Zippy PSL-6720P (720w) Images/Description
When you purchase this PSU you will receive:
There we go, look at that. It's extremely long! It's 22cm, not including the cables protruding out as well. Make sure your case is large enough and also make sure it has adequate support.
Most cases only have a couple of "tabs" on either side to support the PSU. Since this thing is so long, most of it will be unsupported in a conventional case and that is very risky. The end will be hanging. Also it'll quite likely interfere with any optical drives.
The PSU itself is a completely black affair. Personally I think it looks great. The grill is the stamped out variety (server origin) and the LED lights up green when the unit is running. You've also got the I/O rocker switch for the power and your AC input which, being an APFC power supply, auto adjusts to the correct input voltage meaning you can use this PSU anywhere in the world and not have to worry about setting the appropriate voltage.
You can attach a power cable holder to prevent the power cable from falling out. This also stems from Zippy's server origins and I wouldn't say it's necessary to use this holder at all as I've never known the power cable to fall out, but it might help create more peace of mind.
APFC? What's that? To put it in simple terms, Active PFC PSUs from a power consumption point of view more efficient. Power Factor Correction (PFC) allows power distribution to operate at its highest efficiency.
There are two types of PFC, Active PFC and Passive PFC. This PSU has active PFC which uses a circuit to correct power factor. Active Power Factor Correction also markedly diminishes total harmonics and is capable of the full range of input voltage. Since it is the more complex method of Power Factor Correction though, it is definitely more expensive to produce.
As always, the specs of the PSU are written on a label on the side of the unit. This PSU has one large 52A 12v rail. Right now a lot of you are thinking oh jeez it's not dual rail, that's no good! But actually most dual rail PSUs do only have one 12v rail. Even though it says there are two "independent" 12V lines they actually still draw from the same main source. It would be too expensive and inefficient to have two 120VAC:12VDC power conversion devices in a PSU. There's only one 12VDC source, and the two lines draw from the same transformer. The +5v & 3.3v consist of 45 & 30A respectively.
Modern systems do not require this sort of amperage on these rails though. You should still concentrate on the +12v.
The venting holes at the rear of the PSU. This PSU uses a single 80mm fan. Like the 500w, this fan is, in my opinion, not loud but actually quite quiet. But again, this is very subjective. If you were going for silence you'd probably want to look elsewhere, but silence isn't what this PSU is designed for.
The cables are nicely braided in black. All the cables are sleeved/braided, but the molex/SATA cables are not sleeved right to the end. All cables are a good length. List of cables:
A small but useful "comfort" feature. Quite surprised but also quite pleased to see this. Ever had a conventional molex connector stuck in a CD/DVD drive and couldn't get it out no matter how much you struggled? These things should solve that problem. They're what I like to call "easy-grip" molex connectors. To release the molex from a drive, press down on the curved tabs, makes life much easier.
Here's a comparison photo of the two Zippy PSUs we are reviewing. At the top of the image is the 720w, and below is the 500w. It's very obvious to see just how much longer the 720w is - 22cm vs. 14cm.
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