Our esteemed reviewer in the United Kingdom, Jonny English, has had an advantage over the rest of the review staff when it came to reviewing Hiper's line of power supplies. The advantage was that they were only marketed in Europe and were only available in the 220 volt variety. That isn't the case anymore, Hiper is looking to break into the North American market and has started producing 110 volt power supplies. This is welcome news to those many people who read Jonny's review on the Hiper Type-R 480W and 580W power supplies but couldn't purchase one in the U.S. or Canada.

We already know how the European version of this PSU stacks up, the Type-R 480 received an Approved Gear Award and the Type-R 580 received the esteemed Pimp Gear Award. But it isn't always just the equipment that you have to look at, the company's ability to communicate and provide support are equally important. I've already seen Hiper's staff in action when there was a hiccup during testing on a previous PSU review, and they immediately went way beyond what one would expect to ensure that their equipment didn't didn't have a design flaw. Turned out it didn't, and after seeing Hiper's response I have a lot of confidence in their technical support staff.

Hiper is a trademarked shortening of the company's actual name, High Performance Group. Yeah, I like Hiper better too. I can understand why Hiper is looking to expand their market to include the U.S. and Canada, I surfed to a couple of web-based computer stores in the U.K. to read some user reviews of the European Type-R 580W and they were completely sold out at both stores. So, how does the North American version stack up to the ones that Jonny reviewed? Let's see...

Package

The Hiper Type-R arrived in a very weathered, worn, and battered box. I'm pretty sure it had also been opened a couple of times and re-taped shut. When I looked at the shipping label I saw why, it was shipped directly from the factory in Hong Kong. I was a little apprehensive about opening the box and half expected to see metal fragments instead of a power supply.

My fears were allayed when I opened the box and found not just one, but two of the unique Type-R plastic containers in pristine condition. The Blue top contained the Type-R 580W Blue Label PSU, and of course the Black one was the Black Label PSU.

The toolbox style container that the Type-R comes in was a stroke of marketing genius. Instead of a plain cardboard box that gets thrown away, you get a utlilitarian item that would work well as a quick-fix toolkit, a home for a rotary tool, or even a lunchbox to drag with you to a LAN party. By making the container itself useful, Hiper actually gets more free advertising as you drag it around.

Opening the top of the container reveals a tray with several compartments and a few of the cables. Pull the tray out and there is the manual, and under that is the PSU itself with more cables laying next to it. The PSU is nestled in a foam cutout that keeps it stable and off the sides of the container.

The 72 page manual with the embossed cover is by far the best looking I've ever seen with a power supply, but looks can be deceiving. Only the first 8 pages are in English and a lot of that consists of warnings and pin assignments. I can appreciate taking the effort to include the manual, other manufacturer's usually slip in a folded up piece of paper or nothing at all.

Specs

Before I go any further, here are the specs on the Type-R 580W from Hiper:

Features:

• Unique user friendly modular design to reduce excess cables
• Ultra quiet 14db noise
• Patented design device extension cables
• Supports ATX up to v2.2 & Intel BTX configuration
• Complies with all Intel & AMD CPU specification requirements
• Gold Plated connector, preventing rust & bad connection
• High efficiency APFC (Active Power Factor Correction)
• Connects up to 4 SATA HDD + 8 other component devices
• Two Dedicated PCI-E connectors
• EZ-Grip Molex connectors.

Power Train:

• 580Watt continuous output. (Peak Load 630 watts)
• Newest ATX 2.2 with 2 x 12V connection

Chassis:

• Full 1.0 mm Japanese Steel
• Complete Mesh Body
• High Gloss Titanium Coating

Cooling System:

• Active Thermal Controlled Circuitry
• 120 mm Long Life Chromed Blade Fan with LED
• 80 mm Long Life Chromed Blade Fan with LED
• Power-Off Component Protection design

Power Delivery:

• Aviation Type heavy duty Enamel Modular Connector (Patent Pending)
• exTension Device Connection Cable(Patented Design)
• UL/CE/TUV Grade Cables
• Gold Plated Connector Pins
• Braided Power Cables
• EZ On/Off Connectors
• Serial ATA Connector

Stability System:

• Active Power Factor Correction

Electrical Protection:

• Over Voltage Protection Circuitry
• Over Current Protection Circuitry
• Short Circuit Protection Circuitry

Notice that under Features and under Stability System they list Active Power Factor Correction (Active PFC), that is incorrect. The package also states that these PSU's have APFC but they don't. I shot an email to Hiper about this and was told that the power in the United States was much more stable than the power in Europe so neither Active nor Passive Power Correction was needed. I was also told this helps keep the price down and keeps the PSU cooler by reducing circuitry that wasn't needed. They just haven't updated the container yet for North American models. Hmm, someone should come here and sit next to my desk on a hot summer day and watch the over/under voltage protection lights flicker like crazy on my UPS. Hell, all you need to do is look at a light bulb and you can see the power fluctuation.

I'm not going to fault Hiper too much for this though; I'm convinced it was just an oversight to advertise APFC as a feature and they did state they will correct it.