping the unit.