Akasa’s new 750W Modular PSU features the
same yellow and black color scheme as the Venom Voodoo cooler
Akasa has been making power supply units
for a long time, but they are rarely mentioned in the same sentence as high-end
models from the likes of Seasonic or Corsair. The Venom 750W is a modular PSU
from the manufacturer, which features the same striking yellow and black color
scheme as the rest of the Venom range. Strictly speaking the PSU should be
described as ‘semi modular’, because the PSU has static eight-pin aux and
24-pin power leads, but all other cables can be removed and left in the box if
they’re not required. As standard there are two 8/6 pin PCI Express leads
provided, six SATA power connectors split across two cables and six Molex
connectors split across another two cables. Two old-style floppy power
connectors are also present on the Molex leads to cater for those with sound
cards needing this now-obscure connector type.
The single fan in the Venom is a 135mm
thermally controlled model that, for the most part is extremely quiet in use.
We could barely make out the Venom up to loads of around 450W, but thereafter
it slowly increased in audibility. At 75% load and above (>550W) you could
certainly hear it, and at full load we would describe the fan as annoyingly
audible. This is par for the course for an inexpensive 750W PSU, however, and
certainly no worse than you’ll get from a 750W Corsair TX unit.
The OEM for the Akasa Venom PSU is a
less-well-known Taiwanese company called Andyson. The internals are well
soldered and the heat-sinks are reasonably substantial, but workmanship is
somewhat below the best in the business. Nevertheless, the whole PSU has a
reassuringly heavy feel to it and we were very pleased to see a PSU as powerful
as this fall within the standard ATX spec dimensions.
There is a feather missing from the Akasa’s
cap, and it’s an important one: 80 Plus certification. There is an Akasa
sticker on the box proclaiming 80% efficiency, but don’t mistake this for an
official 80 Plus badge. We therefore decided to test efficiency ourselves and
came away relatively pleased. At 25% - 90% load levels the PSU maintained
greater than 80% efficiency, falling below only when dealing with very high
loadings. The reason the PSU doesn’t qualify for an 80 Plus rating is that it
is designed for 240V AC input only, rather than the 115V – 240V required for
certification. Fortunately, you can buy this PSU in Europe and be confident
that it’s roughly as efficient as any other 80 Plus ‘vanilla’ certified PSU
Output quality from the Akasa was good, if
bot breath-taking. A maximum ripple of 35mV (observed on the 12V rail) is well
within acceptable parameters and at no point did we experience any form of
instability. When testing maximum output capability, we reached 774W before the
PSU shut off, meaning it has been rated realistically.
All in all this is a well-priced and
handsome PSU, but the lack of an 80 Plus certification will put off many
buyers, even though the performance is on a par with more expensive and
illustrious competitors.
A well performing and efficient PSU that
misses out on an award because of its lack of 80 Plus certification
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Details
Price: $112
Manufacturers: Akasa
Ratings
Quality: 7
Value: 9
Overall: 8
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