Impressions
Impressions
The slick gloss black of the PSU, the exotic adapters included (EPS motherboards exist only in the upper echelons) as well as the high quality of the packaging gave an amiable first impression. The various large stickers certifying compatibility and the apparent high level of quality control, as well as a noise/fan rpm chart on the PSU also added to the tier-1 effect. On the back of the PSU, there’s the standard power connector, 110v – 220v switch, and another switch which allows you to control the 120mm fan’s speed. Settings are “LOW”, “AUTO”, and “HIGH”. Most noticeably, the entire back plane has been honey-comb perforated for maximum airflow – note that there is no fan in the usual spot.
80mm fans pushes less air than 120mm fans, and other silent PSUs usually make do with using an 80mm of low power, or none at all. Instead of mounting an 80mm fan or any fan at all to the rear of the unit, Coolmax (or whoever made the Taurus in the first place, as it is most likely just relabelled) chose to put a 120mm fan on the bottom and open up as much passage for the air to travel outside afterwards. This means that airflow is not compromised, although the air drawn may be warmer due to the position, which will be directly over the CPU’s heatsink in most configurations.
Cables:
Here’s where the Taurus disappoints a little. Yes, it does have the new serial ATA power connector… one of them. Should you ever need to have more than one S-ATA hard drive, you’ll be forced to buy adapters, or if your motherboard is modern enough, it came with one or two. It is also missing the now-standard tachometer cable. While this doesn’t affect performance in the least, its absence is odd, and hints at negligence. 
Power cord length is sub-par considering that this PSU is supposed to be high end. Connectors are also a bit lacking. You have your sleeved ATX power connector and the pair of P4 AUX connectors. Then two of the cords have a Big Molex, Big Molex, Little Molex configuration, and third has simply two big Molexes.
While that’s enough for most systems (assuming one or two or even three hard drives, likewise with optical drives), enthusiasts rarely have drives alone, equipping their “rig” with a variety of fans, lighting, pumps, and miscellaneous paraphernalia – if not even more drives, or perhaps even an abundance of both drives and accessories. In that case, only six standard power connectors definitely won’t be enough.
This can easily be pardoned however, as silent PCs usually do not have as many extras due to the additional noise each creates. If your computer plans don’t include having as many drives as would fill up a full tower case, nor creating a whirring churning buzzing glowing monster, then the Taurus’s amount of connectors is quite adequate.
Next, testing...
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