Arctic Cooling introduces Fusion PSU for £56

Posted at: 4:15pm 26th August 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

Produced in conjunction with Seasonic, the Fusion 550R promises up to 86 per cent efficiency and two 17A 12V rails

Arctic Cooling isn’t a name you usually associate with power supplies, but the cooling company that brought us the legendary Freezer 7 Pro plans to change all of that next month with the launch of its first PSU; the Fusion 550R.

Developed with the help of previous Custom PC award winner Seasonic, the Fusion 550R has an interesting cooling system, with an 80mm fan mounted on the side that’s inside your case. This pushes the hot air outside and avoids a right angle in the airflow, which Arctic Cooling claims will help to reduce hotspots in the PSU.

The fan itself is an Arctic Cooling F8 Pro, which is fitted to the rubber mounts that you’ll recognise from the company’s heatsinks. The fan can spin at between 700rpm and 2,000rpm, and with the speed determined by an internal processor that adjusts the revs according to the PSU’s temperature and load. In addition to this, the PSU also has connectors to control a further two case fans, which can again then be controlled according to temperature and load. These hook up to the PSU’s 12V rails, and draw up to 0.15A each.

The Fusion 550R has two 12V rails rated at 17A with a total output of 408W. Meanwhile, there’s a maximum of 24A for the +3.3V and 5V rails, with a combined output of 130W. Arctic Cooling rates the unit as capable of outputting 500W continuously, and 550W at peak. The company also claims that the unit’s efficiency is between 81 and 86 per cent, with 99 per cent active PFC (power factor correction) efficiency. All of this has led Arctic Cooling to dub the PSU a ‘payment saving unit’ (see what they’ve done there?) when compared to a standard power supply.

On the downside, 550W isn’t going to appease power-hungry multi-graphics systems. Despite this, though, the unit will come with two six-pin and eight-pin PCI-E power connectors, and Arctic Cooling is confidently claiming that the PSU ‘is ideal for powering a Crossfire- or SLI-setup.’

Still, if 550W is enough for you and, let’s be fair, 550W is plenty for a decent PC, then this PSU looks pretty tempting if it lives up to Arctic Cooling’s claims. The price looks good, too. Arctic Cooling plans to make the PSU available in mid September at a cost of €59.95€ (ex VAT), which works out at £56.13 inc VAT.