Chieftec A-135 APS-600SB Series 600W Power Supply Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

This PSU may not look fancy, but with Chieftec taking the focus away from aesthetics, they’ve been able to keep the costs down. There are quite a few retailers that stock this unit, but Google shopping will be your best bet, as there are a lot of varying deals and I’ve seen them go as cheap as £38 here in the UK; This is about 20% cheaper than competing products of a similar spec.

Conclusion

This power supply is certainly more interesting than first perceived. Let’s be honest, it’s pretty ugly, especially with that grey exterior that harks back to the 90’s in terms of PSU design. Then again, if you’re system doesn’t have a side panel window, does it really matter what the interior looks like? No, not really. The same goes for the non-modular cables, they’re a little old-school, but a few cable ties will help keep excess out of the way and having this kind of cable is a very easy way to reduce the overall cost of the unit. You would expect to pay another 20% or more for the same level of performance, just to have a unit that looks nice and has modular cables.

The efficiency is nothing special, but could be worse. If you wanted a more efficient PSU, then you’re going to have to pay a lot more for it and that’s not always an option for every system builder. What really stands out, however, is the tight voltage regulation, low ripple and great OPP; this may be a budget unit, but it’s got great power delivery and that’s easily the most important feature of any power supply.

From the office to budget friendly gaming builds, the APS-600SB has just enough features to keep you happy. It’s quiet, reasonably efficient, has enough connectors for a mid-range system build and at this price range, you really can’t ask for much more.

Pros

• Extremely affordable
• Quiet performance
• Great OPP performance
• Good ripple suppression
• Excellent voltage regulation

Cons

• Non-modular (although that does mean a lower price)
• Internal PCB is small, suggesting the PSU could have been made smaller
• Boring grey paint job doesn’t match the current range of chassis products

“It may not be the best looking unit in the world, but the APS-600SB offers very competitive performance that makes it one of the strongest budget PSUs on the market.”

Thank you Chieftec for providing us with this sample.