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Cooler Master are set to release three new power supplies in October and today we look at the entry level capacity model – the V550. This compact 550 watt supply is a pure modular unit featuring 80 Plus Gold certification and thanks to the incorporation of a Silencio FP fan, noise levels are said to be very low indeed.
Cooler Master have worked with a plethora of OEM partners over the years, although they have tended to gravitate towards Enhance. When we reviewed their higher capacity V series power supplies a couple of years ago we were surprised that some of them were based on the Seasonic KM3 design. Not a bad thing mind you, they were great products. While we haven't yet gotten around to opening the V550 in this review – we can confirm that Enhance are the OEM of choice this time around.
Cooler Master V550 Overview:
- Clean – Modular 3D Design. 3D circuit design improves efficiency, reduces crosstalk noise and ripple and helps to reduce power supply size.
- Reliable – Japanese Capacitors. 100% Japanese 105C rated capacitors help ensure an extended lifetime with excellent performance.
- Stable – Clean Voltages. LLC+DC-DC Topology. For clean, stable voltages.
- Efficient. 80 PLUS Gold power supply can save you money compared to less efficient power supplies.
Cooler Master box artwork is very distinctive – the product name is shown in two tone colour on the left, with a high resolution image of the supply itself on the right. Some key selling points are listed underneath such as the use of Japanese Capacitors, a 5 year warranty, Silencio FP adoption and 80 Plus Gold certification.
Some images of the cables are highlighted on the back of the box, alongside Fan Curve and Efficiency Curve charts.
The box has several compartments for the power supply and accessories. The user manual rests on top of Styrofoam, with the power supply protected inside.
Cooler Master bundle cable ties and mounting screws, and all the modular cables are stored inside a little storage pouch, shown in the image above right. A regional specific power connector is also included.
The power supply itself is wrapped in a thin plastic cover and protected inside a soft bag.
The quality of the flat ribbon style cables is high, even the main motherboard 20+4 pin power connector is flat for ease of routing. The cables are long enough to suit a standard tower case – the CPU 4+4 pin cable for instance is 680mm in length.
This 550W model is equipped with two PCIe 6+2 pin power connectors. As a topic of interest the only 550W power supply we have reviewed lately with 4x PCIe power connectors is the (expensive) be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 – review HERE.
The Cooler Master V Series 550 W supply is attractively finished – we like the two tone gunmetal grey and black scheme. The Cooler master badge is noticeable in key positions and the ‘V550' is finished in white and gold. All in all, its a compact, good looking power supply – measuring 150mm x 140 mm x 86 mm.
The large Silencio FP fan is hidden behind a black honeycomb style grill with the company logo positioned in the middle section.
One side of the supply has a power connector, power switch and vent to help maximise the air flow.
This is a pure modular design, with no cables hardwired into the chassis. The modular area on the power supply is well laid out, with all the sections clearly labelled – they are all different connector sizes anyway, so it is difficult to go wrong during the build phase.
| Cooler Master V550W Power Supply | |||||
|
DC Output
|
+3.3V
|
+5V
|
+12V |
-12V
|
+5Vsb
|
|
Max Output
|
20A
|
20A
|
45A |
0.3A
|
2.5A
|
| Total Power | 100W | 540W | 3.6W | 12.5W | |
| 550W | |||||
The Cooler Master V Series 550W can deliver 45A on the +12V which is plenty of power for a demanding graphics card.
Cooler Master are using a 120mm fan (A12025-25RB-2IN-F1). This Chinese fan is rated 12V 0.16A and we know the 15RB in the same series is actually a tuned Delta rebrand. This new 25RB fan is rated to produce 52CFM airflow at a maximum speed of 2,500 rpm. Noise levels are officially rated to 29.7dBa. It uses an LDB bearing.
This is an Enhance OEM design, a company Cooler Master have a long standing relationship with – even if they like to keep it quiet. Their previous, high capacity V series power supplies were actually Seasonic KM3 modified designs. This one is LLC + DC-DC topology and we can see the daughtercards in place for generation of the +3.3V and +5V rails.
Soldering quality is high throughout and the design offers full OVP/UVP/OPP/OTP/SCP protection. The primary capacitor is a high grade Japanese 105C KMR model from Nippon Chemi Con – rated 450V 390uF. Secondary capacitors are also Japanese branded, which is reassuring.On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the Canon 1DX camera and Canon F2.8 24-70mm lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source. You can right click and ‘save as’ to your computer to view later.
Additional technical assistance: Peter McFarland and Jeremy Price.
Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. Due to public requests we have changed our temperature settings increasing ambient temperatures by 10c (to 35c) in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions.
We use combinations of the following hardware:
• SunMoon SM-268
• CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs)
• CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4)
• Extech Power Analyzer
• Extech MultiMaster MM570 digital multimeter
• SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa)
• Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC)
• Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA
We combine all +12V output for the results below.
|
DC Output Load Regulation
|
||||||||
|
Combined DC Load |
+3.3V
|
+5V
|
+12V
|
+5VSB
|
||||
|
A
|
V
|
A
|
V
|
A
|
V
|
A
|
V
|
|
|
110W
|
1.18
|
3.34
|
1.18
|
5.03
|
8.02
|
12.05
|
0.50
|
5.02
|
|
220W
|
2.06
|
3.34
|
2.07
|
5.02
|
16.13
|
12.03
|
0.50
|
5.02
|
|
340W
|
3.05
|
3.33
|
3.06
|
5.02
|
25.14
|
12.02
|
1.00
|
5.02
|
| 445W |
4.12
|
3.33
|
4.06
|
5.01
|
33.25
|
11.99
|
1.50
|
5.01 |
|
550W
|
5.15
|
3.33
|
5.02
|
5.00
|
41.05
|
11.96
|
2.50
|
5.02
|
| Cooler Master V Series 550W |
Maximum Load |
| 588W |
Load regulation is good across the output range. The power supply delivered 588 watts of power before it would shut down, safely.
Next we want to try Cross Loading. This basically means loads which are not balanced. If a PC for instance needs 500W on the +12V outputs but something like 30W via the combined 3.3V and +5V outputs then the voltage regulation can fluctuate badly.
| Cross Load Testing | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | -12V | +5VSB | |||||
| A | V | A | V | A | V | A | V | A | V | |
| 493W | 1.0 | 3.34 | 1.0 | 5.05 | 40.5 | 11.94 | 0.2 | -12.04 | 0.50 | 5.02 |
| 153W | 15.0 | 3.32 | 15.0 | 4.97 | 2.0 | 12.05 | 0.2 | -12.05 | 0.50 | 5.01 |
The unit passed the Cross Load test without any problems.
We then used an oscilloscope to measure AC ripple and noise present on the DC outputs. We set the oscilloscope time base to check for AC ripple at both high and low ends of the spectrum. ATX12V V2.2 specification for DC output ripple and noise is defined in the ATX 12V power supply design guide.
|
ATX12V Ver 2.2 Noise/Ripple Tolerance
|
|
|
Output
|
Ripple (mV p-p)
|
|
+3.3V
|
50
|
|
+5V
|
50
|
|
+12V1
|
120
|
|
+12V2
|
120
|
|
-12V
|
120
|
|
+5VSB
|
50
|
Obviously when measuring AC noise and ripple on the DC outputs the cleaner (less recorded) means we have a better end result. We measured this AC signal amplitude to see how closely the unit complied with the ATX standard.
| AC Ripple (mV p-p) | ||||
| DC Load | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | 5VSB |
| 110W | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| 220W | 10 | 10 | 25 | 5 |
| 340W | 15 | 15 | 30 | 10 |
| 445W | 20 | 15 | 35 | 10 |
| 550W | 25 | 15 | 35 | 15 |
Noise suppression is good if not class leading, peaking at 35 mV at full load on the +12V output. All other rails held to 15mV-25mV when fully loaded. No concerns here.
|
Efficiency (%)
|
|
|
110W
|
88.67
|
|
220W
|
91.45
|
|
340W
|
92.11
|
|
445W
|
91.76
|
|
550W
|
90.22
|
Efficiency is excellent, peaking at around 92% at 50% load. At full load, this drops to around 90%. Great results.
We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.
Today to test the Power Supply we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa) one meter away from the unit. We have no other fans running so we can effectively measure just the noise from the unit itself. That said, measuring lower than 28dBa proves very difficult, unless in strict laboratory conditions.
As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 Player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
|
Noise (dBA)
|
|
|
110W
|
<28.0
|
|
220W
|
<28.0
|
|
340W
|
28.2
|
|
445W
|
30.5
|
| 550W | 32.6 |
We registered very little fan noise at all until around 450 watts when it started to spin up more actively. At full load, the power supply registered only 32.6dBa which is excellent.
|
Temperature (c)
|
||
|
Intake
|
Exhaust
|
|
|
110W
|
36
|
40
|
|
220W
|
37
|
43
|
|
340W
|
41
|
45
|
|
445W
|
45
|
48
|
|
550W
|
47
|
54
|
The large, quiet fan produces enough air flow to help maintain controlled ambient temperatures.
|
Maximum load
|
Efficiency
|
|
588W
|
89.77
|
Pushing the power supply above its rated limits generates an efficiency level of 89.77%. This is not a viable ‘real world’ situation, but its interesting nonetheless.The Cooler Master V550 is a compact, capable power supply set to target a broad enthusiast audience. The Enhance design is very good and it doesn't exhibit problematic weaknesses in key areas either.
There are no shortage of power supplies available on the market today and we have noticed that enthusiast customers are becoming more discerning about the unit they end up shortlisting. The Cooler Master V550 ticks a lot of the boxes at the respective price point.
The V550 produces stable load regulation and ripple suppression is held well within industry rated parameters – the 12V+ peaks at 35mV and +3.3V and +5V peak at 25mV and 15mV respectively. The unit also coped with the cross load test without falling over.
The 120mm Silencio FP fan is very quiet and most of the time during idle or normal load it will be completely inaudible. In the last 25% of total load demand it does spin up to compensate for rising temperatures, but the pitch of the fan is quite low meaning it will likely be masked behind a couple of case fans.
The pure modular design will appeal to the windowed case builders with a touch of OCD – you are not forced to deal with routing cables you don't need. Cooler Master have sweetened the deal by ensuring all the cables are flat ribbon style, even the main 20+4 ATX cable.
In the real world, we incorporated the power supply into a system comprising an overclocked 4790k processor, 32GB of memory, 512GB SSD, three hard drives and a GTX980 ti graphics card. The system was perfectly stable over the course of three days stress testing.
The Cooler Master V550W power supply will be available for £89.99 inc vat from October this year. The V650W will cost £99.99 inc vat and the V750W £109.99 inc vat.
Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE.
Pros:
- quiet under load.
- quality finish.
- solid load regulation.
- compact chassis design.
- delivered more than 550 watts.
Cons:
- A lot of competition between £80 and £100.
Kitguru says: A quiet, compact power supply set to target a very broad enthusiast with limited budget. Don't let the modest power rating fool you, the V550 can be used as the foundation for a very capable gaming system.
