Kolink Continuum KL-C1500PL PSU Review: Miner's Delight?

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Teardown & Component Analysis

Before proceeding with this page we strongly encourage you to a look at our PSUs 101 article, which provides valuable information about PSUs and their operation, allowing you to better understand the components we're about to discuss.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
General Data
Manufacturer (OEM)Enhance Electronics
Primary Side
Transient Filter4x Y caps, 4x X caps, 2x CM chokes, 1x MOV, 1x CM02X
Inrush ProtectionNTC thermistor & relay
Bridge Rectifier(s)2x Shindengen LL25XB60 (600V, 25A @ 113°C)
APFC MOSFETs4x Infineon IPP50R140CP (550V, 15A @ 100°C, 0.14Ω)
APFC Boost Diode2x CREE C3D10060A (600V, 10A @ 153°C)
Hold-up Cap(s)3x Nichicon (450V, 560uF, 2000h @ 105°C, GL)
Main Switchers4x Infineon IPP60R099C6 (650V, 24A @ 100°C, 0.099Ω)
Driver ICs2x Silicon Labs Si8230BD
APFC ControllerChampion CM6502S & CM03X Green PFC controller
LLC Resonant ControllerChampion CM6901T6X
TopologyPrimary side: Full-bridge & LLC resonant controller Secondary side: Synchronous rectification & DC-DC converters
Secondary Side
+12V MOSFETs16x Infineon BSC014N04LS (40V, 100A @ 100°C, 1.4mΩ)
5V & 3.3V2x DC-DC Converters
Filtering CapacitorsElectrolytics: Rubycon (6-10,000h @ 105°C, ZLH), Sun'con (105°C), Nippon Chemi-Con (4-10,000h @105°C, KY) Polymers: Unicon (UPH, 2,000h @ 125°C)
Supervisor ICSITI PS223 (OVP, UVP, OCP, SCP, OTP)
Fan ModelYate Loom D14BH (140mm, 12V, 0.7A, 2800 RPM, 140 CFM, 48.5 dB[A], Double Ball Bearing)
5VSB Circuit
Rectifier1x PFR10V45CT SBR (45V, 10A)
Standby PWM ControllerSanken STR-A6062H

This platform is provided by Enhance Electronics and features very good build quality, despite an affordable price for this wattage category. The same high-end design is also used in SilverStone's ST1500-TI, which costs way more than the KL-C1500PL. Kolink's offering even has more efficient primary switching FETs and higher-capacity bulk caps. Everything else is exactly the same between the two PSUs.

We find a full bridge topology on the primary side, along with an LLC resonant converter. On the secondary side, the DC-DC converters are installed on a PCB right behind the modular board in an effort to minimize energy losses. Finally, the +12V FETs are installed on the main PCB's solder side, and are mainly cooled by the chassis.

Ripple filtering is mainly done by polymer caps, with the few electrolytic ones being provided by respected manufacturers. This is a key feature, since capacitor quality on the secondary side plays a major role in a PSU's reliability.

The following video shows the KL-C1500PL’s internals.


MORE: Best Power Supplies


MORE: How We Test Power Supplies


MORE: All Power Supply Content

Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

  • ozicom
    "The problem we see is that all eight-pin connectors have the same pattern, making it possible to accidentally connect an EPS cable to a PCIe socket and vice versa." Well I had a fully modular PSU in past and you can't connect eight pin of EPS to PCIe because the sockets may look same but they're not. If you look closer on top left two sockets of black and blue eight pins the notches are not same so you can't connect it. But if you tried and connect it it's a problem of course.
    Reply