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Logisys Crystal Power 500W Power Supply

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Manufacturer: Logisys
Product Name: Crystal Power 500W Power Supply
Provider: LogisysComputer.com
Review Date: 07.25.04
Reviewer: DjRima

Thanks to

For Providing Us With This FINE Product to Review


A power supply converts power from your wall and gives power to the components of a computer. It?s purpose is that of an AC-DC adapter, to convert the wall?s AC current to your computer?s needed DC current. The importance of a good power supply is obvious, but there?s no way to know without testing. A cheap PSU puts your system at risk and the price of a good power supply is definitely cheaper than replacing your whole system because your $20 PSU fried it. There are plenty of brands out there, but one company has continued to make very unique products geared toward the modding community. The company is Logisys and the product is the Crystal Power 500 watt Power Supply. Will this high-wattage crystal clear power supply live up to its sweet looks? Will the voltages be stable enough for the over-clocker and safe enough to use in your precious rig? Let?s check it out.

Right off the bat, Logisys had impressed me with its cool packaging. There?s a big Logisys logo at the top of the box and a nice graphic of the power supply with some cool effects in the background. Inside the box I was pleased to see the power supply was wrapped nicely in bubble wrap and sitting next to it?s power cable.

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The power supply fit snug in the box, inside the bubble wrap to ensure that it wouldn?t move around during transit. Logisys? packaging, as always, was impressive. I was surprised that there was no instruction manual in the box, but it?s ok, we won?t need one!

    Description:
  • Professional all-acrylic LED Pentium 4 Switching Mode ATX Power Supply
  • Comes with dual blue LED fans
  • Special designed circuit board for PC gamers and modding enthusiasts.
  • Sleeved on ATX power cable.
  • UV made on all Molex?s.
  • Dual Blue LED Fans.
  • Low Noise & Ripple.
  • Over Voltage Protection.
  • Short Circuit Protection.
  • Built-in EMI Filter and anti-interference electronic resistor.
  • Insulation Resistance 100M min.
  • Complies with FCC part 15J class B 115VAC operation and CISPR 22 230 VAC
    operation.
  • 100% Burn-in test / Vibration test / Hi-pot test / Leakage current test.


    Specifications:
  • Support "Pentium 4" and "AMD Athlon" systems
  • Dimensions: 6" L x 5.60" W x 3.50" H
  • One 20Pin ATX mainboard connector
  • Four 4Pin Standard drive connectors for HDD and CD-rom CD-RW
  • Two 4Pin 3.5" FDD or ZIP connectors
  • One 6Pin AUX Power connector ?
  • One 4Pin +12V Power connector
  • 2 blue LED80mm fans, one intake and the other output.
  • Total Output 500W Max

    And shipping weight is 3.0 lbs


The specs sound impressive, but before we get to testing, let?s take a look at the unit.

As you can see, the power supply itself is beautiful. Not everything looks good completely acrylic, but this power supply looks great! It?s a dead match for the other products in Logisys? product-line like their Pre-Assembled Clear Acrylic Case or Clear Acrylic 2.1 Gaming Speakers. However, this PSU would look great in any system. It supports an Intel or AMD board, so don?t worry about compatibility. I also immediately noticed a few things. There are only four Molex connectors and one floppy connector. Also, there are connections for Intel or AMD boards.

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The back of the power supply has a clear, blue housing for the power cable and even it is UV reactive! Also, the ATX cable was sleeved in green sleeving mesh, but the rest of the wires were left bare.

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The heat shrink was sadly not even over the end of the mesh. The frayed mesh end was fully exposed with a small zip tie over it and the heat shrink was slid down inside the PSU. Upon closer examination, the heat shrink had not been heated up long enough and it was way too loose around the wires. It probably slipped off during shipping.



Notice that the Molex connectors and ATX connector were UV reactive green!



Wait, doesn?t this thing light up blue? I guess now it?s not so bad that they only sleeved one cable, it makes it all the easier to change the sleeving to a color that will actually match the PSU lighting! The grills over the top and back fans are the standard chrome grills that we have all been accustomed to. An easy way to make this thing look totally custom would be to add some new grills; custom-made, or aftermarket would do.



The rest of the inside of the PSU looked pretty standard. Nothing we haven?t seen before. The acrylic is standard size for a PSU, about 1mm in thickness. Upon powering the PSU, I noted that one fan is a deep blue and the other is an aqua blue. Why doesn?t anything match? Color aside, the temperature controlled fans were working nicely, barely spinning because it was cool sitting on the floor outside the case. The lighting effect is very good, but I would have liked to see matching fans.

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The PSU looks great cosmetically, but next we will take a look at performance in the multi-meter test.

I checked out the +5 and +12 multi meter voltage ratings. We want to make sure that the voltages are consistent and not fluctuating for better system performance as well as getting their actual power of 5v and 12v. When rating power supplies, the stability of the voltages is taken into serious consideration, because it?s your system on the line and fluctuating voltages can result in more wear on components.

The pictures show a steady reading on all Molex connectors for the +5 and +12 volt connections.

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I see extremely steady voltages from the multi-meter reading. No visible fluctuation. I give this power supply big bonus point and I truly do believe it lives up to its looks.

You will also notice by looking at the multi-meter readings that the voltages that are output by the power supply are a bit higher than their rated 5v and 12v. This is great and should not cause problems with the system, it is much better to have higher voltages than lower voltages?keep in the mind that these higher ratings will move down a bit as more components are being powered. You will notice that if voltage ratings get too low on a computer system, you will hear fans begin to change speeds as you intense programs on your computer and what you can?t hear the change in voltage being given to your hard drive and other components.

With a solid, great looking clear body, this power supply definitely catches the eye. Add a 500watt rating and this power supply is enough to make any modder?s mouth water. But small flaws are what prevent this product from getting a perfect score. The heat shrink for the nylon sleeving of the ATX cables was not even covering the end of the mesh and the wires were left exposed. There is no rubber or protective ring around the hole that the wires come out of and there was obvious rubbing that could cut the wires over time if the case is moved often. Points are also lost for Logisys? lack of color coordination. Unless your system is blue and green is going to look funky. Although I give a big plus for the UV reactive green Molex connectors, there are only 4 Molex connectors total, which means you are going to have to get some Y-splitters to get all your case?s bells and whistles powered and running. The blue LED, temperature controlled fans lit the acrylic beautifully, but one was aqua and the other was a dark blue. If all you care about is performance, this PSU is a beast. With incredibly steady voltage ratings and a specially designed circuit board for PC gamers and modding enthusiasts, this power supply is definitely ready for the newer graphics cards and systems running tons of hardware. If you are looking for a great power supply for a great price, go with the Logisys Crystal Power.





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