X-bit labs

ATX Power Supply Units Roundup: 9 Powerful Models Tested (page 12)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 02/28/2006 | 10:46 PM ]

MGE Vigor 500 (500W)

This power supply from MGE (do not confuse it with MGE UPS System, the renowned manufacturer of UPSes and line filters, which is quite another firm) has a more traditional appearance and doesn’t try to look like a fan-less PSU. Two cooling fans are installed inside the shiny chromium-plated steel case, 120mm and 80mm in diameter (this is rather an unusual design for a major brand, although MGE has used it before in a slightly different way). There is a fan speed control on the case and blue plastic windows in the side panels.

The actual manufacturer of this power supply is Wintech Electronics Corp.

The power supply is ordinary enough inside: the regulator is based on the KA7500B chip; the heatsinks are 5 millimeters thick; there are two 820µF capacitors on the input; and there’s only one section in the line filter instead of the required two.

The PSU offers the following cables and connectors:

• Mainboard cable with a 20-pin connector, 50cm long
• CPU cable with a 4-pin connector, 52cm long
• Additional power cable with an AUX connector, 48cm
• Two cables with four Molex connectors (this PSU doesn’t offer you power connectors for SATA drives) and one mini-plug for the floppy drive (51cm from the PSU to the first connector and 15cm more to each next connector)

The PSU comes with two PATA → SATA power adapters (one connector in each adapter).

The specified characteristics of the PSU make it clear that it complies with the ATX12V 1.2 standard, i.e. it is an out-dated product. Note also that the total load power cannot be higher than 486W (or 448W if you count in the three basic voltages only) according to the specified currents, although the manufacturer claims 500W.