Content Revealed, Powered by Innovation

Well it has to be said, the package itself really did already show the actual content. When unwrapping the plastic protection and removing the paper back the Spire PowerFuse is just what you could see as well through the package. Now that shouldn't really be a surprise, but somehow expected as everything is visible when looking at the package. The extra back with the Spire logo and also the features comes in quite handy to give a good view of what the product is all about. Meaning that without this you wouldn't really know what this product would be intended for, let alone that someone would even be able to guess the purpose. But, no worries there as it all clearly explained on the paper back listing all the features as well as the specifications.

Once unwrapped the PowerFuse is plain and simple, and you can somehow see it as an extension cable for the PCI Express power connection. Yes, we do mean in the most simple view without looking any further. But it is just a bit more than that, in fact this PowerFuse has just one purpose and that is to protect the current graphics card from irregular high voltages. With the current high-end graphics card being power hungry and requiring not one but two extra PCI Express power connections to deliver the best frame rates and gaming experience it makes sense that some extra protection might be useful. Having said that and due to the high power needs, also big power supplies are needed which currently already go up to 1600W. Yeah, you read that right that is twice or even triple what most users are currently using...

To make it a bit more clear on what is really included we need to detach the two main parts of the Spire PowerFuse protector. In fact, you actually get a PCI Express extension cable and the actual over voltage protector. Via this way you can disconnect the current PCI Express power connector from the graphics card, put the PowerFuse in between and use the PCI Express extension cable to go back to the graphics card. So, we would say an easy way of installation as we just explained and doing so will provide the extra protection from irregular voltage or current and equalize the ripple noise for a more stable operation. And with all the power supplies currently on the market, which are not all of the same quality in terms of the voltage and current variations this is one way of making sure the graphics card is well protected.

Over Current Protection Rate
Protection	Minimum	Average	Maximum
12V OVP	14.5V	15.2V	16.0V
Over Current Protection Rate
Protection	Minimum	Average	Maximum
12V OCP	19.0A	20.6A	23.0A

The actual specifications detailed by Spire in terms of the offered protection by the PowerFuse protector are in line with the current requirements of the mid-range and high-end graphics accelerators. Well looking at the above table it gives us a clear view on the protection provided on both the irregular voltage and current fluctuations, with the minimum and maximum levels. This means that the protection will kick in as soon as the minimum level is reached. Next to that there is a constant correction of the ripple noise happening, filtering the noise and providing a more stable and equalized operation towards the graphics card. What you all might want to know as well is that Spire is giving on their PowerFuse protector a 2 year limited warranty, which is quite extensive for such a product. So you do get great warranty, and the support services at Spire are know to be excellent on the technical side offering a great added value.

So let's have a look at the two parts of the PowerFuse, and we start with the protector as such. This part is actually the main item to be concerned about which will do the work and protect your graphics card from any irregular high voltage or current. This black box has the technology to equalize the ripple noise which is generally created by lower quality power supplies. Secondly it will take care of the protection on the voltage and current, meaning that protection will be activated if irregular voltage beyond allowance parameters is detected. And one the of the nice features as well is that this activity of the voltage protection and ripple noise filter is show by the LED indicator. So for those enthusiasts that are really in to case modding and all kinds of fancy LED's, just have one extra gadget to get for their computer.

The other part of the PowerFuse is the PCI Express cable, which is nothing more then a good looking durable power extension cable. But since such a cable is needed to be able to apply the protection module Spire didn't spare their efforts and made sure they put a very good cable in the package. In the end it all adds up to the image that Spire is giving with the PowerFuse SP162 protector. And all well considered we do feel that a good package always falls with the worst part, and in this case we can't say there is one part less good as the other, as both come with equal quality and durability. Time to stop chatting and finally put this to work on our system and see what it does...