August 26th, 2008
Arctic Cooling Fusion 550R PSU (Payment Saving Unit)
Arctic Cooling has lifted the lid on the Fusion 550R PSU, but in this case PSU stands for Payment Saving Unit.
So, what’s special about the Fusion 550R PSU? Well, according to Arctic Cooling switching to this PSU can save you 100€ over four years compared to a standard PSU (assuming it’s in service 200 days/year with 4 half days at full load and where juice costs 0.15€/kWh - you’ll have to number crunch your own kWh figures to find out how much you can save). A quick number crunch based on average kWh prices across the US suggests that over 4 years you’d save roughly the price of the unit.
Here’s the spec of the PSU:
- Ultra quiet 80mm PWM fan with low noise impeller
- 550W maximum output power, ATX 2.2
- 82-86% efficiency, 99% PFC
- 80mm ARCTIC F8 Pro fan
- Intelligent fan control (700 – 2,000 RPM)
- Controller for case ventilation
- Over-Power, Over-Voltage, Short Circuit protection
- SLI and Crossfire compatible
The externally mounted fan is certainly an interesting idea - as long as it doesn’t get fouled by anything and fry the PSU.
Personally I think that this might be worth considering if building a new PC or replacing an old PSU, but I wouldn’t bother replacing an existing PSU for those savings. Much better to switch on power management or turn your PC off when it’s not in use.
Thoughts?
Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
Want to get in touch? Got a tip? Feel free to drop me a note! I ALWAYS respect anonymity. I'm also on Twitter (@the_pc_doc)
Right to Reply: Should any industry representatives wish to comment on any posts on Hardware 2.0, I will be happy to publish their reply verbatim on this blog.
Subscribe to Hardware 2.0 via Email alerts or RSS.
