Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
As a new product, the exterior design of the Gigabyte P550B 550W offers no surprises compared to the Gigabyte AORUS P850W 850W, which was previously reviewed by our Editor-In-Chief Jonathan Kwan two years ago. I really do not think there is any point -- or possibility -- to use different shapes other than a cuboid for power supply unit design. Therefore, the challenge of designing a good looking power supply unit is really about how to place things like the power plug, switch, grille, ventilation holes, output sockets, and even stickers. When it comes to measurements, this product is 14cm in length, 15cm in width, and 8.6cm in height. This is about as small as it can get for a non-modular ATX PSU. For most ATX or eATX chassis, length should not be much of a problem, if at all. However, if you have an mATX or mITX case that takes standard power supplies, the shorter length will definitely serve as an advantage, especially considering the fact the P550B has all its cables permanently attached. The above photo shows three sides of the P550B; namely the bottom, back, and left sides. On the bottom, there is a grille above the cooling fan. The details of the cooling fan will be investigated later. The top side of the power supply unit is not shown in the photo, but there are still important items there, as we will see soon enough.
Now, let us move on to the back of the power supply unit. In the photo, we can see the power input and switch. The power input plug is standard; therefore, the user can just reuse a power cord from other equipment if necessary. The rest of this side panel features a grille for cooling. Cool air can be pumped into the power supply unit from the grille at the bottom. After cooling down the internal components, hot air can then be discharged through the back grille. To install the power supply unit in a computer case, there are the standard four screw holes at the back of the PSU.
The Gigabyte P550B 550W is a non-modular power supply unit, as this is a budget unit. I think it is not necessarily a bad thing to have a non-modular design, since cable kits do not need to be stored anywhere else. Furthermore, all cables are already connected and thus the user will not need to plug them in. However, the downside is for the unused cables, it has to be in your computer case, adding some difficulty in terms of hiding cables or impeding airflow.
The Gigabyte P550B 550W features good exterior build quality as a budget PSU. The surface of the power supply unit is pleasant to touch, and it is not likely to display any fingerprints left on it. The gaps between panel connections are small and even. Most importantly, there are no sharp edges around the product. The external build quality boosts my confidence, and hopefully this product will also have good internal build quality, which we will look at shortly.
The voltage specification label for the Gigabyte P550B 550W can be found on the top panel. There are two main virtual rails. Up to 18A can be delivered via the +3.3V rail for a total of 59.4W. The +5V rail can also deliver 15A, which is 75W. The total combined output for the +3.3 V and +5 V rail is 108W. In other words, your power allocation combination must fall within the limits of the listed specifications. Meanwhile, a single powerful +12V rail delivers up to 43.5A (522W) to reduce operating overhead compared to multiple +12V rails. Overall, the combined power output for the whole P550B 550W is 550W. Again, your power distribution in your system must fall within the limits provided -- it must not exceed 59.4W on the +3.3V rail, 75W on the +5V rail and 108W combined for both, 522W on the +12 V rail, and 550W combined between all the positive power rails. Generally speaking, the power distribution of this product is acceptable for a 550W power supply unit, but the +5V rail is definitely on the low side. The Corsair CV550 550W, another budget power supply, offers more power on both the +3.3V and +5V rails.
The Gigabyte P550B 550W is 80 Plus Bronze certified, which means it is certified to be at least 82%, 85%, 82% efficient at 20%, 50%, and 100% load, respectively.
Out of box, all the cables are connected to the PSU permanently already. The cables are all black in color and generally easy to bend. The flat cables are flexible enough to allow easy cable management in a desktop computer. As for current handling, most of the wires are 18 AWG while some are 22 AWG. 22 AWG is a bit thin, so it seems this is one area where some cost was saved.
The following modular cables are equipped with the PSU:
- 1x ATX 20+4 pin, 55.0cm
- 1x ATX/EPS 4+4 pin, 60.0cm
- 2x PCIe 6+2 pin, 2 connectors each, 55.0cm to first connector, 15cm spacing thereafter
- 2x SATA, 3 connectors each, 50.0cm to first connector, 12.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x Molex (x3) / Floppy (x1), 50.0cm to first connector, 12.0cm spacing thereafter, Floppy at the end of dongle
These are measurements from the manufacturer. Most users should have no problems with installing P550B even if your case has a bottom power supply mount. 50cm is the general standard for an ATX PSU, and these cables have exceeded it on all counts.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
