Hiper Type R II 680W PSU

Hiper Type RII 680W PSU

Hiper's style is an acquired taste to say the least, but at least it's a break from the matt black design we've seen a lot of lately. Hiper breaks the mould with a metallic blue steel mesh and a mirrored plastic fan with blue LEDs - it's pretty pimped out, but if you're not one for bling blue then there are plenty of plain alternatives out there.

There's no option to turn off the lights so you've got to want to have them on all the time as part of an entire aesthetic, although the fan does respond to temperature (or load increases), and the blue LEDs grow brighter or dimmer to match.

Honestly, the whole thing is unique (I was hesitant to say "weird") - the Type R II isn't modular, yet it has cables that sprout from several points across the back and instead includes additional adapters to extend the Molex cables. This does make untangling them and tidying bundles easier but essentially it's just different rather than overwhelmingly better or worse.


The eight USB 2.0 ports at the back are a hub and require using the USB plug to a pin-out on the motherboard. In addition to these there's a non-data, high power charger socket as well. This means that instead of having to use the 500mA max USB port, you can charge a phone or iPod much faster using this 1 Amp port, however we have heard some complaints that this can potentially damage batteries. While this is true for products designed for USB spec only, for those that can also be charged from a power socket this won't be the case.

Hiper uses a four 12V rail design limited to 18A, but only 54A or 624W in total. This is 94.5 percent of the total 660W available for the major outputs, with the rest dedicated to 5V standby and -12V. Ignore the "890W Max" figure - it's one of those "15,000W Speaker!" numbers that doesn't really mean anything, because if you require 890W you're using the wrong PSU, and if you've built a system for a 680W one, then something has gone badly wrong.


Whereas the entire back panel is usually honeycomb grilled to allow space for the expelled heat and air, this is taken up by the USB ports so instead Hiper has made the entire casing a grill to allow air to escape. To be honest, while Hiper claims this is "an acceptable disadvantage" that improves heat dissipation we are hesitant to agree.

True, it does allow heat to escape out easier in all directions and when put in the base of a case convection will work better with these perforations, but the design just recycles hot air back into the case and doesn't focus on creating an exhaust airflow through the PSU. The fan is a metallic silver with blue LEDs that shine inwards. Both the fan speed and LED intensity correlates to the heat generated and therefore power being used. It's different, that's for sure, and if you've got a cool blue or chrome themed case it will fit perfectly.


The cables sprouting out the back are also different. Instead of having one fat bundle that is difficult to untangle, Hiper has split them into the ATX and USB cable plus four extras. It works quite well actually, although it depends on your personal habits for cable tidying and how your case deals with cable routing, but for the most part untangling them is easier than usual.