Sen's Mushkin 650W PSU Review

Mushkin sent me a retail evaluation kit of their new 650W powersupply so I figured I would share with the community.








^^ Shiny

Overall its a very solid unit, the lines are steady at their respective levels and no issues concerning peformance. The only couple complaints that I have is the lack of molex connectors. Because there are only 2 connections per line the PSU is pretty well full in terms of its power outlets

One curious thing that Ive never seen on a PSU before is a ground:



Apparentally you have to bolt this connection to your mobo tray to ground the PSU. This is the first unit ive ever seen with such a feature and Im not sure if the wire is "hot" or not. Not exactally sure as to why there is such a device on the PSU but I will ask about it.

The other thing Im not to keen on is how "stiff" each line is. Generally PSU cables are on the floppy side but these are stiff as rigor mortis. It take a pretty considerable amount of effort to bend each cord.

Also like all Topower PSUs it is somewhat of a chore to get into a case. People with smaller cases may not be able to fit them into their chassis at all since it is slightly longer than the powerstream.

Other than this the unit is fantastic and will be replacing my Powerstream once I send it for repairs (the powerstream)

Thanks for sharing. I've also seen those ground wires on some Tagan's.

That extra wire is a chassis bonding wire. Bonding prevents voltages differentials from forming between chassis and PSU. Since that PSU is polished and possibly coated, it may not have absolute contact with the mobo chassis. This wire is to make sure that the psu tracks voltages correctly. I highly reccomend doing what the instructions say. An imbalance in voltage between the psu and mobo could result in over or undervolting. There is a groundwire in the 20/24 pin bundle but this one adds an absolute contact.

Sen, what is your opinion on it having the quad rails?

I would like to hear more from Sen, but here is another review I found in the mean time. http://www.xtremesystems.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=32

i still cant believe it has a ground.....lol

looks like a solid unit based on that review!
and since sen is replacing it over his ocz..well mushkin may just cut into the market!

The other thing Im not to keen on is how "stiff" each line is. Generally PSU cables are on the floppy side but these are stiff as rigor mortis. It take a pretty considerable amount of effort to bend each cord.

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my modstream was like that, well this PSU gets its second strike in my book. The first was price

Im having alot of problems guys bear with me. Updates are going to be sporatic at best since there is a good chance nothing survived. Ive been up all night trying to assess the extent of the damage.

Ouch, that doesn't sound too good. Best of luck.

Thanks Sen for the review- let us know what happened.

Geez I hope the PSU didn't fry his stuff...

ludeboy12 said:

i still cant believe it has a ground.....lol

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wait, isnt that good? lol, im so confused...ive never seen that thing before either.

Well I said this when this first was mentioned and I will say it again. Multirail PSUs are bad especially for Intels.

Sentential said:

Im having alot of problems guys bear with me. Updates are going to be sporatic at best since there is a good chance nothing survived. Ive been up all night trying to assess the extent of the damage.

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Sorry bro. Looks like both of us are in desperate need for exorcisms considering the amount of hardware we keep smoking!