Rosewill Hive 550W
by Martin Kaffei on March 17, 2012 9:42 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- 550W
- 80Plus Bronze
- Rosewill
- Hive
Conclusion
The Hive 550W is the first product from Rosewill we've tested. It provides an acceptable voltage regulation and quality. We like the look more than the design from other Sirtec models, and even better is that the Hive 550W is available for about $70. That's a decent value for a good all-around PSU, which is similar to most other solutions in this performance class.
The power supply uses a well known layout from Sirtec, and it's a cheaper design. The PSU is nothing special, corresponding to what we have seen in many other models. The EMI filtering is well equipped, and a varistor in the entrance is a good idea. All cables should be protected with heatshrinks, and while some of them are we would like to see the others protected as well. The relatively low-end Teapo capacitors on the secondary side are acceptable for a PSU in this range, while the fan is pretty low-end as well. Rosewill promised to use a Japanese main capacitor but this time they used Teapo.
As our test shows, the power supply can provide the rated output without any complications. The efficiency at 5% could be somewhat higher, but few will notice the loss of a few extra watts. The voltage regulation on our crossload test 1 (+3.20% at +5V) could also be better, but all results are still within ATX specification. The ripple and noise voltage is always low on +5V and +3.3V, and the power factor is high at all loads and input voltages.
The package includes all the important accessories for installation and a user guide. All the cables have lengths of 45cm or more, so this PSU will work well in most cases. It includes two PCIe connectors and 16 peripheral ones (8 SATA + 6 Molex + 2 FDD), plus a very long CPU cable. The black cable sleeving is quite cheap. Apart from that the black finish of the case and those unusual ventilation holes on the top look well.
All in all, the Rosewill Hive 550W is a decent mainstream PSU. It doesn't have any special features beyond respectable voltage quality and a remarkable case design. The Hive's strongest competition comes from XFX. The Core Edition PRO550W comes with Japanese capacitors but without modular cables. Furthermore Seasonic offers a very good PSU with 520W (M12II 520 Bronze) which is probably the best solution in this price range. Seasonic provides Japanese capacitors and modular connectors. However, the modular Rosewill Hive 550W is still an attractive offer when money is tight.
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DarkMatter93 - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
There's a typo on the measurements page, last paragraph, first line."while the weaker ouputs start to* high" -> too*
Martin Kaffei - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
Thanks a lot!Blibbax - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - link
Also, last paragraph:"...an remarkable case design."
The Ugly Truth - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
http://www.change.org/petitions/anandtech-forum-en...Freedom of expression and freedom to have an online life outside of AT forums reach is all we ask.
Iketh - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
lol that's funny...I visited AT forums several years ago and had a horrible experience. I never returned. That's all you have to do. Why would you care enough to create a petition? In the long run, you're actually doing them a favor.
I visit forums such as overclock.net and xtremesystems.org instead, and I contribute to xtremesystems DC teams.
JSt0rm01 - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
being banned for mentioning another website rubs people the wrong way. We only ask to be respected as readers of this website. Not to be pushed around to make a couple of moderators feel good about themselves. The limits imposed by the current moderation are not in place to help anandtech or its forums. The limits are imposed to help them secure the power they are looking for.When they decide to ban a website from being written to the forums because at that place are people who are critical not of anandtech but of the current moderation that is in charge of anandtech's forums then there is a problem and an abuse of power that Anand himself is probably unaware of.
magnetar - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - link
Regrettably, your petition does not contain enough information to make your case or explain your issues whatsoever. Frankly, it is pure innuendo, and provides nothing that would allow me to come to a conclusion about it's merits.In my experience reading this web site's forums, they certainly have not censored criticism of the reviewers, or any writers that I am aware of. While that does not seem to be the basis for your petition, that is the only example of editorial bias/non-bias I can think of. Please use the petition to make your case, and not the forum.
Kristian Vättö - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - link
Can you (or anyone, the word is free) email me at kristian[AT]anandtech[DOT]com with examples of unfair moderation? I'm not in charge of the forums by any means but I'm a moderator on another forum (MacRumors) so I would be very interested in seeing what's wrong. I can then discuss with Anand and the team about this and hopefully we'll be able to do something.And no, I'm not kidding you. If someone emails me, I promise that the word will be passed to Anand. I can't promise that any actions will be taken but I agree that the forums are not as good as they could be, and that's why I've mostly avoided them. I'll do everything I can to make the place better :-)
bathotropic - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
proteced is what exactly? I guess low quality articles get low quality reviews.AnnonymousCoward - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - link
Your first sentence isn't a proper sentence!! What exactly are you trying to say???