Raidmax Power Supplies

Reviews: Hardware

Motherboards | Power Supplies | Memory | Systems | Video Cards

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Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
Raidmax
May. 23, 2003

Introduction

Power supplies have been getting higher in their supplied wattages these days, and more power brings more heat. This usually means louder and faster fans to cool down the PSU. You may remember power supplies as being the big ugly gray box taking up room in your computer. Power supplies have never been visually pleasing. Some companies try to throw in some LED fans, but the problem is you still have a big gray box. Raidmax has noticed these problems, and they have unleashed a line of power supplies that are powerful, quiet, and visually appealing.

The LP6100D and LP6100E

Raidmax was kind enough to send their top two power supplies to us, and today, we bring them to you. They have sent us a cool blue 400 watt PSU and a sleek black 500 watt PSU. Both bring you power, but claim to keep it quiet. You can tell just by looking at them that these are no ordinary Power supplies. These aren't your mother's power supplies.

The Package

The box that contains the power supply is a very colorful orange. One thing I noted on the box is that it says "Monitor AC Outlet." This confused me, because when I looked at the PSU itself, I noticed no AC Outlet at all. False advertising isn't good in my book. The rest of the features listed on the package are accurate, let's move on...

The Look

Raidmax has outfitted this line of PSUs with an eye catching anodized aluminum outer shell. The fan guard on the back of the PSU is located on the inside of the PSU. This makes the overall appearance cleaner and neater. The two double ball bearing 80mm fans included in the PSU are clear UV reactive fans. The blue PSU has clear blue fans, and the black PSU has crystal clear fans. The intake fan is located on the rear of the PSU for optimal airflow.

The Silence

Raidmax claims these power supplies to be silent. If you look up the dictionary definition of "silent", you will notice that it means "Marked by absence of noise or sound; still." Certainly with two 80mm fans, this thing can't be silent. Of course, they mean that these power supplies are extremely quiet when compared to most others. I did a little test to see how quiet the power supply actually is. I connected the green wire to a ground wire on the 20 pin connector which acts like a switch to turn on the PSU without needing a motherboard. I can say that this power supply is one of the quietest I have ever heard. From three feet away, I can't even hear it. This is partly due to the fact that the fans are are temperature controlled.

WARNING: OPENING A POWER SUPPLY IS DANGEROUS AND WE DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU DO SO. NOT ALL POWER SUPPLIES ARE COLOR CODED LIKE THIS ONE. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY ANYONE CONNECTING PINS ON A PSU OR ANY OPENING OF A PSU. OPENING YOUR PSU WILL VOID YOUR WARRENTY.

The Quality

The outer aluminum housing is of great quality. The walls are thick, and the design is sleek. The 20 pin connector is sleeved to help airflow and keep a nicer look. Raidmax also included a few safty features such as voltage over protection and over current protection. These will help prevent your computer components from being damaged due to spikes in the power lines or shorts from other components.

When I took a look inside the PSU, I found that the setup is very good for airflow. The two fans are in a line on opposite sides of the heat sinks. This creates a very nice flow of air over the heat sinks and out of the power supply. Some of the wires inside the PSU seem a little thinner than usual. Thinner wires means less current, but this shouldn't be a problem.

Performance

To test how well the power supplies worked, I used Motherboard Monitor to grab the voltages under idle and load conditions.

(The voltages pictured are of the 400 watt PSU. The 500 watt PSU's voltages were so close to these that I felt no need in filling the page with more numbers.)

As you can see from the pictures, the voltages didn't vary too much from the intended voltages. A difference of 5% is fine, but anything too much more might cause a problem. Raidmax did fine in this department.

Conclusion

In the end, Raidmax has released a great power supply that combines power, silence, and style. The quality was great except for some thinner than usual wires inside the PSU, but there was no problem with the performance. As it is said, "Silence is golden," Raidmax means it, and this PSU will be replacing my current "silent" PSU. However, if you are looking to purchase this power supply for the "Monitor AC Outlet," think again, these power supplies lacked AC Outlets despite what the box said.

Pros

Looks great
300, 400, and 500 watt versions
Decent quality
Very quiet

Cons

Thinner wires
False advertising

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Add Comment

2 User Comments

1 - Posted by Kurtis on May 23, 2003 - 4:41 pm

wow those look mighty powerful... hm. :lol:

2 - Posted by Guest on April 16, 2004 - 2:44 am

Monitor AC Outlet:

It monitors the AC outlet in your wall to protect your computer against overcurrent and overvoltage. Doesn't seem like false advertising.

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