Now let's open up the Odin GT and see what it looks like inside...
Unlike most power supplies that have a three sided base with the PCB in it and then a three sided cover with the fan mounted in it that slides over the top of the base, the Odin has two "C" shaped pieces that slide into each other.
Normally, this would pose a problem with the fan wire since you have to pull the fan quite a bit away from the PCB to remove the cover. Channel Well has thought about this and has put a connector for the fan close to the fan itself that is accessible as soon as the cover is open by an inch.
Speaking of fans, the Odin GT uses a Yate Loon D14BM-12. A 140MM ball bearing fan.
Here is an overhead shot of the opened power supply. Note that the heatsinks are copper (EDIT: Heat sinks seem to actually be copper colored aluminum. Those tricksters!) Also notice the four "holes" in the heatsinks. These are actually the blue LED's embedded into the heatsinks. The fan itself does not have any LED's in it.
Gigabyte really advertises the fact that their power supply uses all Japanese capacitors. The caps are all Matsushita, primary and secondary.
Because the whole cover slides off the way it does, the bottom of the PCB is easily exposed. There isn't really anything to show here but a bunch of traces, but I figured you'd still want to see it.
Above is a picture of the back of the PCB that all of our probes eventually plug into. This is the controller board that is responsible for everything the P-Tuner software is capable of monitoring and adjusting.
For those wondering if the Gigabyte is ESA compliant, here's the best picture I could get of the IC on the front side of the PCB. It is an Elan EM78M611 and not an SiLabs C8051F320/1, so I'm going to say no to ESA compliance. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. :)
Well, we're at the end of page 5 and there's a standing rule at jonnyGURU.com not to have reviews that are more than 5 pages long (although they can be very long pages), so let's get to scoring this power supply...
The Performance score is 40% of the total score...
The performance of the Odin GT 550W is very good. The unit is unaffected by crossloads, has excellent regulation and is very quiet. Efficiency is only a tad better than mediocre by today's standards (when most power supplies are 80% minimum efficiency) and the unit has active power factor correction. I see no reason to not give this power supply a 9.5.
The Functionality score is 20% of the total score...
Scoring functionality on a power supply like this is tricky. I'm half tempted to break this in two parts: functionality of the software and functionality of the power supply, and then average the two. The power supply is semi-modular, although it lacks an 8-pin PCI-e and only has two 6-pin PCI-e connectors. Although it could be argued that it is only a 550W power supply and couldn't run a pair of 225W PCI-e cards. The cables aren't necessarily short, but they're certainly not the longest cables I've seen and some of you may have an issue when using this unit in an "upside down case."
As for the software, you can adjust voltages, you can adjust fan speed and you can turn the blue LED's on and off and after you do all of this, shutting the software down in Windows doesn't revert your settings back to default. That alone puts this power supply head and shoulders above all others. What about the monitoring aspect of the software? Well, having the temperature, fan, amperage and voltage monitoring features is nice in theory, but with the bugginess of the software and the fact that it is such a memory hog really makes the P-Tuner software border on useless for the average every day user. On the other hand I, as a relatively well-seasoned PC tech (toot toot), will say that for system builders, repair technicians and components engineers/product managers, this is an invaluable and easy to use tool for determining power distribution and consumption of a computer and all of it's components. This sucker trumps the infamous Kill-A-Watt a thousand times over and I declare that if you review computer hardware for print or online, you need to step up your game and run out and buy an Odin GT now. Put it on your bench and install P-Tuner on your test rig and you will quickly see the several ways that this buggy, resource hog of a software suite can help you better understand power distribution and power consumption. Functionality is a 10.
The Value score is 30% of the total score...
Value is tough to score because there are two potential markets here. As a tool, as I described it in the paragraph above, the Odin GT power supply with the P-Tuner software is virtually invaluable. As a 550W power supply, it's damn expensive. At $149, it is the most expensive 550W at Newegg beating out the #2 Seasonic S12 Energy Plus by $20! But who am I to tell you how to spend your money? Let's be fair and rate the Odin GT an 8.
The Aesthetics score is 10% of the total score...
I'm happy with the subtle looks of the Odin. It's only black, but it's a good quality finish. The subtle accents like the Odin cap over the hub of the fan and the Gigabyte plaque on the side of the housing are nice touches. The honeycomb housing is very nice too. Furthermore, the cables are sleeved up to the last connector. So I'm going to give the Odin GT an aesthetics score of 9.
If we add up our numbers, we end up with a score of 9.
Performance
9.5
Functionality
10
Value
8
Aesthetics
9
Total Score
9
Summary:
As an end user, I'm not going to say that I'd run right out and buy a Gigabyte Odin GT power supply. Although it is a good power supply with solid rails and good looks, it's pretty expensive for a 550W power supply. Of course, I can't say I wouldn't blame someone for being willing to fork over the extra money just for the coolness factor of the software.
I do mean what I said about techs needing this power supply for the bench. I can think of a thousand uses for this power supply as either a repair technician, system builder, some sort of product manager or as a computer component reviewer. And at $149, you really do get your money's worth out of it. I wouldn't want P-Tuner running on my PC around the clock, but it's just software and I'm sure Gigabyte is constantly working on improving it. Maybe by this time next year, we'll see a version of P-Tuner that uses 1/10 the resources and is even more accurate and is included with a 550W unit that costs around $100 to $120.
The Good:
Excellent voltage regulation.
Active Power Factor Correction (APFC).
Minimal ripple and noise.
Very quiet.
Cables sleeved to last connector.
Software allows voltage adjustment, fan speed adjustment and blue LED can be turned on and off.
Techs can monitor amperage, voltage, fan speeds and temperatures (although the bugginess of the software prohibits full time use.)
The Bad:
A very expensive 550W.
Software is a resource hog and can be buggy at times.
Software would often report obviously inaccurate readings.
The Mediocre:
Efficiency could be better.
No 8-pin PCI-e connector. This 550W can certainly power at least one R600 card.
