PC hardware #1 - 'Pretty & Gaudy' Aspire 500W Power supply

     This has a pretty interesting story.

    I was browsing google images for interesting PC mods from that time, and came across a review for the Aspire 500W ATX Power supply by TechFreaks.org. You can read the review Here. I was instantly captivated by how amazingly cheesy it looked - it was like a kid's toy. Almost every component was a completely different, high-contrast color, and to top it off it was all stuck in a transparent box with light-up fans. I then saw RETRO Hardware's video about it and was further fixated on this strange bit of kit. (RETRO Hardware is an excellent channel covering obscure and flashy pieces of hardware and PC accessories from that time, check it out if you're interested.)

This PSU is essentially the commercialization of very early PC modding trends. Before the market took off like a rocket, pretty much everything had to be home-made. Your water cooling setup would be done with PVC, aquarium pumps and whatever random water blocks you could scrounge up. Everything had a very rudimentary feel to it - but that was the only way to truly stand out back then among the enthusiast crowd. Modifying your PSU was a popular choice, possibly stemming from the alluring idea of your PSU being the beating heart of your build (and the associated high-voltage danger when cracking it open) - naturally such an important piece should get love too. 

    Swapping out the included fans with custom ones, adding a potentiometer in-line to allow you to control the flow and noise, adding LEDs to the power connectors, adding sleeving to the wires, cutting windows into the casing, etc. These were all choice mods done by adventurous DIY-ers. 

  

Examples of modified PSUs from back then. Left to right, top to bottom: "Earth Invader" custom modular PSU from Bit-Tech.net, "Atomic Moby" PSU from casemodgod.com, and a custom watercooled PSU from nettet.be

Links: Earth Invader, Atomic Moby, nettet

Anyways, back to the PSU. This particular one was born out of the desire of hundreds of PC enthusiasts to have something that screamed super-custom and 'high-performance' inside of their beloved computer. 

This Aspire 500W PSU design is actually pretty common, shared with some Apevia PSUs, and can come in different configurations such as...

• varying connectors (SATA, auxiliary 6P, PCIE 6P)
• varying acrylic case colors (blue, green, clear)
• varying metal case colors (blue, green, silver)
• varying cable shroud/connector colors (also offered in blue)
• varying fan colors (also offered in red and green)
• varying power switch/connector colors (UV blue offered)

    These PSUs were particularly known for being super flashy and super cheap. A scathing review from the previously mentioned techfreaks.org noted that despite the cool looks, the PSU had a faulty 5v rail, which was noticeably higher than what should be standard spec, well outside of the typical margin of error.

Photo courtesy of techfreaks.org

    Despite the flashing warning signs in my head, I immediately nabbed one when a similar unit popped up on ebay. Why take the risk? Well, absolutely nothing like this is being made today, and unless the PC industry gets a magic bout of nostalgia for this incredibly tacky style, nothing like this will ever be made again. 

    After a few days it arrived at my doorstep. Quick once-over, and there are immediate problems. One of the gold capacitors on the mainboard was leaking a little bit. Care wasn't really taken during this PSU's lifetime so the acrylic casing was a bit scratched and foggy. At a later date I want to remove it and use a headlight polishing kit to give it new life. Capacitors need to be replaced as well. 

    RETRO Hardware's video made note of bad capacitors on his own Aspire PSU, but despite this it still worked during a power-on test. So, it's time to test my own! I jumped the motherboard connector, brought out a multimeter, and got to testing. The power supply immediately powered on, and after probing each of the important wires, I concluded the voltages were stable and perfectly within spec. 

    Next was some more strenuous testing. I pulled out a spare Win7-era motherboard and connected the PSU to it to test and see if it would post... and sure enough, it booted up just fine. While it was running I probed the connectors again to check voltages and everything seemed fine. 

    And finally, because I'm insane, I used it to power an inherited MSI Z97A Gaming motherboard. As for the PC this stuff is going into, I'll post more about it later. It's something truly special.

    As for features, this PSU has two potentiometer-controlled 80mm blue LED fans (which are also UV reactive, of course), a single 20-pin motherboard connector, a single 4-pin CPU connector, and two sets of molex connectors. Each of the sets contains 4 molex connectors and ends with a FDD connector. Every single connector is colored UV green, and just about every inch of wiring is covered in green UV-reactive cable sleeving, with green heatshrink to keep it in place. Unlike other units, this particular PSU does not contain things like SATA connectors, PCIE power connectors, or AUX 6P connectors (the similarly-spec'd techfreaks review unit had a AUX 6P connector)

Rear of the unit. The UV reactive connectors and oversized power switch are on full display. The chrome potentiometer knob for fan control can be seen towards the bottom of the unit. Of note is that it is actually mounted upside-down in this case. This might be intentional, to better show off the transparent casing (if you have side windows in your PC case).

    Now that the reading is over, here's some pictures.

UV-reactive goodness. Review said the power switch feels cheap and flimsy, but I really like it. Still clicks nicely but also isn't crazy firm to flip. And the larger size means flipping it blind is a ton easier.

 

 

Thrown in with the Hardcano 12 and some other stuff. It's hard to explain, but I love how the green looks against the rosewill red UV fan, that sort of dull transparent look along with the solid purple fan mount and yellow/green components inside the acrylic enclosure... It's hard to explain what I like about it but this sort of look is what I love. It's super colorful and contrasts hugely with modern, soulless design. 

 

Some Apevia variants as mentioned above. Green casing, blue accents, and red fans can be seen here.