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500 - 700W Power Supply Group Test

Author	Edward Chester
Published	24th Apr 2009
Manufacturer	Cooler Master
Supplier	Overclockers.co.uk
Price	£78.29 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£91.99 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price	Click here

Features
Performance
Value
Overall

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Another all-black affair, the Cooler Master Real Power M700 is the first modular PSU in this roundup. This time, rather than the matte black of the Seasonic S512, we have a glossy black livery, and a perfectly splendid one it is too. Build quality also seems to be good, though you'll probably have to be quite careful when installing it not to scratch the paint. Accessories include a mains power cable, four mounting screws, and of course all the modular cables.

The modular system uses two separate luminous green PCI-E sockets and six universal five-pin sockets for all the other cabling. The PCI-E cables have a corresponding luminous green plug on one end, while the other end is black, making it easy to tell which way round to plug the cable. Fitting and removing the cables is easy and we witnessed nothing to suggest these won't remain strong and true connections even after multiple fittings. About the only flaw we can see with the system overall is that both the eight and four-pin 12V cables are permanently attached so you'll always have a spare cable to deal with, even though this is a modular PSU.

There are three PCI-E cables; one with a six-pin connector and two with eight-pin connectors, and all are 50cm long. Other cables are also plentiful consisting of two 100cm long SATA cables, each with four connectors along their length, two 85cm cables with three Molex connectors, and two 70cm cables with two Molex and one floppy connector at the end. All in all, there's a lot of choice and all the cable lengths are more than adequate for your average PC case.

Moving onto testing and the M700 passed with flying colours, completing all our stress tests without its voltages wavering outside the ATX specification. It wasn't the quietest of the PSUs on test with its sound level under load rising to 45dB, but when idling it produced only 38dB, which is quiet enough for it to go unnoticed in all but the quietest of rooms.

Verdict

With a simple but attractive design, good build quality, a plethora of decent length cables, and easy to use modular system, the Cooler Master Real Power M700 has all the makings of a first choice PSU. Add in its relatively quiet operation and competitive price and you have one of our favourites that we've looked at today.

Latest 4 of 14 Comments

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basicasic said on 25th April 2009

Thanks for the review. Excellent.

I'm pretty sure Corsair PSUs are made by Seasonic so they will be decent. I've got plenty of Enermax, Seasonic and Antec ... more

b166er said on 26th April 2009

Thanks for the round-up, they always help to keep abreast. I would have really liked to see warranties mentioned for these, though. I wouldn't consider buying one with less th... more

Ed said on 5th May 2009

Hi b166er,

Good point about the warranties, though this is something that most manufacturers clearly list on their websites. I'll consider adding them next tim... more

Rickysio said on 9th May 2009

I was using a Cooler Master eXtreme 430W, and it frigging surprised me.
I managed to use it to run a Q6600 and a GTS250 without a hitch.
Though I've since then u... more

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