The power supply cables are not as long as the ones on the newer Enermax power supplies but still long enough to fit even in a full tower. This makes them much easier to hide and this to me is a plus. In the above picture you see that the main power cable is mesh covered. Just helps to keep it all together and look neater in a case that has a window.

For performance I'll compare the Coolmax against an Enermax 431W.

• Blue Meany Case
• Gigabyte Ga-7VRX
• Amd XP 2000+
• 512mb Crucial pc2100 DDR
• WD 120gb 8mb cache SE 7200rpm hard drive
• Maxtor 30gb 7200rpm
• Lite On 16X DVD Drive
• Lite On 24X CDRW
• Radeon 8500LE 128mb
• Fortissmo III
• A Total of 8 80mm fans, including one on the heatsink. 4 of these fans are Antec Blue LED fans
• 2 cold cathodes
• A 6 port baybus
• Vantec Nexus controlling the cpu fan

And the results are in:

How about that! I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself. While doing my testing I read several reviews around the net on this Coolmax power supply and while most I read rated the Coolmax very good, one didn't rate it very well. Of course with any testing results will vary, a lot depends on your system components and your motherboard. And yes it can even depend if the power supply itself is any good. This I know first hand because so far I have received 2 TrueBlue 480W power supplies from Antec and both blew on me. So you see problems even hit the best known makers too.

• performs very good
• Power Supply is enclosed in aluminum, not steel.
• aluminum looks better than steel and weighs less
• 3 80mm cooling fans
• 550W, great for any future upgrades
• 10 4-prong conectors and 2 floppy connectors
• rear tri led lighted fan
• Manual 3-speed fan control including an auto (temp controlled) setting for silent operation
• power cable is wrapped in mesh

• For now, Coolmax doesn't have the name nor reputation that Antec and Enermax has

The only thing keeping me from giving this Coolmax power supply our highest rating is Coolmax is new to the power supply business. However, Coolmax has been in business since 1992. But from what I see and results of my testing, Coolmax power supplies will be one to be known for "quality" very soon. The aluminum housing is very nice, it does help to lower the overall case weight. That's especially good for you guys who take your systems to lan parties. It doesn't have a bottom 92mm fan as do certain others but it does do the others one better in adding a 3rd 80mm fan in a location that helps to get rid of the case heat.

If you're looking for a power supply that will do you good now and for future upgrades then you cannot go wrong with the Coolmax 550W power supply. The cables are not as long as some other power suplies, but this length is what I prefer. It's just far easier to hide them therefore helping to make for a neater looking inside. And what can I say about the 3-speed fan control. That is about a perfect a fan control as one can make.

Many thanks goes out to ePowerhousePC and Coolmax for supplying this very cool and good performing power supply for this review. Direct Link to the Coolmax 550W.