Page 2 - A Close Look - Outside
Taking a look at the design of the FSP AURUM S 600W, we are greeted with a no frills approach. There are no fancy bells or whistles to be found here, but the design is functional and practical, given the intended purpose of a power supply. It is not exactly going to be the visual forefront of your computer, and its overall appearance is not going to matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. The FSP AURUM S 600W follows a similar design to the rest of the FSP AURUM series by using a black rugged finish for the exterior of the power supply. For a power size of this caliber, I must say in terms of design, I don't have any gripes with it, and find it is actually a fairly well built product. It has a solid design and clean edges, which indicates that care was taken when designing the individual pieces of the outside, and to some extents, shows the quality found throughout the design. Of course, for a more detailed account of its true build quality, we will need to examine the electronic components, which we will take a look at on the next page.
Sizing in at 150mm x 160mm x 86mm, the FSP AURUM S 600W is one of the smaller power supplies that we have seen in some time. The last one I personally looked at that was exactly the same size was the Thermaltake SMART M750W, but that power supply had an included 140mm fan, compared to the 120mm fan in this particular unit. This size will fit very well in all standard ATX and larger cases. When it comes to size comparisons, this unit is the same as the FSP AURUM CM Gold 650W, which also has the same sized fan as well. However, when it comes down to size, the most probably issue will be with mATX and mITX cases, as space can be tight, and every single centimeter can count in some situations. This is not to mention having a case too stuffed to the brim is not exactly good for heat distribution either.
The back of our FSP AURUM S 600W here is quite standard, as with most modern day power supplies found on the market today. On the right side, we can find the usual power socket, as well as the power switch to the left of it. Even though I will admit I don't use the power switch all that often, it is one of those things I would rather have, since it is much easier to flip a switch than unplug the whole power supply. However, I can understand why some manufacturers choose to not install one, as long as there is some benefit for the consumer be it saving a little money or even to simplify the design, I feel it is acceptable to not have one. Regardless, the one thing that catches my eye here is the shape of the mesh. The mesh is in the shape of upward arrows, which is quite the interesting design. The AURUM Gold and AURUM Pro has this design as well. I am sure that the aesthetics of the mesh won't be that big of a factor, but I must commend them for being a little different here. As with most modern power supplies, the FSP AURUM S 600W features an automatic full range (100V-240V) AC line voltage selection, so users do not have to adjust the input voltage for their current country, making it simple to just plug in the power supply, and start using it right away.
Found on the top of the FSP AURUM S 600W is the standard power output/rail configuration information label. Information found here includes warnings, various certifications, and most importantly, wattage information. Combined together, the +3.3V rail and +5V rail gets 130W combined -- while independently, they can theoretically get up to 79.2W and 120W, respectively. In practice, we cannot go over the maximum combined output of 130W as mentioned. The above calculations were done using the formula P=IV. The +12V rail has a sustained current of 46A, which means it can deliver up to 552W. This is 92% of the power supply's maximum combined rated output. In terms of the -12V rail, it is given 0.3A of current for 3.6W output overall. Finally, the +5Vsb gets 3.0A for a total of 15W. All of this together cannot be higher than the maximum combined wattage of 600W, except at peak, which can usually be a bit higher; useful for starting up your computer when some components require significantly more power to start up than to run such as hard disks. Overall, the numbers are quite reasonable, and are well distributed for a 600W power supply.
Looking at the FSP AURUM S 600W from this angle, we get a better look at the sides of the power supply. We can see the same FSP AURUM design as found on previous models as aforementioned, with FSP's logo on the side. If anything, this design is reminiscent of the look of a rugged car, with parts being pushed out slightly to add a bit of excitement. Near the bottom of the two sides, we can find four Phillips head screws, which when removed, gives us access to the internals of the PSU. Of course, there is also a single screw with a warranty seal on it, meaning if you open up the PSU, you will surely void the five year warranty.
The FSP AURUM S 600W is not a modular power supply, so all the cables are permanently attached to the PSU itself, and come out from a small hole cut into the casing of the power supply from the back. The cables here are well organized, and they are all sleeved, making cabling less of a mess, which helps when it comes to cabling. All of the included wires are 18 AWG.
The following cables can be found attached to the power supply:
- 1x ATX 24-pin, 550mm
- 1x ATX 4+4-pin, 600mm
- 2x PCIe 6+2 pin, 2 connectors each, 500mm to first connector, 150mm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA, 3 connectors each, 550mm to first connector, 50mm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA, 3 connectors each, 550mm to first connector, 155mm spacing thereafter
- 1x Molex, 3 connectors each, 550mm to first connector, 150mm spacing thereafter
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
