Arctic Cooling Fusion 550RF Power Supply Review

Conclusions

Even though this power supply has four video card auxiliary connectors, it has enough flaws for us not to recommend it – even though internally it is identical to two other excellent power supplies we reviewed and recommend, Corsair VX450W and Antec EarthWatts 500 W.

The first one and most obvious is labeling the power supply with its peak power instead of labeling it with its continuous power. This is very deceiving and we couldn’t expect this from a Switzerland-based company. From our tests it is clear that Fusion RF550 is really a 500 W model. Even though we could pull up to 545 W model, this doesn’t make it a 545 W or 550 W model, because manufacturers must leave a 10-20% safety margin.

Second was the thinner 20 AWG wires used, the probable cause of the +12 V output being below the minimum allowed during some tests (10.8 V while the minimum allowed is 11.4 V).

Third, the absence of an EPS12V connector. This doesn’t make sense: since you can install two high-end video cards with two auxiliary power connectors each with this power supply, you will be probably using a high-end motherboard, which requires an EPS12V power connector.

Fourth, the limited number of peripheral power connectors (only three) and the fact that all SATA power connectors are installed on the same cable, making it almost impossible for you to install your optical unit on the top bay if you have a tall case.

On the positive side, we liked the fan power connectors coming from inside the power supply controlling the fan speeds according to the power supply internal temperature.