Skyhawk Power One Power Supply

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Skyhawk has branched out from making cases to power supply units. How does its latest offering, the Power One, measure up against other PSUs in the market?

In the last few years Skyhawk has made a move internationally into the consumer case market. In terms of filling the middle ground of good looking cases at reasonable prices (compared to the likes of Coolermaster and others at the high end, designer level) they've been very successful.  Not being content with just producing cases for the market, they've now started expanding their product line-up into other areas. And one of those new products we are looking at today is a power supply to use not only with their cases, but with others as well.

Skyhawk has gone flashy with their new PSU design. In the same way that cases were once boring to look at and now even cheap ones are good looking, so to is it going for power supplies. This one has a black anodized finish to it, along with something else to draw your attention.Looking at the PSU out of the box, can you notice what’s missing?  That's right, other than the ATX connecter, there are no other cables immediately hooked into the chassis. 

Like other "modular" PSUs from OCZ and Ultra, Skyhawk added a level of customizability to the unit. Those of us who have had Enermax units for years can certainly speak to where this can be useful. Many cases are getting smaller instead of larger, and the extra cables and length get in the way more than they help. By going with the option of connecting a limited number of 4 pin "molex", SATA, and floppy connectors, you can make the cabling within the PC much cleaner and out of the way of airflow, without having to use endless amounts of zip ties and tape. This is especially useful for computers with a small number of devices requiring power from something other than the motherboard, where most of those connections would go to waste. 

Where it might fall down is with users who have many devices like DVD drives, a large RAID hard drive array, and video cards such as the 6800 Ultra, which require two power connectors on separate lines. With all of that stuff working away, you need the maximum amount of connectors you can find. My test system, for example, needs 8 molex connectors, two SATA ones, and a floppy connector. That's a fairly diverse load coming out of the PSU. It can be cut down a little by using adapters, which put low draw devices like fans in-line on the same connecter. 

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