PC Power & Cooling 750W PSUs

The Unit Itself

Out the box and the first striking thing is the CrossFire Silencer's truly fantastic Ferrari-red colour. It's not quite blood red (or Rosso Corsa either - Ed), but it's a vibrant, glossy finish that looks great.

The screws are black, but it really doesn't matter. In contrast the Silencer Quad has a black matt textured finish that we've seen before on PCPC product and it's still just as well done as the CrossFire Silencer, and the difference gives people a choice of either black and subtle or red and vibrant.

The two units have identical specifications and the only differentiating feature is that they have different colours. Both include the same cables and internal components that provide identical power ratings. The SLI is certified for Nvidia products up to two 8800 GTXs and the CrossFire edition is for use with up to two HD 2900XTs.

PC Power & Cooling also do a "Copper" version which is also certified for SLI but actually looks more "orange" from the product photos.

Supplied Cables

• 50cm black braided ATX cable
  
• 50cm black braided 8-pin 12V CPU cable
  
• 50cm black braided 4-pin 12V CPU cable
  
• Two 55cm black braided 6+2-pin PCI-Express cables
  
• Two 55cm black braided 6-pin PCI-Express cables
  
• One black braided cable with two Molex and one floppy plug: first connector is 40cm, last is 70cm
  
• One black braided cable with three Molex plugs: first connector is 50cm, last is 80cm
  
• One black braided cable with three SATA power plugs: first connector is 50cm, last is 80cm
  
• One black braided cable with three Molex plugs: first connector is 65cm, last is 95cm
  
• One black braided cable with three SATA power plugs: first connector is 65cm, last is 95cm

The black braiding looks good, and is the correct diameter for the cables. The braiding also goes all the way into the unit which is the better way to do it, and the heat-shrinking is professionally done at the other end. The connectors used unfortunately don't mirror this attention to detail - there's no colour coordination between the generic black SATA and PCI-Express connectors and white Molex, 4/8-pin and ATX plugs. Neither do the Molex connectors have quick release plastic bits on them to easily remove them from their sockets.

It's hard to judge how many plugs you need, because even though SATA optical drives require SATA plugs they are only recently available in comparison and the market uptake is low. There are still plenty of hard drives, optical drives and accessories that use a Molex. Most performance motherboards offer at least six internal SATA connectors and 750W can certainly handle a few more, but without being modular it's a harder balancing act to keep everyone happy between a mass of cables and connectors without completely filling a case for those who don't need it all.


There is both an 8-pin and 4-pin 12V CPU connector for workstation and server motherboards, although again, not being modular means a very high proportion of us with normal consumer ATX motherboards will have to stuff either one of the cables into some nook or cranny.

A double 6-pin and 8-pin (with the option of being 6-pin) are provided which is fantastic that all current cards are supported, but unsurprising considering they are both SLI and CrossFire branded and these connectors are required for it.