Powerchips Power Charger

Supplied by Powerchips $65

Specifications

The Powerchips Power Charger comes in two flavors. It is available in Flatpack or Standard. The unit I reviewed was a standard. The only difference between the two is that the Flatpack has its AMP plug positioned at a right angle to the PCB. This could provide a little room in a crowded case. Powerchips also provided me with a beta version of their Athlon notching video. It came on CD and had a low res and high res version along with all of the instructions and diagrams for the card. Currently the CD is available for an extra charge of $12.

Installation

Installation of the card was just as easy as the rest, plug it in and away you go! One nice thing about the card is its extra long connector which will easily reach your units power connector. As you can see, this one does require power. One thing I did not like about the design of the PCB, is that the connector is directly in the middle of the card. It is a bit wider than the other GFD's I've tested and actually touches the top of my power supply when properly installed. It would have been better to place the AMP connector at the end of the unit so that the length of the PCB ran along the length of the Athlon. In any case, it did fit. However, you may want to measure your clearance to your power supply before you purchase the unit. From the end of the Athlon PCB to the end of the Powercharger's PCB is approximately 7/8". You can see more clearly in the following picture.

Notice how the Powercharger is touching the bottom of the power supply. Unless you have a very large power supply that is longer than the standard, it really shouldn't matter and it should fit.

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