Mushkin XP-650 (650W)

Mushkin is yet another manufacturer of overclocker-friendly memory modules that has entered the PSU market, too. Mushkin’s OEM supplier is Topower whose name should be well known to our readers.

The XP-650 has two coaxial 80mm fans, which is not a very frequent cooling solution. Most manufacturers prefer to use a single fan, either 80mm or 120mm in diameter.

Topower’s traditional huge black heatsinks with numerous small ribs occupy almost all of the free space inside the PSU. A fan speed controller card is fastened on one of them.

Otherwise, this is an ordinary model designed according to the time-tested half-bridge push-pull topology and without PFC. What is curious, the company’s website shows a photo of the PSU with a sticker that reads “100 – 240VAC” that should imply active PFC, but our sample has neither the sticker nor PFC. It has an ordinary red-colored switch to select the input voltage with.

The PSU has two connectors for detachable graphics card cables and six connectors for cables of hard and optical drives. These groups of connectors differ only with their color, so you should be careful when attaching the cables. I don’t understand why they didn’t make such a connector configuration that the user wouldn’t have a chance to make a mistake.

The PSU offers the following cables and connectors:

• Mainboard cable with a 20+4 connector (42cm long)
• CPU cable with a 4+4 connector (45cm)
• Cable with a ground pin (45cm)
• Two connectors for graphics card cables
• Six connectors for cables to connect your drives

The following is enclosed with the power supply:

• Two power cables for graphics cards with 6-pin connectors (44cm long). The cables are equipped with simple LC filters
• Two cables with two Molex connectors on each (45cm+21cm)
• Two cables with one Molex and one floppy mini-plug (45cm+20cm)
• Two cables with three SATA power connectors on each (44cm+20cm+20cm)

The detachable cables are wrapped into vinyl chloride tubes and are screened. The screen is connected to the common wire. As a result, the cables are thick and stiff and it’s hard to bend them at a sharp angle, which may prove inconvenient in computers with several hard and optical drives placed close to each other.

The PSU has a separate cable with a ground clamp. The user is supposed to fasten it under a screw in the system case. Well, I guess the PSU’s own four fastening screws are quite enough for a proper electrical contact with the system case.