X-bit labs

Topower Power Supply Units Roundup

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 11/07/2007 | 11:31 AM ]

Topower is a popular manufacturer. Besides making a wide range of PSUs for such brands as Tagan, BeQuiet, Mushkin and OCZ, the company is promoting its own brand, offering boxed PSUs of varying wattage and functionality. Today we are going to review 9 solutions from Topower ranging from 500W to 800W.

Table of contents:

• Tagan TG500-U35 (500W)
  
• TOP-500P7 U12 (500W)
  
• TOP-600P7 FR (600W) and TOP-700P7 FR (700W)
  
• TOP-600SG Silent Green (600W)
  
• TOP-700P7 SEZ (700W) and TOP-750P7 FEZ (750W)
  
• TOP-700P8 U14 (700W)
  
• TOP-800P8 U14 (800W)
  
• Conclusion
  

Topower is a popular manufacturer. Besides making a wide range of PSUs for such brands as Tagan, BeQuiet, Mushkin and OCZ, the company is promoting its own brand, offering boxed PSUs of varying wattage and functionality.

Topower’s product line consists of a few series, or generations, of power supplies called P5, P6, P7, etc. The series number is indicated in the PSU’s model name. For example, the TOP-1000P9 U14 model belongs to the newest P9 series (the bigger the number, the newer the series is). Besides that, there is a small number of "proper-name" models (for example, Silent Green) for which the series number is not indicated explicitly.

This review is mostly concerned with products from the P7 and P8 series. Additionally, it includes one Silent Green model and one Tagan PSU which is manufactured by Topower. To remind you, we have already tested the newest P9 series model called TOP-1000P9 U14 in an earlier article called 1000W Power Supply Unit Roundup. The same article covers the Tagan TG1100-U96 PSU which is developed and manufactured by Topower.

Tagan TG500-U35 (500W)

Don’t be surprised at finding a Tagan product in this review. There’s nothing wrong in this. Topower is the OEM supplier of PSUs for Tagan, so I thought it would be logical to test it now.

The packaging of the PSU deserves a special word. It comes in a leather-sheathed wooden box with two drawers. Tagan is prone to such original solutions I should acknowledge. Some of its other products are shipped in a leather trunk, for example.

The top drawer contains cables, which are detachable. The PSU itself is in the bottom drawer.

The PSU is cooled with one 135mm fan (interestingly, such models are suffixed “U14” rather than “U35” in Tower’s nomenclature) and is about the same size as the standard ATX power supply. It is only 15mm longer to accommodate the larger fan. The case is painted a matte black.

The rear panel offers connectors for detachable cables: two for graphics cards and six for various peripherals. The connectors differ not only in color but also in the position of the key, making it impossible to connect anything wrong.

The PSU employs two power transformers. That’s an unusual solution for a 500W unit since this wattage isn’t high by today’s standards. I guess it is the consequence of unification of parts (particularly, printed circuit boards) for different PSU models. Tagan must be using the same PCB for PSUs of higher wattages for which two transformers are more appropriate.