PSU preview palooza

Hiper Modular Type-R II

Hiper has gained itself something of a reputation for producing bling-worthy power supplies. The first-generation Type-R Modular had an outrageously shiny blue or red casing, and had modular power connectors that looked more like they belonged in The Fast and The Furious than a PC.

Now, Hiper is back with a new iteration of the uber-bling PSU. Cunningly named the Type-R II, it continues the design ethic with a new twist for PSUs.

So far, so normal - the toolbox packaging of the Type-R is back, and the rear of the unit has the standard 80m fan and power socket.

However, this is where things get kooky. Look at the back of the unit - just the ATX cable and another 80mm fan. So where are all the connections? That's right - on the bottom.

This is a bizarre location, which may or not work depending on your case configuration. Some cases have solid support brackets underneath PSUs which could prevent access to these cable ports. You may also find that if you have a massive heatsink on your CPU, the connectors are bumping up against the top side.

However, if you have a case configuration that would suit it, it could prove to be a more efficient way of handling cabling.

The connectors are also changed slightly from the previous version, looking a little fatter and shorter than previously. They're keyed to make sure you orient them correctly when plugging in, and the silver shroud rotates around to lock in place. It's a neat system.

The initial version we looked at was rated at 730W four individual 12V rails. It's NVIDIA certified for SLI and Quad SLI.

We fired up one of our reference SLI rigs with no issues. We look forward to doing some thorough testing when we get a full production sample through.