XION PowerReal 500w Power Supply Review

     While relatively new to the high end PC scene, XION has already made a splash here at the club with their XION line of PC gaming cases.  Now their PowerReal series power supplies aim to show us they are not just a one trick pony.  Lets see if this power supply should find a home in your next gaming box.

     XION has done a nice job at showcasing their black and green theme in the packaging.  This same theme is carried out in their products with green accents and lighting in the Gaming line of PC cases.  The color of the 140mm fan goes with a more common Blue LED light.  The lack of a green option is understandable but clashes with the XION II Case lighting.

Features:

• 24 Pins Mainboard connector (Converter for 20 Pins) - Support latest P4 Prescott and Athlon 64/64 FX processors based systems.

• SRS (Smart Relay System) - After System is shuts down, cooling fans keep running for 5 minutes to extend the lifetime of the computer and power supply by reducing the remaining heat still preserved in the system.

• 140 mm Cooling Blue LED Fan (One of a kind and patented) - Patented 140mm cooling fan on a power supply. Enabling the maximum heat reduction for the power supply.

• SATA Ready - SATA Power connectors ready for SATA HDD and Drive connection.

• Manual/Automatic fan speed switch  - Manually adjust the fan speed depending on the system needs or turn to Auto for sensor detect of speed adjustment.

• Acoustic Silent control - Acoustic noise is controlled by the 140mm Fan providing better airflow and speed control system

• PCI Express VGA Connector (6 pins) - Dedicated PCI Express VGA Connector for High Performance Interface VGA Card Extended Power

• Titanium Nickel Coated Surface - Titanium Nickel Coated shell providing the high-end and cooling effects to this powerful but silent Power Supply making it the No. 1 choice for Gamers and enthusiast PC users.

Specifications:

The patented 140mm fan is impressive.  Taking up every available bit of the bottom surface.

     XION has provided a nice color sticker with the stats clearly visible, with so many cases windowed, I am surprised more manufacturers don't take advantage of this real estate.  The Titanium Nickel finish is hard to photograph but looks like a dark nickel anodizing up close.  No other stickers or markings spoil the outside look..

     Except for the warranty sticker, of course!  Nothing out of the ordinary inside, other than the giant blue 140mm fan.  The heat sinks are pretty good size and the bottom surface is extended slightly over the capacitors to give the fan a larger surface area to work with.

The Install:

     I installed the XION PowerReal into a matching XION II PC Gamers Case.  The install included: AMD Athlon 3000+, BFG 6600 GT OC, 2x 512 Crucial PC 400 RAM, Maxtor 80G, and a HP48x Burner all mounted on a Soltek SL-K890 Pro motherboard.

     As you can see from the above picture, the XION Power Real 500 does not come with full sleeving.  Both the main board power cables are incased in black mesh sleeves the other power runs in standard colors.

     The fan is controlled by the silver toggle button seen here next to the plug.  The LED light indicates the current fan mode.  The fan can be set in Automatic, and two Manual speeds.   The 140mm fan moves a lot of air, I left the switch on automatic for the entire review.

Testing:

     The Soltek motherboard has a nice onboard software monitor.  I used the BIOS here to confirm the readings shown reflected accurately at idle.

Here is the Soltek monitor under a normal load.

     This picture shows the power supply under a full load created by Passmark's BurnIn Test running at 100% across the board.  There is a noticeable drop in the 12V and 5V rails but the XION PowerReal stays in spec through the entire test cycle.  Even on automatic, the fan never increased noticeably in volume.

Conclusion:

     XION has targeted gamers with a line of high-end gaming components that are designed to deliver the best performance for the buck.  The 140mm fan performs as good as it looks.  I was impressed with how silent the fan remained.  The PowerReal 500 delivers the performance you would expect from a power supply costing much more, and delivers it with style and confidence.

Available now at www.newegg.com for $80.99