(Click here to view the official spec sheet from Antec.)
Included in the package is the power supply itself, a 5-1/4" drive bay panel (more on that later), AC power cord, and user manuals. One manual is an installation guide and describes the inner workings of the power supply and what each wire represents. The other manual is for the "True Control" part of the power supply, describing how to adjust voltages and fan speed on the fly. I also noticed, the standard gauge in AC power cords is 18awg, whereas this power supply includes a 16awg cable.
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(The 5-1/4" drive bay panel with a 3-1/2" drive, voltage and fan speed adjustments)
The 5-1/4" bay is the part that separates the True 550 and the True Control 550. The bay is dark silver, which is darker than my Lian-Li PC-60 case. On the drive bay, it includes a 3-1/2" bay to mount a hard drive, floppy drive, CF card reader, etc, so you don't completely lose a spot in your case. In the front, the variable potentiometers are to adjust the 12v, 5v, and 3.3v lines of the power supply. This is what every overclocker wants, as they can adjust the pots to a lower resistance to let more current flow, increasing stability of the system at highly overclocked speeds. You need a voltmeter to accurately measure the voltages the power supply is outputting because you can't trust your BIOS nor can you trust software monitoring tools. I really would like to see Antec design a new panel with a little LCD readout with the voltage reading for all 3 lines. Included is a small tool, which can be used to adjust the pots (you can also use a micro screw driver), and fan speed adjustment. With the fan speed set to minimum, you can barely hear the fans. At high speed, the fan overpowers all the fans in my computer, which actually isn't too bad.
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(The sleeved ATX power connector)
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(The aux and +12v connectors)
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(7 4-pin connectors, 2 floppy connectors)
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(2 fan only connectors and fan monitoring cable.)
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(4-pin external power connector)
The power supply itself includes a standard ATX connector, aux connector, and a +12v connector for Pentium4 and some nForce2 motherboards. Also, there are 7 4-pin molex connectors, 2 floppy drive connectors, 2 fan-only connectors which consist of just a 12v and a ground wire, and a fan speed monitoring connector. Additionally, on the Fan Only connectors, you can adjust the speed of the fans hooked up to this wire via the TrueControl panel.
Also, which many may find useful, is an external 4-pin molex connector, for those of you with radiators and fans outside, you can install a fan easily. This external power connector is also great at reading the voltage you adjusted your pots to, without opening your case and finding an unused connector. Every connector is black, which may be appealing to case modders that don't want to vinyl dye or paint the connectors on their current power supply. All pins are gold plated to prevent oxidization and for better connection.
Now, for some testing...
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