If you follow closely our power supply reviews you know that all power supplies from Huntkey Green Star series explode if you try to pull its labeled power (we tested the 350 W, 400 W, 450 W and 550 W models – all exploded, see the reviews to watch the videos from them exploding). Today we tested another model from this same brand: V-Power 550 W. Is it a good power supply or will it have the same fate as its sisters?

Huntkey V-Power 550 W is also known by the part number LW-6550SG, the same part number used by Huntkey Green Star 550 W. This caused a big deal of confusion from our part, as documented here. When we first posted the Green Star 550 W review we thought that we were reviewing V-Power 550 W, since the Green Star model was not being listed on Huntkey’s website anymore and the product with part number LW-6550SG was V-Power 550 W. We got an e-mail from Huntkey explaining that we had made a mistake, and we fixed this. From the exchange of e-mails with Huntkey and a series of events that happened we learned that this company is far from being honest, besides the fact that they lie about the maximum power their power supplies can deliver:

• 1. After posting the Green Star 450 W review they offered us money to take the review down (this is documented here). We don’t need to say more.
• 2. Then when we first posted the Green Star 550 W review (that we wrongly posted as being a V-Power 550 W unit) they sent us an e-mail saying that the review was wrong, that we reviewed the wrong power supply (they were correct). They also implied that we were doing this on purpose (as if) and that we got a counterfeit product (as if someone would counterfeit bad products). They also said that Green Star 550 W and V-Power 550 W are different products (which is a big fat lie, as we will expose). In response to our review they posted a video on YouTube showing that V-Power 550 W works well.
• 3. They started a pressure campaign asking all people that know us (especially other manufacturers) to ask us to remove the reviews. Luckily all people they contacted are very professional and told them to take a hike (especially after seeing the videos with the power supplies exploding).

It is good to remember that we have already reviewed a model from a different series (Titan 650 W, sold in the US as the first version of Rocketfish 700 W, RF700WPS, the current version RF700WPS2 is manufactured by CWT) from Huntkey and it survived our tests. So the problems we had with Huntkey products (power supplies exploding while you try to pull its labeled power) so far only happened with members from their Green Star and V-Power series.

By the way, the naming scheme Huntkey uses work like this. "SG" means 140-mm fan and "HG" means 120-mm fan. When the model has a passive PFC circuit then a "P" is added at the end. So an LW-6550HG would be the same unit with a 120-mm fan, and an LW-6550SGP would be the same reviewed unit with passive PFC.

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Figure 1: Huntkey V-Power 550 W (LW-6550SG).

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Figure 2: Huntkey V-Power 550 W (LW-6550SG).

This power supply is 6 19/64” (16 cm) deep, features a 140-mm fan on its bottom and doesn’t have active PFC circuit, so Huntkey can’t sell this product in Europe. On Figure 1 you can see that it has a voltage selection switch, feature usually present on models without this circuit.

Only the main motherboard cable has a nylon protection, which doesn’t come from inside the power supply. The included cables are:

• Main motherboard cable with a 20/24-pin connector.
• One cable with two ATX12V connectors that together form one EPS12V connector.
• One auxiliary power cable for video cards with two six-pin connectors.
• One SATA power cable with four SATA power connectors.
• One peripheral power cable with three standard peripheral power connectors and one floppy disk drive power connector.

The main difference between V-Power 550 W and Green Star 550 W is the cable configuration. V-Power 550 W has four SATA power connectors, while Green Star 550 W has only two. On Green Star 550 W, however, the two video card power connectors are attached to individual cables – which is a better configuration –, while on V-Power 550 W both connectors are attached to the same cable. Green Star 550 W offers six peripheral power plugs, while V-Power 550 W offers only three.

The number of connectors available is good enough for you to build a mainstream PC.

All wires are 18 AWG, which is the correct gauge to be used, except the wires used with the peripheral power plugs, which are 20 AWG (i.e., thinner). All cables measure 19” (48 cm) between the power supply and the first connector on the cable, and then 6” (15 cm) between each connector on the cable on cables that have more than one connector.

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Figure 3: Cables.

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