Super Flower Leadex Gold 550W PSU Review
Super Flower has made quite an impact on the PSU market. Its Leadex platform enjoys huge popularity, both under SF's brand name and other companies like EVGA. The newest Leadex Gold-rated PSU with 550W capacity is on our test bench today.
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Packaging, Contents, Exterior And Cabling
Packaging
Typically, Super Flower uses white packaging. But this PSU's box has a black background, most likely to differentiate the SF-550F14MG PSU from the company's higher-end offerings. The design is the same though; on the front of the box we see Super Flower's butterfly logo. The capacity description is in the front, bottom-left corner and the 80 PLUS Gold badge is in the top-right corner. On the sides of the package you'll find a features list and information about the PSU's color (black, in our case).
On the back of the box, Super Flower lists all of the interesting aspects of the product through icons, text and photos. On the back-right side is a specifications table and graph depicting the fan's curve with ECO (semi-passive) mode active. We've been informed that the company has filed patents covering the Thermal Control System and main transformer, versions of which are used on all Leadex models.
Contents
Two pieces of foam and thick plastic wrapping protect the PSU inside the box. The contents are arranged nicely with the user's manual sitting on top; it's the first thing you see when you open the box.
Super Flower provides a pouch for storing unused modular cables, although this PSU doesn't have too many of them compared to higher-capacity Leadex models. The rest of the bundle includes the user's manual and a set of fixing bolts for installing the PSU. Besides the requisite power cord, you also get eight modular cables.
Exterior
The PSU's exterior design is similar to the other Leadex units. Some of you might like the punched fan grille, while others would prefer a different approach. One thing's for certain, though: the grille provides a distinctive look that easily differentiates the PSU from its competition, and allows for good airflow.
A typical honeycomb-style exhaust grille is used on the front, while a small power switch is installed next to the vertical AC socket. On one of the two sides, we find Super Flower's logo stamped onto the casing. On the other side is a power specification table.
On the back of the PSU, the cube-shaped modular sockets look nice. The fact that they feature LED lighting (which is activated only when a cable is connected) makes them look even nicer in dark environments. This is a major differentiator compared to EVGA's more plain 550 G2. Aside from the two sockets for the 24-pin ATX cables, the other sockets are identical. Finally, the ECO switch is inconveniently located on this side as well, limiting access to it.
The dimensions could be smaller, given the unit's lower capacity. At least 16.5 cm of length won't cause any compatibility issues with most enclosures. Apparently, Super Flower isn't a fan of downsizing its units, unlike SilverStone and other companies that strive to offer PSUs with high power density.
Cabling
The main ATX, EPS and PCIe cables feature capacitors for extra ripple filtering, which is always welcome. Of course, if you swap them out for custom-made cables, you'll end up with increased ripple.
Because of the stock cable's thin wires, they're fairly easy to route inside of your case. Sleeving quality is acceptable for this price range, and all peripheral cables are flat, since they don't have any filtering capacitors.
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Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
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blazorthon Granted the EPS and PCIe wires don't see very high current in most situations (especially the EPS with Haswell or Skylake CPUs), I hardly ever see other PSUs using thinner gauge wires, so I can't imagine it saving enough money to be worth going thinner than the recommended 18 gauge wires most other PSUs have regardless of capacity.Reply -
Quaddro Why crapxon?Reply
I'm tired to see bulged crapxon..
If this one use jap caps, it'll be absolutely perfect.. -
mctylr Unfortunately, the bridge rectifier's markings are on its hidden side, and we try to avoid desoldering these type of parts since they are extra sensitive to increased heat
Huh? Since when are bridge rectifiers particularly heat sensitive? I would say that bridge rectifiers are not worth the hassle to desolder, unless you suspect it was an underrated part.
APFC controller is an NCP1653A provided by ON Semiconductor. It's installed on a small vertical PCB and is covered by insulation tape in order to decrease EMI noise.
That looks like paper and vinyl / PVC electrical tape wrapped around the vertical PCB, which provides electrical isolation only, I doubt it would make measurable difference in EMI. -
Aris_Mp According to my experience so far they are, unfortunately.Reply
This provides some EMI protection. There is no need for electrical insulation on this board. As for the degree or EMI protection I can examine this with my EMC probes (once I find the time to do it). -
Andi lim this review said uses a half-bridge topology, I only see one main capacitor. half bridge usualy uses 2 main cap and 2 main switcher right ?Reply -
Aris_Mp the number of APFC caps has nothing to do with the primary topology. However yes half-bridge uses 2 switchers.Reply -
Andi lim You are right, this is half bridge with LLC series resonant converter, nothing wrong with the primary capacitor.Reply