Introduction
Power supplies are reaching the end of their development cycle and seem to have changed very little ever since the last year. Over the past years we've seen the move from low Wattage 350W power supplies in the dull gray / dull wiring combo towards the most advanced Power supplies you can think of. PSU's these day's are trendy, good looking, preferably has a modular cable design, silent, very safe to use. The latest trend .. green, the quest for highly efficient power supplies.
On average I think it is safe to say that most power supplies can be considered good, for me personally there are only a couple of manufacturers that set the standard higher, above good to perfect; they all make excellent power supplies. Names like PC Power & Cooling, BFG, Corsair, Enermax and ever since last year we added Cooler Master to that list as well.
Innovation is what it is all about. Five years ago we all had these dull metal grey power supplies, then the consumer and tech market demanded more wattage and performance, we wanted more reliability and right after the physical design challenge in that the industry came up with another concept, modular power supplies to keep everything nice and organized inside that PC of yours. Ever since the last year or so another trend kicked in that started something of a race amongst the top manufacturers -- being green. Delivering a PSU with the highest efficiency, as high efficiency can save on power consumption, which is not only good for mother nature, but also your power bill. Today's tested product from Cooler Master fits everything I just mentioned. Stability, good design, modular, high performance and top notch efficiency, saving you on your power bill and mother nature.. We do however face a challenge alright. Testing the modern age power supply has become something of an issue.
The power supplies are so advanced and can take so much load that some serious kit is required to measure under heavy load and to test ripple. We here at Guru3D, do it the old-fashioned way though, we throw as much gear as possible to a power supply (close to its maximum peak wattage) start to stress the components and then monitor the power supply voltage lines for instability. Though not the most objective way to test a PSU, it certainly is a challenging one for any PSU we test, and we are happy to do so.
Today we'll have a look at one of Cooler Master's latest power supplies. It is the all new Silent Pro GOLD 600 Watt power supply. Will we be impressed by this 80+ Gold certified power supply? Well, let's find out and head onward to the actual review, next page please.
