The Cyonic AU-550x PSU Review

Introduction

Today we are getting acquainted with a new power supply unit (PSU) manufacturer, Cyonic. It is very likely that most of the people who are reading this review have never heard of the brand before. We should start by mentioning that Cyonic is a brand dealing solely in Seasonic hardware, with Seaonic one of the major PSU manufacturers worldwide. To clarify the arrangement here, Seasonic sells power supplies to companies like Cyonic to sell on and is not an uncommon way of distributing product. Although in some markets Seasonic does sell as their own brand direct to the end user. The Cyonic name and company was founded just two years ago in Asia and is reluctantly making steps into the North American markets. Cyonic's brand profile and mission statement is, in summary, that they are aiming to provide high performance products to advanced PC users. Cyonic currently offers very few products; only three series and nine PSUs total, with three of them exclusively available in Japan.

The other two series that Cyonic currently offers are the AU and AUx. Both of these series consist of three PSUs each, and the units between the two series are essentially identical, with the sole difference being that the AUx models are modular and the AU models are not. Each series has one 450W, one 550W and one 650W model - if you are looking for high power behemoths, Cyonic is the wrong brand name. Furthermore, all three PSUs in each series are based on the same platform. As such, this review of the AU-550x essentially covers the entire lineup of products that Cyonic currently offers.

Packaging and Bundle

Cyonic is supplying the AU-550x into a medium-sized, sturdy cardboard box with a striking yellow artwork theme. It offers ample protection to the small unit and all the basic specification and features are printed on its sides and rear in multiple languages.

A nice number of extra items are bundled with the AU-550x. Cyonic supplies the basic AC power cable, a multilingual manual, a quick installation guide and four black mounting screws, as well as several black cable ties, three long quality cable straps and two case stickers to choose from. Thumbscrews or a small bag for the cables would be nice, but this bundle is still better than most.

The Cyonic AU-550x is a fully modular PSU and every cable is supplied detached from the unit. With the exception of the sleeved 24-pin cable, all of the cables are "flat", ribbon-like, including the supplied Molex to Floppy connector adapter. All of the cables, including the ATX 24-pin cable, are made using black wires and black connectors.