Zippy Serene (GP2-5600V)

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Zippy Serene (GP2-5600V)

Assuming the availability issue is addressed, the Serene is a very good power supply with the best quality possible in the areas of design and components. The cables are long enough for most cases, and we only wish Zippy would have provided a little more choice on the PEG connectors since a 600W power supply is able to power up more than a single video card. The single 45A 12V rail should be able to handle high-end cards without difficulty, but many of those are beginning to require 8-pin connections, and we expect the next generation GPUs will increase that trend.

The DC outputs are quite similar to those of the G1. We did not see any flaw in this area, since none of the rails went out of specs even at higher loads and temperatures. The 12V rail is a little worse than the G1, but it's still close enough to the ideal result that it shouldn't present any problems.

As for the efficiency, the numbers show a clear statement: the Zippy Serene has the best efficiency available in the retail market (at least, once it becomes available). We felt it was strange that the Serene wasn't able to show a better efficiency in standby mode, as it required up to 2.13W with no load at all. However, while that result is disappointing we must admit that high efficiencies at very low power draws aren't nearly as important as efficiencies at high power draws. After all, a 5% difference in efficiency at 200W works out to an extra 10W of power, which of course also means more heat that the power supply would have to dissipate.

It was good to see that Zippy at least used a lower rated fan for the Serene since it's just not as hot as the G1. With up to 39dB(A) it's clearly not suitable for ultra silent systems, even though the high efficiency makes it an attractive option for those systems. We are sure users could change the fan if desired, but in that case they need to be willing to void the warranty. As it stands, we just don't feel the power supply gets hot enough to require such a high RPM fan.