ASUS A55GA 550W PSU - Review.

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ASUS A55GA 550W PSU - Review.

Introduction

Power supplies are the most overlooked components of a PC. With the advent of un-relenting multi-cored processors and monstrous power hungry graphic cards, the power usage has gone up by a long shot. Other components further exacerbate the power draw. With such kind of a load, normal PSUs are bound to succumb in the long run. And when a PSU does go out, normally there are chances that it might take out 80% of your PC components. But on the same hand a good quality power supply gives you durability of the components, Safety from fluctuations or power surges, enhanced efficiency and better overclocking support through consistency of the 12V rail.

Along with clean power delivery there has come to market the desire to have your PSU play a part in the overall scheme of the system design. The Asus Atlas A55GA - 550W PSU combines both the functionalities and blends them together to deliver a formidable unit that is not only practically acceptable but aesthetically viable as well. While Asus ensured the unit would compliment the system, they also ensured that it would not distract the eyes away from the centerpiece.

The ASUS A55GA supports Active PFC. Active PFC allows a power supply to convert wall AC voltage to Direct Current much more efficiently (85% efficient in this case), massively reducing the amount of electricity wasted and the degree of heat generated by the PSU in the process.

The cooling of the Asus Atlas 55GA is handled by a single 120mm blue LED fan, positioned underneath the PSU. The large 120mm fan on the bottom of the unit is designed to efficiently and quietly bring cool air in. As the PSU positions directly above the processor in a normal PC case, the fan further helps in drawing away the hot air around the processor. The other advantage is that the fan is whisper quiet and proves a much better performance than the traditional 80mm cooling solutions.





Notice that the honey comb structure, present at the rear of the PSU, nurtures the heat dissipation. Such a design is spectacular for reducing noise and cooling the Power Supply efficiently at the same time.





More Impressions:



Note that the mirror finish to the PSU adds decent aesthetics and frenzy reflections. The housing is coated with a gun metal gray mirror finish and looks really presentable.







There are plenty of connectors when we come. Rest assured, one wouldn't feel deprived through lack of available connectors.

As to connectors that come with the unit, here is a full list:

• 4- standard Molex branches for a total of 8 devices, 2 of those branches have Floppy connectors.

• 2- SATA specific branches giving connection for up to 4 devices

• P8 to P4 and P8 to P8 (forward looking) for CPU supply

• P6 connector for directly connecting your PCIe video card.

• Main Cable Connector 20+4

The cables are nicely sleeved and emblem a shiny finish. So case modders would be keen to note this as a nice factor.






Besides that, the length of the connectors are quite long, and hence enthusiasts with Tower cases need not to be worried about the cables unable to reach to the hard drives or other equipment placed at the bottom of the case.






The Box:



The 12V rail voltages are advertised on the rear of the box. The Power supply has two 12V rails providing 18 Amperes of current. The juice seems to be enough for yester year's SLi solutions but with the advent of an 8800GTX, the PSU might well struggle running two 8800GTX's in SLi. And with today's graphic cards exceeding the 250W power draw from the 12V rail, one would like to see ASUS in-corp orating Quad Rail Solutions or high end single rail solutions evident in PC Power and Cooling PSUs.





Test Bed





System Specifications:

Benchmarks:

We deviced our loading sessions through running prime95 in the background and performing random tests of 3dmark06. The operation was quite taxing and thus we obtained the average of the following scores using a Digital Multimeter as shown above.




The 12V rail reading is quite impressive in particular. The lowest we recorded, were about 11.81V which is well above the satisfactory level. Note that as the Power supply is a dual rail solution, it can't be recommended for crossfire or high end SLI solutions. Though it can breeze through any high end single card solutions without a problem as shown through out our benchmarks.




The 5V rail supplies voltages to hard drives and other small peripherals. The use of a 5V rail in the modern PC is getting scarce, with more attention to the 12V rail. Ultimately we'll see power supplies with huge 12V rail amperage but a meager 5V rail.






The 3.3V rail is used to supply voltage to the rams. As seen by our benchmark, the power supply was quite stable on the 3.3V rail.

Conclusion:

With the Power Supply market as saturated as ever, the product that stands out of the competition is the one that performs under strenuous circumstances. The ASUS A55GA is just such a kind of a power supply. Though being a mid ranged product, it adds a significant punch to dual core systems. The 12V rail provides ample of juice to power the hungry multi-cored systems and enable the users to run a single high end card without any problems. Moreover, with everything you add to your system needing its own dedicated power source, clean and abundant power is an ever increasing requirement in today's enthusiasts solution. Add to that a requirement that the power supply needs to be aesthetically pleasing. Hence the ASUS A55GA is proficient in most of the areas and will provide reliable performance as compared to the cheap brand power supplies, that are often responsible for ensnaring the expensive hardware with a mighty jolt.

Positives:

• Efficient 120mm fan and a honey comb rear.

• Long and sleeved cables
  

• Able enough to run Intel's Conroe Core 2 Duo and AMD's X2 series.
  

• Strong aesthetics and a nice titanium mirror finish to the PSU housing.

• Support for Active PFC.
  

Negatives:

• Cannot be used in high end crossfire and Sli setups

• Dual rail divides the voltage.

Recommendations:

We recommend ASUS to either incorporate a single rail solution, atleast a Quad rail Power supply with enough amperage to power up high end SLi and Crossfire solution. Overall the Power Supply is recommended for users looking for a solid performer. The Power supply can handle any single high end card. The rails do not budge a bit. Even under extreme scenarios, the power supply grinded it's way through solid performance.





Over All : 7.5/10




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For pricing and availability, please check the vendor threads in our ‘classifieds’ forum.

SPECIAL THANKS TO ASUS and Shingtech Technologies for providing the samples for review and evaluation.









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