NorthQ Silent Lightning 400W PSU

Packaging and the Unit

As expected from a power supply unit in this price bracket, the bundle you’ll receive is minimalistic. You will find only the AC power cable and 4 screws inside the package.

The unit itself is interesting for a power supply in this price range, the chassis is chromed, making it look a perfect silvery mirror. At the rear you will find a typical rocker on/off switch, a lighting push button on/off switch, a female Molex plug and two USB ports. One of the USB ports can be used as a normal data port but the second can only be used to charge USB devices like MP3 players and cellphones. The USB ports can be used to charge your devices even when the PC is turned off.

The bottom side of the unit is entirely dominated by the massive 140mm cooling fan. The fan is also clear and has blue LEDs, which you can turn off by pressing the blue button at the rear of the unit in case you don’t like the blue lights. The cables of the unit are all sleeved, considerably enhancing the aesthetics of the unit. There is only one PCIe 6 pin power cable, rightfully since this is not a unit powerful enough to hold a SLI or Crossfire system. There are 7 Molex connectors, 4 SATA connectors and 2 floppy connectors, which should be more than enough for an average system.

The interior of the Silent Lighnting is clean but uninteresting. This is a 400W unit after all; there is no need for many components or extra large heatsinks. Most of the components appear to be of good quality, although they do not come from manufacturers who are well known in the enthusiast’s world. While there is plenty of room inside the unit and on the PCB, a transformer is actually placed at one of its sides, for no reason which we could understand as this does no harm but there is absolutely no benefit from placing a transformer there either.