While the higher wattage power supplies might take the spot light at most review sites, there is a decidedly large market that doesn’t need the massive horsepower that can power a mini nuclear reactor in your home. Mainstream users just need something that can provide good performance for a good price. It doesn’t sound like much to ask for, but you would be surprised. Well, you’d be surprised how many inexpensive power supplies offer flashing lights, shiny finishes, and funky names… but when it comes to performance, they come in short.

While we do appreciate good aesthetics, they shouldn’t trump good performance, or good sense for that matter. A power supply is an absolutely critical component to the overall health of a computer system. The need to power these systems in a stable environment is just as important as ever. Consumers are looking for quality and performance at a price that won’t break the bank, and today we have a unit that promises just such an enticing combination. We’re looking at the Diablotek PHD 450W power supply, a plain-looking unit that claims not to be run-of-the-mill. Let’s see if judging a book by its cover holds any truth for this power supply.

SPECIFICATIONS                                                                                               

CLOSER LOOK

The Diablotek PHD 450W is packaged in a very “gamer-ish” looking box, complete with a single picture of the power supply on the front and a listing of the features and specifications on the rear of the box.  The box is packaged very well and snug, with no worries about damage.  Included is a manual, screws, power cable, anti vibration gasket and of course some cable ties. It’s a definitely a complete package here.

The PHD 450W unit itself is finished in a Black finish, giving it a decent look unlike the power supplies of yesteryear. Considering the wattage and target market, it’s not a power supply for a gamer case; it’s a simple and functional PSU, so don’t expect much more than that here. That’s fine, it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

The PHD 450W is not modular at this price range, instead going with a traditional setup with all the cables attached directly to the unit. One plus is actually Diablotek didn’t cheap out and all cables are sleeved. The cable connectors cover most mid-range setup needs, including compatibility for Quad Core CPUs and reasonably powerful mid-range graphics cards. The single 6-pin PCIe should suit this unit’s capability just fine though for most users. Don’t expect to run any more than one graphics card; the cables aren’t available, and there frankly isn’t enough juice available with this unit anyways.

TESTING

Testing power supplies is inherently a very difficult job without proper equipment. Ideally the power supply should be tested under variable standard loads and under varying temperatures, while measuring noise and rail stability. Unfortunately such equipment is not available to us yet. We’ll quickly test the power supply by providing a maximal load and test rail stability using a multi-meter while running a series of test.

Test Bed

Rail Stability

The rails are within tolerance limits.

CONCLUSION

The Diablotek PHD 450W is a power supply  that delivers good features and solid performance when heavily loaded with power-hungry components.  From a feature standpoint, while the unit obviously doesn’t support SLI/Crossfire setups the unit looks great, its not 80 PLUS BRONZE certified but still packs quite a punch for a little unit From a functional standpoint, the 450W boasts a very good voltage regulation and efficiency, and a fairly quiet operation.

The PHD 450W can be found at major online vendors for about $30 USD. Considering it’s performance and quality, there are few that can make that claim at this price point , it is definitely a great deal. The Diablotek PHD 450W is an excellent little unit that is deceptively robust, and packs the power where it counts in performance and price earning it our Best Value Award.
Pros:

– Great look

– Decent Performance

– Sleeved cables

– Quiet operation

– Un-beatable price

Cons:

– Not 80+ Certified