Overclocker Cafe - Kingwin Triple Fan 450 watt PSU

Kingwin Triple Fan 450 watt ATX PSU

Manufacturer: Kingwin Inc.
Supplied by: Kingwin Inc.
Street Price: ~$95

By Dean Barker (10/11/2002)

Introduction

Remember when the 300 watt power supplies came out? Well that ol' 300 watter just won't cut the mustard if you have the typical fan and neon mods going on. But don't just go grab the first higher rated PSU you see. There is enough competition in the market that features most certainly come into play. Features you ask? On a power supply?! Granted there isn't so much you can do but PSU makers are looking for that edge to elevate their product above the rest. Today we take a look at Kingwin's shot at this. They do it with a high wattage power supply and adjustable speed on all THREE cooling fans. Thanks to the Kingwin folks for sending the unit over for us to play with.

Let's start out with a look at the white papers.

Specifications

ATX 450 Watts
Meets Intel ATX + 12V 1.1 & 2.03 Version.
Compliant with AMD K7 (Athlon).
Three temperature controlled double ball bearing fans.
Fast cooling, Low noise & Ripple.
Three speed thermal fan control switch.
Gold coated fan guard & connectors.
Over voltage protection.
Short circuit protection on all output levels.

The three gold finger guards grab your attention the second you unbag the unit. The Kingwin is the first triple fan PSU I've seen for myself. All three fans are 80mm with two intakes and one exhaust.

The fan speed is controlled one of two ways. By a three position selector switch on the rear of the PSU or by the automatic fan adjustment that scales up with a rise in temperature. The selector switch gives you the option of auto, low, and medium. With the selector switch set to 'medium' the unit was anything but silent. Not annoying just very noticeable. In low mode, things were pretty much silent. Set in the auto position, the fan speed is controlled by a temperature probe embedded in the PSU's heatsink. You can see a pic of the temp/fan speed chart below.