A+ GPB Titanium Magic Color 480W Power Supply<base href="http://www.atruereview.com/" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/template_css.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/style10.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/slimbox/slimbox.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/rokmoomenu.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />  <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <style type="text/css"> td.left div.moduletable, td.right div.moduletable, td.left div.moduletable-hilite1, td.right div.moduletable-hilite1, td.left div.moduletable-hilite2, td.right div.moduletable-hilite2, td.left div.moduletable-hilite3, td.right div.moduletable-hilite3, td.left div.moduletable-hilite4, td.right div.moduletable-hilite4, td.left div.moduletable-hilite5, td.right div.moduletable-hilite5, td.left div.moduletable-hilite6, td.right div.moduletable-hilite6, td.left div.moduletable-hilite7, td.right div.moduletable-hilite7, td.left div.moduletable-hilite8, td.right div.moduletable-hilite8 { width: 175px; 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The LED fan is located on the bottom and is 80x15mm. On the back of the PSU is another crystal fan that is 80x15mm. This fan intakes air into the power supply. On the front of the supply is a 80x25mm fan that exhausts air. </p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/magiccolor/5magiccolor.JPG"><img src="atruereview/magiccolor/5magiccolorth.JPG" alt="A+ GPB Titanium Magic Color, 480W Power Supply" border="0" width="275" height="204"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p align="left">Air flows across large heatsinks to keep the components cool. A nice feature of the Color Magic PSU, is that the fans have three different settings, auto, low, and medium. By adjusting the switch on the back of the PSU, you are in control of the noise and cooling. Whatever setting you choose the fans are extremely quiet. The power supply is about as quiet as the True Silent, and you will not hear any noise from this PSU, unless your ear is up against it.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/magiccolor/6magiccolor.JPG"><img src="atruereview/magiccolor/6magiccolorth.JPG" alt="A+ GPB Titanium Magic Color, 480W Power Supply" border="0" width="275" height="255"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p align="left">Internal quality is the most important part of a power supply. The large heatsinks will allow the PSU to dissipate more heat. The board of the power supply looks well soldered. Bad solder joints can lead to shorts and spikes in power. Other components look well built with large capacitors and large coils just like the True Silent supply. </p> <p align="left">Also on the back of the power supply is an extra AC outlet. The AC outlet can be used to plug other items into it like monitors, external drives, or printers.</p> <p align="left"><strong>Testing:</strong></p> <p align="left">Testing all the specifics of a power supply can take a year to explain and test. Plus, I do not have all the necessary testing equipment . Voltages are a strong test; therefore, I will check the voltages with a multi-meter. Using a motherboard's voltage readout will result in less accurate results. Other components sit between the power line and the voltage reporter. This causes slight differences between actual voltage and voltage that is reported by the motherboard.</p> <p align="left">Another test to perform on a power supply are loading the max AMPs on each line to test the protection features and the output of the supply; thus, testing the peak surge. Because components turn on and off in a computer, another test is to test how well the power supply switches from line to line, by checking for under voltage and over voltages.</p> <p align="left">Of these other tests, my best way to approach performing something close to an average computer use is by loading up each line with some fans and hard drives. I will plug devices into other lines while the a line is in use and record the voltages. This test is close in simulating the power supply's response as if it were working inside of your case with devices turning on and off; thus, forcing the supply to switch lines. I know I will not pull a strong enough load to test the limits of a 480W supply.</p> <p align="left"><strong>Results:</strong></p> <table width="393" border="1" align="center"> <tr> <td width="78"> </td> <td width="91"><div align="center">3.3V</div> </td> <td width="84"><div align="center">5V</div> </td> <td width="112"><div align="center">12V</div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Average</td> <td><div align="center">3.43V</div></td> <td><div align="center">5.20V</div></td> <td><div align="center">11.83V</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td> Difference</td> <td><div align="center">3.9%</div> </td> <td><div align="center">4.0%</div> </td> <td><div align="center">1.4%</div> </td> </tr> </table> <p>A reading was taken every hour; average is based on averaging each reading taken every hour for 5 hours.</p> <p>The voltages look solid. Nothing too exceptional except for the 12V line. The other ones are within the 5%, a must for a power supply. The 5 volt line is better than the True Silent. I will note that I have about a 0.5% error tolerance with my multi-meter.</p> <p align="center"><img src="atruereview/magiccolor/8magiccolor.JPG" alt="A+ GPB Titanium Magic Color, 480W Power Supply" border="0" width="150" height="131"><img src="atruereview/magiccolor/9magiccolor.JPG" alt="A+ GPB Titanium Magic Color, 480W Power Supply" border="0" width="150" height="131"><img src="atruereview/magiccolor/10magiccolor.JPG" alt="A+ GPB Titanium Magic Color, 480W Power Supply" border="0" width="150" height="131"></p> <p>Is the Magic Color anything like the name suggests? The LED fan on the Magic Color changes color every few seconds. Dual colors are mixed together to perform some interesting effects. Above are just a few of the effects that the power supply produces.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong></p> <p>A+ GPB's Magic Color power supply is the best PSU that I have seen. Plenty of power connections makes it perfect for a user with a lot of devices. Cooling is solid with 3 fans. The ability to set the different speeds of the fans is another added bonus. A chrome case and LED fan make it a perfect supply to show off. If you are worried about voltages and the quality of this supply, it is solid in that department as well. The only drawback that I see, is that many stores do not carry the A+ GPB power supplies.</p> <p><strong>Pros: </strong></p> <ul> <li>Very quiet</li> <li>Looks impressive</li> <li>Quality components</li> <li>Gold contact leads</li> <li>Serial ATA power</li> <li>3 year warranty</li> <li>Plenty of cooling fans</li> <li>LED fans</li> <li>Fan control switch</li> </ul> <p><strong>Cons:</strong></p> <ul> <li>None</li> </ul> <p align="left"><b>Rating:</b><br> Excellent</p> <p>(Ratings Possible Terrible, Very Bad, Bad, Fair, Good, Very Good, Excellent)</p> <p align="left"><a href="atruereview/magiccolor/index.php"></a> <a href="magiccolor/index.php">Previous (Introduction & Specs)</a></p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div id="footer" class="clr"> <div class="rk-1"> <div class="rk-2"> <div id="the-footer"> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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