Hiper traditionally doesn’t have the best of reputations when it comes to high-specification PSUs, so when Mark tested the 580W Type R recently and gave it the Editor’s Choice I was both surprised and pleased to see they had turned their fortunes around. This time, however, the Hiper has a far more daunting system to power, so it will be interesting to see how this £68 PSU stacks up against some considerably more expensive opponents. As with the Tagan unit, the Type R is modular, but offers rather more elaborate connections. Borrowed from the aviation industry, the fittings are held in place by threaded rings that you securely screw into place. These prevent any movement once attached, and certainly add some peace of mind that they won’t pop out should you be over-zealous when tethering unused cables to the chassis.
If this competition was based on presentation alone, the Hiper would certainly be the PSU to beat, coming in a thick lunchbox-styled box that can be used later to store all of your computer screws and spares. The presentation of the PSU itself is equally impressive with an anodised aluminium exterior and two chrome-coated fans. Into the unit itself you screw the 4 pin auxiliary motherboard power lead, a PCI-Express cable, and four Molex leads. The four Molex leads are then extended with other connectivity options, including further Molex, PCI-E, SATA and mini-Molex floppy connectors. As with the Seasonic PSU, there are easy-off connectors on all Molex plugs bar those used for extensions. All cables are beautifully braided and terminated with heat-shrink wrap that matches your colour choice of PSU – the Type R coming in Blue, Red or Black.
In operation, the Hiper performed reasonably, though its rails were certainly weaker than other PSUs on test. After being on for a long period of time at full load, the PSU also got rather hot and started making some slightly odd sounds. Nevertheless, it remained 100% stable at all times, and being certified by nVIDIA for SLI will provide people thinking of purchasing this PSU with confidence for their expensive gaming rig.
In terms of noise output, the Type R is one of the quietest PSUs we tested, being considerably quieter than the Tagan and almost on a par with the Seasonic. Overall for “normal” home PC loads, the Hiper Type R is a superbly presented and very capable power supply, though users looking to emulate our test system should definitely be looking to spend a bit more than £68.
