Super Flower Plug-N-Power 480 Watt Power Supply Review

     Super Flower has been manufacturing cases and power supplies since 1991.  Today we are looking at their latest modular power supply, the Plug-N-Power 480W.  With the Plug-N-Power, Super Flower has integrated some of the most popular PS features into their design and added some nice new twists.  Lets see how they measure up!

     The packaging for the Plug-N-Play (PnP) 480W power supply is simple and informative.  With much of the market looking towards modular power supplies, Super Flower isn't shy about getting right to the advantages of owning this PS.

     When you throw in the back graphics its pretty to learn everything you need to know about this PS.  Everything but the rails that is. We will get to them shortly.

Opening the box reveals a pretty Spartan package.

Super Flower provides the cables and a simple Users Manual echoing the advantages from the front of the packaging.

     The included cables include three standard +12V runs, a SATA run, a dedicated VGA run and the typical motherboard runs.  The maximum load out would be 9 +12V Molex, 3 floppies, two SATA drives and a SLI setup.  The dedicated cable for the graphics card is a nice plus.  With the increased power draw on a modern high end video card, knowing you have EMI filtered pure power brings peace of mind.

     Lets take a closer look at the PnP 480W.  The motherboard leads are not modular but are nicely sleeved.  The 24pin power cable is both ATX 2.0 and BTX compatible with a breakaway for 20 pin installations.

     The 140 mm fan dominates the bottom of the PnP 480.  This fan can be controlled through a toggle on the back of the unit.  Super Flower recommends running the fan in automatic mode to take advantage of their Thermostatic Smart Fan functions.

     With the fan control, the speed of the fan is automatically controlled based on the temperature.  Under a normal load the fan is inaudible over the system.  When we applied some load the fan spins up to a normal level of noise.   Even at load, the noise was never as loud as my XG Vortec 500 PS at idle, nice!

     Taking a look inside reveals the 140 mm in detail.  The clear blue 140 mm ball bearing is from Globe Fan and the back switch features 3 bright status LEDs.  The fan looks like it should have LEDs as well, but strangely those are an option on this model.  The internal construction of the PnP 480W is pretty standard with about average heat sink size.

     Lets take a closer look at the plugs.  There are 6 runs, each with a specific cable type available.  Notice the special VGA/HDD run and the bright red PCI 6 pin are clearly designated.  The Nickel Plated Titanium Black finish should also be noted.   These finishes always look better in person and defy my digital camera.

     At the time this was written, Super Flower had not released specifications on their website for the PnP 480W.  We can take a look at the label to discern the power distribution in detail.  Like most high voltage power supplies, Super Flower has provided two +12V rails and plenty of power on two single runs for the 3.3 and 5 Volt runs.  The PnP 480W also comes with active PFC.  Active PFC means better efficiency and a regulated input voltage for increased stability.  The dedicated Graphics rail means even the most demanding video card setup will be well taken care of.  Pure power also means smoother overclocking!