If there’s one thing that attracts you to products on the shelf, what is it? Beyond all the reviews, word of mouth, and demonstrations – pretend you know nothing about it. Obviously, you’re going to go with something that has a professional looking box – not one that’s overly busy, but one that conveys that the manufacturer has a good idea of what’s going on, and that they’re willing to give out enough information that you’re comfortable forking out your dollars, without feeling like you’re about to sail up a creek, paddles not included. Unfortunately, for LCG, but one of these two conditions have been satisfied.

At the current time, I’d wager that these information packed boxes would sit on shelves, pining their time away next to the generic units, as customers pick over other supplies, searching for awards and merits, but finding few. What I did find on the box however, was a convenient listing of all the supply’s features, which are as follows:
150mm Blower Style Fan
Full Safety
Ultra Low Noise
High Efficiency
Nickel Plated Exterior
Overload Protection
Fulfills 12V ATX 1.3 Specifications
Overall, it’s not altogether a bad collection of features for a 350W unit. What’s really special to these units however, is the support for things such as SATA and 24 Pin ATX connectors, which, while not making up for the disappointing lack of a PCI-Express power connector, help add some overall value to the unit

Yet, the fun with these things never quite starts until they’re out of the package, so of course, that was the first thing I did. Unfortunately, due to the damages suffered during the unit’s rough ride up to me via FedEx, there were several dents, and scratches in the finish, to the extent where the casing was bent – and this was through two layers of cardboard. Now, to those wondering why there was no packaging inside, fear not, as these are likely to simply be hastily packed samples – your final version will be just fine. Examining the perimeter of the supply itself, there’s one feature that’s perhaps the most striking – airflow comes out of a narrow slit at the back, and is fed by a series of vents at the front. Along this back wall, I found a single power plug (unlike the dual ones visible on the box), as well as a voltage selector switch, and a kill switch, which, I’m happy to report is properly wired to the live line of AC power, to ensure that the unit won’t be getting any current when it’s supposed to be off.

How did I know about that wiring? Why, quite simply – whether it was from boredom, or perhaps malice, I’ve begun cracking every power supply I get around here open before the testing begins – something which allows me a first hand look at the quality of the parts inside, which will be a good indicator of the performance, and longevity of life. Unfortunately, while opening most units is simple, getting into LCG’s units is quite a pain, requiring the removal of 8 screws, then the bending of the casing to pop the squirrel cage fan out. For those interested, the fan featured inside the 350W unit is manufactured by Just Cool, and flies under the model number of M1502512L [Which can likely be decoded to 150MM Blades, 25MM thickness, 12V input, Low Speed]. Take note of the fan you see here, as it will show up again, but oh so slightly differently on the 500W model. Poking about the innards of the unit (something which you should probably never do, ESPECAILLY if the unit is plugged in, as the currents within can kill you), I can see that the Just cool fan feeds off of a pair of small heatsinks with a series of holes in them, moving different amounts of air dependant on what the internal thermal sensor reads the temperature to be. For what it’s worth, I would have preferred to see either larger heatsinks, larger holes in the heatsinks, or a combination of both. As the supply is set up now, air is more likely to flow along the top rippled surface of the heatsinks, rather than being sucked through the holes below. The significance of the holes is that the air coming through them should be warmer, as it would have traveled over searing hot componentry below, then rose. Our fears of this issue would be affirmed during testing, where the base of the unit could be felt to be quite hot, while the air coming out was barely warm. Tucked in around the base of these heatsinks are some nice, beefy capacitors and regulators – essentially no complaints here, especially with the PCB up the front of the supply, which is intended to filter incoming power, to keep it well regulated for the circuitry beyond.

Seeing how few wires exit the unit, and considering the rather low maximum output across the most demanding rail (12V), I have no qualms with the gauge of wire used in this unit. All in all, I rather like what I see inside, but I’m still a little disappointed by the ratings. The ratings of the unit are as follows

One strange thing you’ll notice with this scale is that when all the ratings are combined, the power supply is set to output 430W, instead of just 350W. Now, this is a place where I have to respect a company, for putting the true rating of a product on the box, rather than just putting down the highest number possible and hoping users won’t feed their gear that much current. My only qualm, again, is the weak 12V rail, which, at only 18A doesn’t bear many promises for overclocked scenarios – or our test bench for that matter.

As was mentioned before, the connectors found on this power supply are as follows:
20/24 Pin ATX Connector
4 Pin “P4” Auxiliary Connector
4 Molexes
2 Mini Molexes (Floppy)
1 SATA connector
<350 ATX.jpg, 350 P4.jpg, 350 SATA.jpg, 350 Molexes.jpg>

While I usually understand lesser models having lesser features, the inclusion of one, single, lone SATA connector is kind of pitiful, something which I’m sure the company will fix as these units near their final release dates. Overall, though, things look quite good for the 350W unit in this reviewer’s opinion, so all that’s left to seal the yay or nay for this unit is the performance data, which, will come up right after delving into the 500W model.