Conclusion
The Verdict
When I was given the opportunity to take a look at these products I was pretty excited. You might wonder how I can be excited at receiving a couple of PSUs. I'm a geek... I admit it. I like to play with hardware and when I get the chance I like to share my thoughts with you in a review. When these PSUs arrived I described them as sexy and my girlfriend thought I was nuts (Hilbert: well .. she does have a point)! I really do like both these units a whole lot and I'm glad I got the chance to bring Zippy to your attention. I have personally known about them for years now as I used to read at all the well known overclocking forums, so I was aware of their reputation. I had never used a Zippy PSU myself though, and you will read why later on in this conclusion.
The 500w Zippy is an excellent product in itself. It has the capability of handling the majority of SLI/Crossfire systems out there. So performance is not a problem and pretty much goes without saying. Noise levels are low, I think it looks great as it doesn't feature an over the top design, just enough to make it look classy and appeal to users. The cables are sleeved, the molex connectors feature the easy to release connectors and the length of cables and the number of connectors is more than adequate. As the ATX connector doesn't feature a detachable 4-pin piece, an adapter is included so you can use this PSU on older motherboards. Though, I'm not sure any older system would require this amount of power, but the option is there none the less. This PSU also uses an active form of PFC. It seems to be a well thought out product all around and I can't fault it. You could say the lack of a modular interface is a disadvantage but if you remember back to the introduction I attempted to explain that the type of user who would buy a Zippy PSU probably isn't going to be concerned about the cabling. This PSU is small and quite light and will not have a problem fitting in any cases.
The 720w is of course also excellent, and is similar to the 500w in terms of aesthetics, cables, etc. Now, if you're the type of overclocker that uses a test bed this is going to be ideal. The reason I say that is because I currently have four cases here and I only feel comfortable installing this PSU into one of those. In the other three it is not properly supported or simply will not fit. The one case I'd install it in has metal bars all along the length of the case to support the PSU. Cases usually just have small pieces of metal supporting the PSU from either side of the case, and only a short way along. Given the length and weight of this particular PSU, I feel it's asking for trouble to install it in a case which lacks space and support. The 720w is not going to be suitable for a lot of people because of this. You would either need a test bed (a rack or simply make use of a large desk) or purchase a huge case. Even if you could get it into your mid-tower case, it'll probably interfere with anything you have installed into your 5.25" drive bays. It'd be a bit of a nightmare. I also want to make a point about who really needs a PSU this powerful? This PSU will power any combination of hardware I can currently think of. Anybody who buys this PSU for an average system is just doing it for the bragging rights or got an extremely good deal and decided to go for it. The sort of overclocker that would use a PSU like this is one who experiments with Dry Ice or Liquid Nitrogen on their CPU's/GPU's and pushes voltages to the limit. This is rated as one of the best PSUs currently available for a reason.
Overall I feel Zippy's face lift has been successful and I'm glad I've been able to bring them to your attention on Europe's biggest hardware site. A site that caters for all abilities of user, not just the extreme. There is a problem though ...
I live in the UK and I have NEVER seen a Zippy PSU available here, not even the metallic box versions. I'm looking at Newegg right now and I see one Zippy PSU for sale, that being a 700w for $260 and it's not a G1 Gaming Power unit either. I hope now that the new series is released and more attention has been brought upon it, that we start seeing popular stores stocking Zippy PSUs. The price is a factor though, they have always been expensive and probably always will be. Whilst you get what you pay for, there are of course cheaper alternatives that could probably power your system just fine. People say to me why did I get a PC Power & Cooling 510 for my personal system when they're so overpriced and something cheaper would've done the job just as well. They're right to ask such a question but I did actually get mine discounted. I would never pay the price of a new PC Power & Cooling, same as most people. I would get a cheaper FSP Epsilon or OCZ GameXtream now. It's going to be the same for Zippy. People will say why would I pay all that cash for a Zippy when I could get something cheaper that will be fine, and that's a very good point.
So in the end, whilst I do think these PSUs we've shown you today are really great units and I recommend them 100%, distribution and pricing is something that needs to be worked on. They have tried to attract more mainstream customers by giving the products a makeover, now they need to continue to attract mainstream customers by getting the PSUs to where the average joe PC enthusiast can buy one, and drop the prices too.
Huge thanks to Zippy for getting in touch with Guru3D.com and sending these for review.
Written by Dave Crewe.
