CoolMax CUG-950 950 Watt Modular Power Supply

Coolmax Technology, Inc. is a rapidly growing company that was founded in the year 1997. Our initial task of providing cooling solutions for electrical and industrial applications using AC and DC voltage fans is our solid foundation. Our commitment to excellence in both products and service had earned for us the reputation as a leading thermal solutions provider in the industry. We strive to work hard, hand in hand with our clients, from the biggest to the smallest. They rely on our company's ability to provide quick and professional responses to inquiries and production demands. Our factories are located in China and are ISO9000 and 14001 certified, all our products are UL, TUV, CSA, CE approved. Coolmax is dedicated to providing the best cooling solutions engineered for a high-tech world while maintaining long-term customer relationships. Source: Coolmaxusa.com 

CoolMax is a new name in the power supply market.  Their monstrous 1350 Watt power supply has won many awards and has high praise.  This is my first time reviewing a CoolMax product, so lets see how it performs and what is included in the box.  Today, we are taking a look at the CUG series from CoolMax.  This particular model is the CUG-950, has a 950 watt power rating, and is fully modular.  CoolMax has recently licensed the modular technology from Ultra Products.

Upon opening the box, you will find the manual, screws, and a power cable.  Strangely, the power cable has a standard gauge and not the higher gauge usually found with 850 Watt and up power supplies.

Here are some of the main features and specifications from CoolMax's Website:

The Power Supply:

The power supply features a matte black colored housing, which looks pretty standard these days.  It does have sparkles embedded in the paint job.

A large logo is on each side of the power supply.

Looking at the top of the power supply, there is a CoolMax label with their logo on it, the model number and a condensed specification list.  Note that there are four +12v rails with the +12v1 and +12v2 supplying up to 20 Amps and the +12v3 and +12v4 supplying up to 25 Amps, which is great for peripherals requiring more power such as a multi-core CPU and/or multiple graphics cards.

There is an large grill on the back which allows the 140mm fan to exhaust hot air, an on/off switch and AC Power Input.  This power supply does feature Active PFC, as noted by the sticker, so there is no need for a  switch to select the input voltage.

Note that the CUG-950 is fully modular.  It looks very unique with no cables attached to it.  All the connectors are color coded for foolproof connections.

This power supply features the following cables:

-A 24-pin ATX power connector with removable 4 pin for backwards 20-pin compatibility.

-A 4-pin +12v  and 8-pin +12v EPS Power Connector

-2x  8-Pin PCI-Express Power Connectors and 2x 6 Pin PCI Express Power Connectors.

-8x Molex Power Connectors which have a grip for easy removal from devices.

-6x Serial ATA Power Connectors

-2x Floppy Power Connectors

Cooling:

There is a 140mm fan on the bottom of this power supply. During testing, at idle loads, this fan is whisper quiet, which is great for a 950 Watt power supply.  With loads, the fan slowly sped up to what I would call a medium-high speed, which was somewhat audible. 

Inside the Power Supply:

* Taking this power supply apart will void the warranty.

Inside the power supply, there are two large black finned heat sinks that offer a dense amount of fins to cool down the voltage rectifiers. There is a large transformer in the middle and a tiny one to the left it.  The layout and build quality of this power supply is good. The Primary capacitor is Teapo branded.  Overall, we can see that this power supply uses a 'good' branded primary capacitor, while the secondary capacitors are of a good quality as well.  This power supply is built by Sirtec.

The Primary capacitor is Teapo branded.

The fan inside is a Globe Fan branded fan. It has the model number RL4Z S1352512HH with a maximum draw of .45 AMPs.

Testing:

For this power supply, the test system consists of the following:

-Antec Nine Hundred Case

-Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor @ 3.4 GHz

-ZeroTherm Nirvana 120 Heatsink

-eVGA nForce 680i SLi Motherboard

-2GB (1GB x 2) of Mushkin XP2-8500 DDRII-1066 Memory

-320GB x 4 Western Digital 16MB Cache Hard Drives

-2x nVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS (G92) Video Cards @ 715MHz Core / 1000 MHz Memory

-Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card

-Sony 16x DVD-RAM / 18x Samsung DVD-RAM Drives

-4x 120MM fans, 1x 200mm fan

-2x CCFL Lights

(Multimeter Results)

*For additional / larger pictures of the CoolMax CUG-950, Click Here

*Voltages are at 'Max Load', running Orthos, SiSoft 2009 Hard Drive Benchmark and 3DMark06 CPU Test 1 and 2 / Deep Freeze HDR test, and read with a Multi-Meter.

The results were just alright for this power supply. Everything ran fine during testing, the system was stable and performed the tests as expected.  The voltages could have been better, but the tests ran alright.  During the tests, the fan speed varied from low to a high speed and could be heard over the system fans which are what I consider quiet. When the system is idle or doing simple tasks, the fan runs quietly, spins slowly and is not noticeable at all.  I was satisfied with the noise characteristics during the testing. Installation of this power supply also went well.  On a lighter note, this power supply was one of the smelliest power supplies I have ever reviewed.  My testing room filled up with the smell of spray paint and melted plastic.  Perhaps the exhaust temperature of this power supply has something to do with the melted plastic smell.  The back exhaust grill felt almost like a small heater exhaust, quite warm.  Overall, the CoolMax 950 Watt offers acceptable performance at a decent price.  This power supply would be perfect if it didn't smell bad and had better voltage performance.  I don't think the voltages would hold up much longer if a beefier test system were to be used.  At around $115, this power supply is cheap for a 950 Watt rating, but the performance takes away from the value of it, this should be offered at $90 or lower.  The three year warranty is standard.

Pros +

-Quiet 140mm fan at idle/general task loads

-Fully Modular Cables

Cons -

-Pricey

-Questionable performance

-Spray paint smell lingers for hours

-Hot exhaust temperature

Techaddicts.net would like to give this power supply a 'Good' rating.  It needs some improvement.

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