EVGA’s latest power supplies are so small they can fit in your hand

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If you have large hands, that is.

My hands are too small to comfortably palm a basketball, but I'm confident I could hold one of EVGA's new power supplies without trouble. That's because they're much smaller than any PSU the company has released to date. Of course, they're not built for palming, but for powering compact PCs where space is in short supply.

EVGA's new Supernova GM SFX power supplies are, as the model name implies, small form factor units. They measure 63mm (H)  x 125mm (W) x 100mm (L) and are considerably tinier than standard ATX power supplies. To put the compact size into perspective, here's a shot of the Supernova GM SFX 650 model next to one of EVGA's standard 650W units:

These new SFX models are offered in three wattage capacities: 450W, 550W, and 650W. All three are fully modular, down to the 24-pin main and 8-pin CPU connectors (semi-modular PSUs leave the those cables permanently affixed).

They're also 80 Plus Gold certified, with EVGA claiming 90 percent (115VAC) / 92 percent (220VAC~240VAC) efficiency or higher under typical loads. What this means is less energy is wasted as heat. 80 Plus Gold power supplies also typically use higher quality components, making them more reliable than cheaper PSUs.

If you're wondering if any of these wattages will be enough for your build, a handy place to start is at any of the numerous PSU calculators on the web.  You might be surprised at how much is actually needed. For example, I hit up Outer Vision's PSU calculator and looked up what would be required for a system with a Core i7-8700K processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, four case fans, an all-in-one liquid cooler, and USB keyboard and mouse. It reported a load wattage of 494W and recommended shopping for a 544W PSU. Swapping out the GPU for a GeForce GTX 1060 drops the load and recommended wattages to 362W and 412W, respectively.

EVGA's new PSUs comes with an SFX-to-ATX bracket for anyone who wants to install one into a standard ATX case. They also come with a PSU tester and are backed by a 7-year warranty.

The new PSUs are available now direct from EVGA, priced at $109.99 for the 450W model, $119.99 for the 550W model, and $129.99 for the 650W model. Those prices are high compared to what you can get in the standard ATX form factor, as EVGA is evidently placing a premium on the compact size. As a point of reference, Newegg is selling EVGA's Supernova 850 G2 for $89.99 after a $20 mail-in-rebate. Unless you specifically need a compact PSU, you're better off shopping a regular sized model.

Paul Lilly
Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).