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PSUs

Modern PCs require much more power than they did a few years ago, which means that the PSU is now one of its most important components. That's why we've put 29 commonly available PSUs to the test to see which one really deserves to power your PC.

Tagan TG530-U15

Manufacturer:Price:
Tagan£76.36 inc VAT
Reviewer:Review Date:
James GorboldOct 2005
 OVERALL RATING
 
 
SCORE
4/6
 

Verdict: A weak 12V2 rail, but otherwise very cool and quiet


This Tagan is one of just a few PSUs with a modular cabling system, which means you don't have to connect any cables that your PC doesn't need.

As its name suggests, the TG530 is rated at 530W, but has a very unusual design that can either output 33A from a single 12V rail or 20A each from two 12V rails. However, the maximum combined output of the two 12V rails can never exceed 33A. The 3.3V rail is rated at 26A and the 5V rail at 30A.

Eight Molex, two FDD, four S-ATA and two PCI-E connectors are provided, along with support for 20- and 24-pin motherboards. There's also an 8-pin EPS12V connector for dual-CPU and dual-core CPU motherboards. Cooling is provided by a temperature-controlled 120mm fan.

The Tagan passed most of the voltage stability tests without a problem, but when we forced it to produce the full 33A from the 12V rails, the output of 12V2 dropped to a pathetic 10.8V - well below the 11.4V required by the ATX spec. The Tagan is also very inefficient, averaging just 70 per cent at full load. This meant it had to draw 726W from the mains to produce 506W.

Until Tagan can reinforce the 12V2 rail, the TG530-U15 is best avoided, but it certainly has potential. It's quiet, cool and has more connectors than you're ever likely to need.


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