Zippy/Emacs 500w & 720w PSUs

Zippy HP2-6500P (500w) Images/Description

When you purchase this PSU, it'll come in a rather unique box where by the outer design is a copy of the PSU inside. One end has the venting grills, the other end of the box has the fan/grill/AC input/I-O switch. You will also receive:

• Instruction manual
• Power cable holder
• Screws
• Power cable
• ATE (Auto Testing Equipment) Report
• 24pin down to 20pin adapter cable

The PSU itself is a completely stealthy 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 36A 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 40 & 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 at the front. The fan isn't particularly noisy and I'd say unless you're the type of person who demands silence, the noise this fan produces won't bother you at all and will probably get drowned out by other fans in your case. This is a subjective topic though.

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:

• 1x 24pin ATX
• 1x 4pin 12v
• 1x 8pin EPS
• 2x 6pin PCIe
• 2x cable with 2x SATA
• 1x cable with 2x molex & 1x floppy
• 1x cable with 3x molex

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.