700W to 850W PSU Group Test

Hiper Type-R 730W

Results

At 50 percent load, the output is very good. However, as the load increases, the 5V suffers, subsequently dropping out of ATX specification at 100 percent load. The other rails, including all four 12Vs remain solid throughout.

The consistent disadvantage of this PSU was simply the low efficiency in comparison to other units. Even though a constant 76-77 percent isn't exactly low, it is still lower than the 80-plus percent we've seen from the other units we've tested here.

Warranty

Hiper offers a three year warranty, where you post it back to your point of sale in the first year, then to Hiper in Milton Keynes in the subsequent two years. However, Hiper does implement quite a rigourous RMA procedure that requires all of the original packaging, cables and receipt to be returned along with the defective unit.

While this isn't too different from other products, when you're sending back a 3kg PSU, additional weight is going to just add to the already high postage costs. In comparison, both Tagan and Enermax will accept just the unit, just as long as it's adequately packed with a receipt.

Conclusion

At just £96 it's one of the cheaper ones we've tested here, even though it's not only modular but also particularly specialist. Does 20W more for a Silverstone justify an extra £10 when otherwise you're paying 13p per watt? In comparison, the non-modular version of the Hiper 730W is just £82. This is also cheaper than the lower wattage OCZ 700W GameXStream, at £82 (inc VAT). In addition, the Seasonic and Tagan PSUs of similar wattage are also more expensive, so this really does seem like a bargain after all.

However, despite the great looks, nice features and cheap price it still has fundamental flaws. Its 5V fails on high load, the ports on our sample aren't centred and you have to have a compatible case to use it. If you don't have the right case, the whole point of cable modularity equating tidiness is lost as everything falls directly over your motherboard and CPU.

Overall it's a great concept, but it still needs some work.