Verdict:

Cool, quiet, efficient and software-adjustable.

Gigabyte is much better known for its motherboards and graphics cards than its PSUs. However, the Odin GT is made by Channel Well Technology, one of the largest PSU manufacturers in the world.

The Odin GT 550W is very similar to the 800W model, with four 12V rails and modular cables. Each 12V rail is rated up to 18A, but together these rails can't output more than 41A. This makes the Odin GT 550W the least powerful PSU in this Labs test, although it isn't the cheapest - the Antec EarthWatts EA 650 undercuts the Odin GT 550W by more than £20. The 12V rails are configured as follows: 12V1 powers CPU1; 12V2 powers CPU2 and the red modular PCI-E socket; 12V3 the motherboard; and 12V4 the disk drives and blue modular PCI-E socket.

In addition to its quiet 140mm fan and modular cables, the Odin GT has another trick up its sleeve in the form of health monitoring. This is achieved via a USB cable and Windows applet, and allows you to check the temperature of the four bundled probes and the output of all the rails, as well as adjusting their outputs. However, while overvolting separate components by a specific amount is one thing, overvolting your entire PC isn't something we'd recommend.

The Odin GT 550W passed all the voltage stability tests with flying colours and proved to be more power-efficient than the Odin GT 800W, averaging 85 per cent at full load. This is an impressive achievement and, coupled with the Odin GT 550W's low price, it will save you money in the long run.

• Cases - 21st November 2008
• Motherboards - 24th October 2008
• Gaming Headsets - 26th September 2008
• Dream PCs - 24th September 2008
• Headphones - 12th September 2008
• Media PC components - 22nd August 2008
• PSUs - 14th July 2008

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