Exterior Exam

The E-Power Thunder 550-watt power supply has a beautiful black titanium finish, for those that are wondering this is not a modular power supply. I guess in a sense it is sort of modular since it does have a modular plug-in on the outside of the unit.  The cables are all nicely sheathed and have been shrink-wrapped on both ends to prevent the mess from moving or bunching up.

Located next to the power switch is the standard 6-pin modular plug-in socket that you will attach the USB/SATA connector to, providing the external power source.

Looking at the rear of the unit you can see the "Active PFC" indicator light.  For those of you that unfamiliar with Active PFC we will provide you with a brief description. 

What is Active PFC

Power Factor Correction (PFC) allows power distribution to operate at its maximum efficiency. There are two types of PFC, Active PFC and Passive PFC. All of our power supplies are either Active PFC Power Supplies or Passive PFC Power Supplies.

The preferable type of PFC is Active Power Factor Correction (Active PFC) since it provides more efficient power frequency. Because Active PFC uses a circuit to correct power factor, Active PFC is able to generate a theoretical power factor of over 95%. Active Power Factor Correction also markedly diminishes total harmonics, automatically corrects for AC input voltage, and is capable of a full range of input voltage. Since Active PFC is the more complex method of Power Factor Correction, it is more expensive to produce an Active PFC power supply.
 

Looking at the bottom of the unit you can see the grill guard that covers the single fan which is a 120mm blue L.E.D. fan.  E-Power states that they use high quality low noise fans and I would have to agree.  The first time we powered the supply on the fan seemed a bit sluggish, we attribute that to the fact the unit had been our 46-degree porch for a number of hours.  After it ran for about 10-second it was barely audible.

Included with the Thunder 550 is the standard 3-prong power cord and 5 Velcro strips that come in five different colors. Personally I would have liked to have seen the Velcro strips in one color so as the inside of the case did not take on the appearance of rainbow.