The cables are nicely bound in a matching UV reactive blue loom.  This theme is carried out in the UV reactive Molex connectors.  As you can see above only the 24 pin adapter is shipped with out the UV blue theme, a shame in this case as it sticks out badly in this install.  Sleeve kit here I come.

     The case is split into two pieces, four screws later I was looking at the inside of the PS, and I never even got close to the warranty sticker!  As you can see the two fans are attached to a standard fan controller and could easily be replaced by the fashion conscious modder.  The two green heat sinks are not as large as I would have expected form a 500Watt PS but the color scheme looks good through the two acrylic windows.  We will test the performance of those head sinks soon enough!

The Test PC:

• P4 3.0 GHz Socket 775
• Foxconn 925XE&AA-8EKRS2 
• 1Gb (2x512) Crucial Ballistix Tracer XMS 4.4.4.10 Memory DDR2-667
• 1x 74 GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM SATA
• NEC 16x dual Layer DVD ND-3500A
• BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC PCI-E 
• Superflower SF201-T Black on black 3 windowed case

     After a very easy install we fired up the Foxconn SuperStep Utility to check the voltages.  In the past we have found these onboard utilities to be less accurate than with a Multimeter tool.  To insure accuracy both were used, To Foxconn’s credit, the onboard tool remained a constant +/-.1V on every test.

Idle

Load

     The voltage was monitored both idle (top) and under load (bottom).  The load numbers were taken during SiSoft Sandra 2005 Burn in.  Sandra voltage is shown below for comparison.  I tested the Vortec 500 under high Overclocking by taking my Poor P4 3.0’s CPU clock to 365.  The resulting lockup prevented a screen shot but the numbers were recorded for reference: CPU Vcore- 1.42 VDDR- 1.90 +3.3V- 3.26 +5V- 4.97 and +12V 11.77

Click on thumbnail for larger image.

Pros:

• Dependable power under load
• Attractive Blue UV Cabling
• Onboard Fan Control
• SATA ready
• Polished Aluminum finish
• Windows and lights!
• Comes with 24 pin adapter

Cons:

• Tight fit for ATX installation
• Back panel is upside-down for normal installation. 

Conclusion:

     The Extreme Gamer label for the Vortec 500 was well earned with rock solid voltages at all levels of load.  The combination of solid reliable power and aggressive good looks makes the Vortec 500 an easy recommend. MGE and Extreme Gamer have found a nice mix of form and function in the Vortec 500.  The Vortec 500 retails for about $80 making it an attractive choice for the higher end user with modded looks in mind.

Lowest price found $79.99 at www.xoxide.com.