First Look
From time to time, I like checking out power supplies from brand-name PCs. While you don’t get a choice as to what power supply you get when you purchase a brand name PC, such as the Dell XPS 700 which today’s review sample came from, I think it is interesting to see what they are up to. Is Dell doing the right thing? Or could your Dell power supply be about to destroy your computer? Let’s find out.
_
There are four 12V rails, although the distribution is somewhat unusual. One powers the ATX connector, one powers four of the SATA connectors, and one PCIe connector, one powers two of the SATA connectors, the Molex/peripheral connectors and the other PCIe connector. The 20-pin CPU connector is powered partly by the fourth rail , and partly by the second and third rails. Another unusual feature is the front mounted 92mm intake fan, which makes this power supply slightly taller than a standard ATX power supply.
This power supply has six SATA connectors, two Molex/peripheral connectors, an FDD connector, two 6 pin PCIe connectors, a 24-pin ATX connector and a non-standard 20 pin 12V CPU connector. While this isn’t very many connectors for a 750 watter, it’s more than enough for the PC it came from, since it only had six HDD bays, and came with two mid-range graphics cards. Note that in the above picture, the CPU connector has been replaced with a standard 4 pin connector, powered only by the fourth 12V rail, since the original 20 pin connector won’t work with my load tester. All of the cables do come sleeved, but only up to the first connector. There is no sleeving in between the connectors.
_
Both the intake and exhaust grille use the honeycomb structure, which is very open and allows for plenty of airflow. The screw holes are in the same positions as a standard ATX power supply, even though the power supply is slightly bigger, so it can be mounted in any case, as long as it has enough room to accommodate the extra height.
Loading ...