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XG Magnum External 600w PSU

XG Magnum External 600w PSU
Written by Rich Smith
Date: 2006-07-25
Source: DevHardware

XG Magnum External 600w PSU

There has been a market for some time now for external components. External CD and DVD drives, external USB devices, external hard drives; the list goes on and on. When I was given the opportunity to review the XG Magnum External 600w power supply, I wasn’t sure what to think. An external power supply?

When I sat and thought about it some more, it started to make a little more sense. One of the hottest components inside your computer is your power supply. I mean, if you think about it, if you take the actual mechanical part of the PSU and move it outside your machine, you can instantly lower the heat inside your PC by 20 percent or more.

In addition to the heat savings, there is also the space factor. Inside your machine, you no longer have a bulky PSU to work around (not a problem in some cases). This can make life a lot easier when working inside a confined space.

So let's take a look at the specs for this bad boy.

Part # : PSMG-600EX
Wattage : 600W
ATX Version : V2.01
Product Material : Aluminum
Number of 12V rails : 2
SLI Ready : Yes
Braided Cable : EMU Shield/Silver
Fans : Fanless design - Copper radiator w/heat pipes
Additional Features : External PSU Design
Front LCD display
QuickConnect Molex Connectors
Active PFC

XG Magnum External 600w PSU - Opening the box

For starters, the box this PSU came in was covered with the specs and features of this PSU. If an educated consumer were to find this in a store, there would be no confusion as to the features and functionality that this PSU has to offer.

Opening the box, I found that the PSU itself was quite adequately protected, with a generous foam layer surrounding the PSU itself. The other items were packed into the box around the foam-enclosed PSU.

When I removed the contents of the box, I was immediately impressed by the PSU itself. This is not one of those hidden components to be tucked away inside your machine; this PSU was built to be an attractive addition to your system. Here's a few pics so you can see what I mean.

As you can see from the above pictures, the PSU itself has the power switch and LCD readout on the front of the unit. On the back is the power socket, as well as the connectors that go to the internal piece of the PSU. That's right, there is a secondary plate which sits inside the case, which has all the leads to connect to the internal components.

Speaking of which, here it is:

The harness on top is the connector plate and internal cables. The internal plate screws into your PC where the PSU would connect. The holes in the plate are in the same position as a normal PSU, so there shouldn't be an issue fitting any case that accepts a standard PSU.

The harness on the bottom is the connector that plugs into the back of the PSU itself at one end, and the connector plate at the other end. As you can see from this picture, this cable is pretty short (about a foot and a half long), so if you have anything taller than a mid-tower, you need to put the PSU on top of the case in order for the cables to reach. I think it would be wise of MGE to offer a longer version of this cable, maybe even include it, at the price this PSU demands.

XG Magnum External 600w PSU - Hooking it up

The machine I'm putting this into is a HTPC. This turns out to be an ideal marriage, to be quite honest. HTPC machines, as a rule, tend to get pretty hot. They are usually installed alongside your stereo system and left on for many hours at a time. So, in order to relieve that heat, this PSU is ideal.

The second big plus this PSU brings to the picture is that it has a fan-less design. HTPC machines are often plagued by PSUs that hum or have loud fans. This PSU is completely silent, which again makes it a perfect candidate for this job.

The HTPC case I installed this PSU into was a little on the odd side, since the spot for the PSU was on the opposite side of the motherboard from the one that is commonly used. In the above picture, you can plainly see the PSU opening on the bottom right.

As you can see in the above pic, the PSU connector plate fits into place just as a full fledged PSU would. You can clearly see the plugs for connecting to the external unit.

The above is a view from the inside, before any of the cables are hooked up. As you can see, the cables have plenty of length to connect to anything inside the case that they need to. One thing I would like to point out is that, with this particular case configuration, the ATX power connections are only possible with the cable running across the top of your installed PCI and PCI Express cards. This makes it a little tougher to swap out cards, and is just an odd configuration. This would be a problem with any PSU in the case, I would imagine.

In the above picture, you can see that the computer has been completed, and all of the power connectors are now connected. The braided cables really give the inside of the case a sleek look. Note the large ATX cable arching over the top of the video card to find its spot on the motherboard.

XG Magnum External 600w PSU - How about a little test?

There are a couple of things I wanted to test with this PSU. First, as with all PSUs, I wanted to test the voltage it puts out, both idle and under load. But secondly, since this PSU touts itself as a fan-less PSU, how hot does it get as the load increases?

Above is a pic of the PSU sticker. Note the amps on the two 12V rails, 18A and 22A. Those are quite respectable numbers.

So here is my test rig:

• EPoX 8U1697 motherboard with AMD 64 3000+ CPU and 1GB OCZ RAM


• PowerColor X1300 video card with 512MB RAM


• XG Magnum EX 600w External PSU


• Pioneer DVD +/-R Reader/Writer


• Samsung 120GB IDE HD


• Running Windows XP Media Center Edition

As you can see, the PSU performed quite admirably. Here's a pic of the PSU as it was running:

The above pic was taken after letting my "load" scenario run for well over an hour. I was unable to get the PSU to get any hotter than 39 degrees Celsius. In the meantime, the temperature inside the case was quite low in comparison to a case with an internal PSU.

XG Magnum External 600w PSU - Summing it up

I can tell you, when I first thought about an external PSU, I found the idea a little odd. Let me tell you now, I've become a believer. No, I don't think that every PC could benefit from an external PSU, but I don't think I could have found a better solution for my HTPC.

One interesting fact, though, is when I sat down and did the math to see if 600w was an accurate number, or if MGE just rounded up, I was surprised at what I found. Going from the voltages and amps listed on the PSU label, this PSU actually puts out 650w of power. I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 590, and was pleasantly surprised.

As always, here are the Pros and Cons of this unit:

Pros:

• ULTRA Silent!!


• Excellent Power (650w)


• Very small power fluctuations (still stayed above specs)


• External design reduces heat in case


• LCD to show temp, voltage, and wattage


• 2 PCI-e power connectors, SLI Ready

Cons:

• Only 2 SATA power connections. RAID users need splitter cables.


• Pricey (approx $200 at the time of this writing)

To be honest, this PSU is awesome. Yeah, it could have used a few more SATA connections, but you can always use splitters. And as for the price, I'm a huge believer of the old saying, "you get what you pay for."