Cooler Master Ultimate 1100

Ultimate power for any hardcore rig.

It wins (in equal place with two others) the game of Big Willy. Sadly, we’ve got a few reservations about it. You see, the Cooler Master Ultimate 1100 uses a strange, non-standard power socket which can handle 16 amps instead of the normal 10 amp sockets (and by extension, cables) that we’re all used to.

This, we’ll begrudgingly admit, is a kind of good-ish thing (see conclusion). However, the downside is that you’ll always have to keep a close eye on your power cable at LANs, because if you grab any normal power cable by mistake during bump out (or somebody else grabs yours), you won’t be able to plug your computer in when you get home.

This will result in frantic, expletive-laden phone calls, amusement for your mates and anger for you. You won’t be able to just pull a power cable out of your box of assorted bits for your computer anymore.

It’s not modular either, which you’ll wish it was the moment you start attempting to do some cable management in your case. There’s a deep sea squid worth of power tentacles (get your mind out of the gutter) attached to this thing that are about as easy to manage as they are to detach. Which they don’t.
Despite its annoying usability flaws, however it’s a solid contraption, and passed out testing in style.