Reviews - Cooler Master Elite V2 550W
  (By OklahomaWolf on Mon, Jul-07-2014)

Page 6 - Scoring

Performance (40% of the final score) - I admit, I really wasn't expecting much from this unit. As soon as I open the box of a "550W" unit and find something only rated to 500, I tend to assume the worst. But in this case, we had quite the little performer, here. Voltage regulation was very good indeed, just shy of excellent. I will remove a mere half point from a perfect score for that. I will also remove half a point for 12V ripple... had it not been for that little blip in the waveform, it would have easily dropped into the excellent category. Half a point more comes off for that issue with the overshoot transient tests. Finally, I have to take a full point for efficiency. We missed 80 Plus Standard in both cold and hot tests. Yes, I know this unit isn't certified, but my minimum standards for scoring are 80 Plus Standard. So there. 7.5.

Functionality (20% of the final score) - being a bargain unit, we can't expect too much from this unit. Even so, I do have to score all units evenly, so I'm taking that whole modularity point right now. No modular cables, no modular cable point. No power factor correction either, no PFC point. I'm also taking a half point for sleeving, in that only one cable had any. A further half point comes off for the user guide, which does its best to further push you to the 550W conclusion without telling you that the three main rails are limited to only 485 watts. It's also lacking a bit in other details. But that's all for this category. 7.

Value (20% of the final score) - this is where Cooler Master really has it rough. It's hard to compete in the bargain basement bracket and still have a unit worth actually buying. It's going for a ludicrous $59.99 at Newegg right now, and a much more reasonable $46.99 at Directron. That said, the EVGA 500W is cheaper. A fair bit cheaper. This price needs dropping, because the value just isn't there. But it still has fantastic performance, so I'll do a 4.

Build Quality (20% of the final score) - one point comes off for a sleeve bearing fan. One point comes off for the crapacitors. Half a point comes off for soldering. Half a point comes off for no heatsink on the bridge. And there we stop, because this thing is a heck of a lot better constructed than I expected. This area's getting a 7.

Performance

7.5

Functionality

7

Value

4

Build Quality

7

Total Score

6.6

Summary

Cooler Master has a solid little bargain unit, right here. It's very stable right where it counts, it does a tremendous job keeping ripple in check, and it manages to hold up to some decent temperatures. But, it's not a 550 watt unit. Consider it a decent value 500 watt unit, and you'll be just fine. You could easily do a lot worse than buying this unit.

The Good:

  • excellent 12V stability
  • very good minor rail stability
  • excellent ripple suppression
  • shallow housing
  • doesn't skimp on essential parts

The Bad:

  • expect the capacitors to last two years

The Mediocre:

  • two year warranty
  • sleeve bearing fan
  • not really a 550W unit


Discuss the Cooler Master Elite V2 550W in our forums here.

 

JonnyGURU Feeds
Add our RSS feeds to your favorite RSS Reader or homepage.

JonnyGURU Reviews
AddThis Feed Button

JonnyGURU News
AddThis Feed Button

JonnyGURU Articles
AddThis Feed Button

JonnyGURU Forums
AddThis Feed Button

Follow us onFollow Us!
 
Site-Info | Affiliates | Contact Us | Site-Map
Copyright © 2012 - JonnyGURU.com