XG Magnum 600W External PSU

It’s been an ongoing trend that as PC’s get more powerful that the power requirements get higher and as the power requirements get higher the size of PSU’s increase to house that power. Another byproduct of that increased power is increased heat. More wattage means more heat shed inside your case. Yes, power supplies do have fans to exhaust that heat out of the case but they still radiate a portion of heat in the case through the shell. XG wants to help change that and to further that end they’ve released the Magnum EX.

Touted as a 600W external power supply XG lists the features as follows:

• 100% Aluminum chassis; 2.0mm 6065 super thick anodized rounded aluminum chassis.
• Advanced airflow; Low gravity gravity construction, especially created for heat wave airflow design. Most advanced airflow design, 350W fan less, 500W with low db fan.
• Silence; Super silent 80mm fan successfully reduces acoustic noise giving more airflow in less RPM and smooth mechanical design.
• Rear LCD display; LCD display shows 1) Power working temperature with alarm 2) Wattage output 3) 12V output monitor display.
• No interference; Magnetically shielded cable with UV plastic cable.
• S-ATA connectors; Connect your system to the faster S-ATA interface for better performance.
• ATX 12V version 2.0 compatible; Support latest P4 Prescott and Athlon processors based systems.
• Active PFC function; Industrial “Double Forward” interior design utilizes active PFC and maintains 99% steady performance.
• Fiber optic technology; PCB is using full fiber optic, which is specially designed for high heat tolerance.
• Worldwide compatible; Includes all voltage in power supply from 110V to 230V. Worldwide hassle free usage.
• Reliability; OCP, UVP, OVP, OLP,OTP and SCP circuits ensure system well guarded from any danger. Maximize safety for your hardware and valuable data. All certified EMC/FCC, UL, TUV and CE.
• External power supply; The Magnum 600 EX is a revolutionary design. Because the power supply is external, 70% of the heat generation in your computer is now removed and away from heat sensitive components!

Rail amperages are as follows:

• +3.3V – 28A
• +5.0V – 30A
• +12V1 – 18A
• +12V2 – 20A
• +5VSB – 2.5A
• -12V – 0.8A

Note

• The maximum continuous total DC output power shall not exceed 500 Watts
• The maximum continuous combined load on the +5V and +3.3V outputs shall not exceed 150 watts
• The maximum continuous combined load on +5V, +3.3V and +12V1, +12V2 outputs shall not exceed 485 Watts

As you can see this kind of refutes the claimed 600W that we find in the features list. This is very disappointing since the supplier to MGE of this PSU (SevenTeam) does indeed make a 600W version. This particular PSU is based on the ST500EAZ as can be borne out by finding the 500EAZ in the label on the bottom of the unit. SevenTeam also sells the ST600EAZ which features stronger 12V rails. In the future I’d like to see MGE truthfully list the wattages of their products in the nomenclature. Calling a 500W unit (even one that’s of undeniable quality) a 600W unit is misleading.