HIGH POWER AND GOOD VALUED

Having a rated output power of 550 watts the GP-PS550BP is ideal for building a power-hungry gaming rig or a system with high power requirement. The PSU features dual +12V rails to balance the load demanded by the graphics cards and peripherals. Two PCIE power connectors are provided for powering SLI or CrossFir setups. Two SATA and five Molex connectors are available for drives. Thoug enough, at least two more SATA power connectors should have been provided for RAID setups like 0+1 and 5. The unit is fitted with an 80 mm rear exhaust fan to expel the heat dissipated by components within. The side opposite the fan features a honeycomb mesh for drawing in heat generated within the case

Performance

To assess the performance of the PSU we loaded it with a 120 mm case fan, six hard drives and Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX graphics card that draws power from a PCIE power connector. Using a multi­meter we measured the voltage under idle and load conditions. Load was created by throttling the GPU by running the Doom III benchmark at the highest settings The PSU remained extremely stable with hardly any drop in voltage on the +12V rail

Verdict

The GP-PS550BP is as efficient as its counterparts by other renowned brands- a good bargain considering the price FOR: Good stability, multi-GPU support AGAINST: Few SATA power connectors