The
unit
The
Giant Reactor is a simple all-black unit but aesthetically
appealing nevertheless. It is certainly much better
than a grey or silver unit and will look nice
in almost any kind of case. Unfortunately for
the hardcore modders, this is not a modular unit.
The entire rear part of the unit is perforated,
allowing a steady airflow through the back of
the case. There is only a simple on/off switch
and a power LED, which lights up red when the
PSU is powered on. At the side of the unit one
can find the sticker with all the basic specifications
of the unit and the certifications it received.
The
cooling of the Giant Reactor is completely dependent
on a single giant 135mm fan. The fan itself generates
a generous amount of airflow but is slow spinning;
therefore it won’t create excessive amounts
of noise. The fan is thermally controlled and
almost entirely silent while the unit is under
normal load. The airflow from the fan works as
an exhaust for the entire system, as it pushes
all the air towards the back of the case.
As
you probably have noticed by now, the cables of
the Giant Reactor are sleeved which is a must
for any quality PSU nowadays. Unfortunately the
cables are sleeved up to the first connector only,
leaving the remaining cables exposed and thus
considerably decreasing the aesthetics factor
of the unit. You will find eight Molex connectors,
one floppy connector, one 12V CPU 4/8 pin connector,
four PCIe 12V connectors (two of which are 8-pin),
eight SATA connectors and one 24-pin ATX 2.1 connector.
The interior of the Giant
Reactor is clean and tidy; in some ways too tidy
for a 1KW unit. The few components and short heatsinks
barely fill up half of the space in the chassis,
while not even a year back 700-800W units where
up to 1.5 inch longer than regular ATX units in
order to fit the necessary components inside.
But the evolution of power electronics allowed
the production of much stronger and efficient
AC to DC rectifiers which can convert even more
power combined with a lower energy loss. Still,
the heatsinks of the Giant Reactor appear rather
small, even for a unit claiming 80% efficiency;
it seems to depend a lot on the airflow from the
massive 135mm fan.
