by Tony Celeste

It's easy to see what Gigabyte had in mind when they named their new power supply after Odin, the Viking god of war and wisdom. The ODIN GT 800 watt PSU has the juice to handle even the most intense quad core overclocker, and the intelligence to manage every critical system within the power supply via a conveniently accessible software interface.

The ODIN GT 800W features modular cabling, and a stout, quiet 120mm fan.

The ODIN GT 800W includes all of the features you'd expect in a Gigabyte power supply designed. Active PFC (Power Factor Corrector) ensures a clean, stable stream of electricity. Modular cabling let you connect only the wiring you need, eliminating unnecessary wire bundles that clutter up your computer's appearance and restrict air flow. Also, instead of only one or two 12 V rails, there's a total of four, enabling you to feed power to all internal devices without worrying about whether there's sufficient current for everything to run smoothly and efficiently.

Even with all of its impressive hardware, the ODIN GT 800W's finest piece of engineering comes where you might least expect it: it's in the "P-Tuner", an impressive software interface that lets you manage the power supply from inside Windows. The P-Tuner monitors peak and total wattage, individual power rail and total voltage, individual power rail and total current (amperage), power supply and system fan speed, power supply temperature, and the temperature from four other areas inside the PC. (Four electronic thermal sensors come included with the ODIN, and may be placed anywhere you like). The P-Tuner also provides power supply fine-tuning and alarm options for the power supply, fans, and temperature sensors.

Selling for $169 to $219, the ODIN GT 800W is slightly more expensive than some 800 W power supplies. In terms of both hardware and software, however, it's one of the most impressive power supplies that I've seen in today's market.