Tagan has the first modular offering of the group test with its EasyCon 580W. Modular PSUs are the latest craze to hit the high end market, and are useful because they allow for easy cable routing and you only need to install the leads you actually plan on using. The others can be put back into the box and fitted when you need them in the future. Some modular PSUs have standard Molex connectors to fit the leads to the body of the PSU. These are not a good option as they easily become loose, potentially causing damage to hardware. Fortunately the Tagan employs PCI-Express style clipped connectors that are stiff enough to easily remain “on” even after violent tugging.
Aesthetically, the Tagan is the business, with a sleek matt-black shell and beautifully braided cables. This will make it an attractive option for those with a case window, and also makes tying cables out of the way of the case’s airflow very simple. The Tagan TG-480W-U22 comfortably won an Editor’s Choice when we reviewed it earlier in the year, and one of the reasons for this was its extremely quiet operation. That model employed a dual-80mm push-pull configuration, so you would expect the 120mm single fan-equipped EasyCon to be quieter still. Unfortunately this is certainly not the case, and the Tagan was one of the loudest PSUs on test. In the broad spectrum of PSUs available, I wouldn’t call the TG580-U15 noisy, but when faced with competition as stiff as it does in this group test it doesn’t compare very favourably.
In terms of performance, the Tagan put in a good showing, with generally solid rails and no crashes. As with the Antec model, however, the 12V rail showed signs of potential weakness, dropping to under 11.5V during our full-load hard drive I/O meter benchmark. Nevertheless, our absolute monster of a test system remained fully stable, meaning any normal home gaming system, regardless of spec or overclocking, would be powered by the Tagan with no issues whatsoever.
As well as the cables and the PSU itself, Tagan provides a high quality mains cable and Velcro tethers to secure the cables away from the case’s airflow. This is a nice touch, as you won’t have to purchase any cable ties. In terms of connectivity, the Tagan is superb, with 8 Molex cables, two mini-Molex cables, two PCI-Express cables and facility for motherboards requiring 8-pin auxiliary cables. Overall this is another quality PSU from Tagan, though a stronger 12V rail and quieter fan would make it better still.
