Aspire 500W Power Supply Review

Product: Aspire 500W PSU
Author: Weiye Zhou
Date Published: 06/08/04
Price: $54 + Free S/H
Purchased at: Newegg.com

Introduction

The power supply is by far one of the most neglected computer components. It may seem prudent to buy a cheap power supply at first, but you'll easily regret it soon enough. It's just power, how can it affect my computer you ask? Think of is this way, the power supply in your computer converts domestic current into power that your computer can use. The products of this conversion are three well regulated "rails", the +3.3V, +5V, and the +12V. Your computer parts require these rails be well regulated, cheap power supplies use low quality components and in turn causes instability or spikes in the power going to your components. This causes system instability and over time can cause damage to your computer components, especially the CPU and RAM.

The Product

The power supply itself looked great upon opening the packaging. It was very light (made out of aluminum) and had some special film on the acrylic part of the power supply to protect it from scratches. Also comes with two blue LED fans and UV reactive power connectors.

Power connectors include 6 4-pin molex's, 2 floppy, 1 ATX header, 1 P4 header, and 2 server headers



Here are the ratings for the power supply since Aspire is very vague about it. They never list them on their website or the box.



The back of the power supply. Notice the fan control knob.



A close up of the power supply and a little dust due to use.



The knob is at maximum.



The knob at minimum, the LED's on the fan adjust according to the speed of the fans.



Here's a picture of the UV reactive power connectors in action.

Testbed
P4 2.6C @ 3.2Ghz / Abit IS7
Swiftech MCX478-V Heatsink / Vantec 92mm Tornado
3 80mm case fans
Radeon 9500 Pro
1GB Corsair XMS-3200C2PT RAM
Western Digital 36GB Raptor
Aspire 500W PS
Windows XP SP1

Results

I measured the voltages through the 20-pin ATX header (+3.3V, +5V, & +12V) using a digital auto-ranging multimeter. The results I got are below.

The +3.3V and +5V are stable at idle and load. The +12V drops all the way down to 11.52, which is within the acceptable 5% tolerance level of ATX power supplies, but still very low nonetheless. What's interesting is that I only have a few things connected to the +12V rail. They include the 36GB Raptor, 1 40mm fan on the Radeon, 3 80mm case fans, and 1 92mm Vantec Tornado.

Voltages and Warranty?

Due to the low +12V readings, I e-mailed Aspire USA about it. Their response was that the voltages were within tolerance levels as if that's all they were striving for. I responded to the e-mail and again voiced my concern (this time with more detail), I got no response. After that exchange, I began to wonder about the warranty. I proceeded to look for information on the box, power supply, and their website. None of them had any mention of a warranty. Regretfully, I contacted Aspire again inquiring about a warranty. They said that they provided their suppliers with the option of buying a warranty with the power supply. Apparently the supplier that Newegg got their power supplies from didn't opt for this option. So in effect, the only warranty that ever existed was Newegg's 30-day return policy. It seems that Aspire needs to do some work before they can be a recognized brand.

Conclusion

Upon opening the package, I was pleasantly surprised at the looks of the power supply, but further analysis and investigation reveals a number of faults in this product. They include a very low +12V rating, below average customer service, and no standard warranty. Because of this, I have a hard time giving this power supply a positive review. I can only recommend that you avoid buying this power supply.

Pro's
Tight +3.3V and +5V rails
Looks good

Con's
Low +12V rail
Below average customer service
No standard warranty