Readers! What's happening. Listen... we're putting these new cover sheets on our PSU reports now, and... we're going to have to get you to go ahead and... read the first three pages of this review before you get to this page. It's all in the memo... I'll go ahead and... make sure you get another copy of that memo. So if you could just go ahead and do that, that would be greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.
No! Wait! Come back! You can start with this page if you want, I didn't know what I was typing! Honest!
Performance (40% of the final score) - like its cousin the Giant Connector 850W, the Giant Reactor is a fantastic performer. Excellent regulation, low ripple, and completely acing the overshoot transient tests only helps it here. What helps it even more is the lack of shutting down in the hot box that plagued the Giant Connector, even when the hot box exceeded fifty degrees. Still, efficiency didn't meet that magical 80% figure, so this one gets the same 9 I gave that one.
Functionality (20% of the final score) - like the Giant Connector (or GC for short), this unit suffers from a lack of owner's manual and power cord. It also suffers from sleeving that doesn't quite go into the case. But it does have plenty of SATA and Molex connectors, so that makes up for a bit. Still, I'm going to do a 7.5 here.
Value (30% of the final score) - again like the GC, I can't find this unit in North America to compare prices with. So, I'll go back to scan.co.uk. Including VAT, this unit comes in at £114.97. This makes it a bit more costly than the Akasa 1kW (also Enhance built) and CWT built XClio 1kW, but makes it considerably cheaper than the popular Corsair HX1000. Considering the glut of Topower built Tagans the site also carries above that price level, this is an excellent value. 10.
Aesthetics (10% of the final score) - like I keep telling y'all, I like matte black. But I don't like incomplete sleeving, so I'll do a 9 here.
Performance
9
Functionality
7.5
Value
10
Aesthetics
9
Total Score
9
Summary
In what will likely make NorthQ feel a lot better after the disappointing Black Magic 650W unit, the Giant Reactor lands a good solid nine here at jonnyGURU.com based on solid performance first seen with the Giant Connector 850W. While I am not quite ready to call this unit a true 1kW unit due to the lower combined 12V rating than what is usually found at this power level, the fact is that it did do 1kW at temperatures well above what most units are even rated for, and it did the job cleanly and with excellent stability. Folks, if you're planning a dual 280 GTX or Crossfire 4870x2 setup, this unit won't let you down. Just don't try and throw a third such card at it, and you'll be fine.
The Good:
fantastic ripple and noise suppression
excellent voltage regulation
quiet fan
enough cabling for 16 hard drives (8 SATA, 8 PATA) if you're so inclined
