Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-550 Continuous 550W & 50 degree C Power Supply

Pros: 80+ Gold certified Silent Lots of connectors Wires to connectors are in braided sheaths Appears to be very high quality

Cons: None

Overall Review: If do the math, you will find that an 80+ power supply (PS) will pay for itself. For my analysis I assumed that for the life of the power supply I would operate for one full year, 8,760 hours, at 200 W ("Kill A Watt" Reading with 100 % CPU (i5-2300) and 100 % GPU (GTX 960) usage). Now a cheap PS MIGHT BRAG about being 70 % efficient, so power IN = 285.7 W, thus consuming 2,503 kW•Hrs in 8,760 hours. At 200 W, this PS will be 90.13 % efficient (interpolated using the parabola defined by tested performance values downloaded from the certifying body, PlugLoadSolutions), so power IN = 221.9 W, thus consuming 1,944 kW•Hrs in 8,760 hours. Compared to the cheap power supply, this power supply will consume 559 kW•Hrs less in one year's worth of running. I pay $0.142/k•hr, so this power supply will save me $79 in 8,760 hours of operation. Here is the evaluation process as one big formula (efficiency is a number from 0 to 1): $_Saved = Number_of_Hours_for_Analysis * ( Operating_Power_in_W / Old_PS_Efficiency - Operating_Power_in_W / New_PS_Efficiency ) * Cost_of_Energy_in_$_per_kWHr * 0.001

Pros: Value for money, good build quality, quiet, 80 Plus Gold certified, plenty of connectors

Cons: Non-modular

Overall Review: I used this as part of my first ever budget PC build. At first, I was wary of buying the value-oriented Rosewill brand, but apparently these Capstone units are based on the well-regarded Super Flower Green power supply, so I took the gamble. I'm glad I did. The Capstone is built sturdily and does its job quietly inside my Fractal Arc Midi case. Cable management would have been easier with a modular unit, but the Arc case offers plenty of room behind the motherboard tray to hide cables. My favorite thing about the Capstone is its gold efficiency rating. I tried to be at least environmentally conscious as possible with my PC build, and now, along with a Intel i3 2120 + Asus H67 motherboard, I have a very good cost and power efficient machine. 550W also affords me plenty of power for a GTX 560 Ti-class graphics card down the line.

Pros: 80 plus gold, black mesh cable sleeves (really does make a difference in non-modular PSUs), 140mm nearly silent fan, comes with 5 black cable ties and a power cord, rated well by Jonnyguru and Anandtech, got it for 65 bucks on a sale :)

Cons: What, no velvet bag like Seasonic? *sobs into crackly plastic bag*

Overall Review: I've only had this PSU a little while, but I love it already. I have to say, my PC runs much quieter now, even at full load it's not much louder than idle. I actually mounted this PSU upside down in a top-mounted case, which seems to have helped my CPU temps a bit due to the fact that some excess CPU exhaust air is being sucked through the PSU (don't worry, there's a 120mm fan back there too).

Pros: This power supply is very quiet. I was going back and forth between this power supply and the more expensive fanless power supply, but I am glad I decided to go this route. I can't even here the fan unless I put my ear right next to the computer.

Cons: Cable management was a bit of a pain as with any power supply that isn't modular, but I knew it wasn't modular when buying it so this doesn't result in a loss of any stars.

Overall Review: Running this on a newly built z87 Haswell rig and it works like a charm. Cable managment wasn't a huge priority for me since my case was windowless so I decided to save some money and not go modular. I haven't got the power bill yet but according to my rough calculations this power supply should pay back the price difference between itself and a silver or bronze within 2 years at my level of use.

Pros: Cables are well marked as to what they are for, making this an easier job for a novice computer builder. Fan is super quiet.

Cons: None.

Pros: Feels incredibly solid. IS very quiet, more than enough cords to power everything.

Cons: Make sure you get a case that allows you to perform some cable management. There really are a lot of extra power cables that need to be placed just "so" to keep your case clean and to ensure nice airflow. That being said, it's a great PS. Highly recommend.

Pros: This is a good quality power supply because I plugged it in, turned it on, and it powers everything nicely. It's a power supply, what else is there to say? It's been completely stable so far.

Cons: If you're super picky as far as aesthetics go, be aware that this power supply is not modular and the casing on the cables does not go all the way to the plug. Therefore, a bit of the colored wire sticks out.

Overall Review: At this price, this one of the highest quality power supplies available.

Pros: Great power supply. Runs my high class video card. its great

Cons: None so far:)