From time to time we like to test power supplies from obscure brands or from brands that are popular in other countries but not in the United States. This is the case today, with our review of the AK 500 power supply from the South Korean 3R System. Let’s see if this power supply is a viable option or if it is a piece of Chinese garbage with a South Korean passport.

Compared to the iCEAGE IA500HP80 from the same manufacturer, the AK 500 starts off on the right foot, as it has active PFC and standard 80 Plus certification, which are not present on the IA500HP80.

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Figure 1: 3R System AK 500 power supply

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Figure 2: 3R System AK 500 power supply

The 3R System AK 500 is 5.5” (140 mm) deep, using a 120 mm sleeve bearing fan on its bottom (Yate Loon D12SM-12).

This unit doesn’t have a modular cabling system. All cables are protected with nylon sleeves, which come from inside the unit. This power supply comes with the following cables:

• Main motherboard cable with a 20/24-pin connector, 17.3” (44 cm) long
• One cable with two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector, 24.4” (62 cm) long
• Two cables, each with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 17.3” (44 cm) long
• Two cables, each with three SATA power connectors, 14.2” (36 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors
• One cable with three standard peripheral power connectors and one floppy disk drive power connector, 18.1” (46 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors

All wires are 18 AWG, which is the minimum recommended gauge, except for the video card cables, which use thicker 16 AWG wires, which is unusual to be seen in an entry-level product.

The cable configuration is very good for an entry-level 500 W product, with six SATA power connectors and two video card power connectors.

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Figure 3: Cables

Let’s now take an in-depth look inside this power supply.