Hiper Type-R 480W Power Supply

Performance Summary & Final Conclusions:

For what it's worth, this power supply worked quite well under proper usage, which for most people will probably be around the 300W-400W range. The mesh chassis combined with the single 120mm fan maintained a low noise level. The mesh sleeving on the cables is a nice touch for any enthusiast that wants to keep the inside of the PC nice and tidy looking. It would have been nice to include a couple more SATA connectors, however that is only a minimal gripe. Seeing as how this is the 'budget' model, I can understand trimming commonly unused components to help reduce costs (i.e. most people only have 1 HD in their PC, so why have all the extra SATA connectors).

Now, on to the bad part. When attempting to overload the PSU and force it to shutdown from an over current situation, the OCP circuitry did not kick in. Instead the voltages just kept dropping, and the current draw peaked around 880W (measured at the AC plug). In theory a PC would not attempt to draw that much current, but you never know what could happen in a faulty situation. As a result of the failed over current attempt, I think either the field transistors or Schottky rectifiers might have been damaged. There was no "catastrophic failure" (i.e. the PSU did not explode), however the PSU now makes a horrible shrieking sound when it is initially powered on, and consumes consistently about 20% more power than it should under the standardized load levels. I've had Seasonic & other power supplies react similar to not shutting down, but this is was the first that resulted in damage. In all honesty I forgot to check the 580W model to see if it would shutdown, I only tested up to the rated peak of 630W. Seeing as how the designs are similar, it would be a reasonable assumption to guess that it would react the same, however with the higher current capable components it might not result in any permanent damage to the PSU.

So what's the final verdict on the HPU-4M480-PS power supply? Well, when operating under regular conditions one could probably expect about 2% regulation on the voltages, and it does run very quiet. However, seeing as how OCP did not function as expected and now the PSU is damaged, it will be sent back to Hiper for further investigation. If I was a retail customer it wouldn't be a huge deal as they do have a 3 year warranty. With such a wide selection of power supplies available on the market, it's little issues like this that can make or break a purchasing decision.