Vantec Ion2 520w Power Supply Review
June 11th, 2010 | Viewed 6674 times
This is a low cost power supply that’s been in the market for quite a while.
I thought I’d give it a try since my Gigabyte Odin GT 550w was already in a sick state.
The Product
The model is VAN-520C, which unfortunately isn’t found in Vantec’s Product Page. I can’t seem to find it on Google. 
It’s a neat looking power supply, kind of reminds me of Galaxy’s products.
The product comes with sufficient cables for most computer setup.
1x 20+4 pin
4x SATA
1x 8pin CPU (8-pin EPS12V)
1x PCI-E 6 pin
1x PCI-E 6+2 pin
6x 4 Pin peripheral (molex)
2x Floppy
My only complaint is that the 8-pin EPS12V connector is short. I’m using a Coolermaster Centurion 590 casing where the power supply is at the bottom. Getting the 8-pin EPS12V connector to reach the socket on the motherboard was a challenge. Generally I had to let the cables hug the motherboard along whatever clear path in order to reach it, not a simple drag and plug.
The ON / OFF switch isn’t one that lights up when power on, something I didn’t like as well. Fan was silent in operation all the way.
On the plus side, at least the cables are nicely sleeved in blue.
Here are some details of this power supply.
While it’s only 520w – the power supply had no problem powering my GTX 470 day and night on full load. No issues faced with this unit so far.
Conclusion
It’s a cheap power supply, I got mine for about RM 169 here in Petaling Jaya.
It does the job just fine, the price itself is an indicator that the power supply is not something that is 80 PLUS Certified.
It’s a good PSU if you are looking to cut cost.
June 14th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
wow, thats a good pricing for a PSU that handles gtx470
up to 20 amps on 12v is decent for that pricing
thats a standard 12cm fan ? noisy?
June 19th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
I have this PSU for my AMD x3 720 rig and a hd4850
its been running fine and its super silent.
its a 13.5cm fan.
July 1st, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Bro, this psu manufacturer is andyson or other manufacturer eh? Did u find out who’s the real manufacturer? Thanx
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:59 pm
[...] [...]
September 24th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
[...] on it. If you rlooking for a cheap( yet well performing) psu, I'd suggest a 550w from Tuniq. heres a review on it. __________________ OCN Water Cooling Club Official NVIDIA GeForce [...]
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:38 pm
The OEM for this unit is Topower. They’re not the best in the world but they’re not complete garbage either. Not up to the standards of Corsair but then they cost less than half the price as well. These things are about 75-78% efficient.
As good as you’ll get for the price, and great value for money all up. Reliable and will run day in and day out. Very quiet PSU if placed in a decent case (Coolermaster Sileo 500, Fractal Design R3 etc etc)
I’ve this exact model powering my HTPC.
April 9th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
This power supply is very good. The electron shaper works very smoothly to control the diameter of the electrons passed into sensitive equipments like CPU and DDR3 RAMs. I think ordinary power supply does not have this feature. I certainly notice the difference.
April 9th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
Electron shaper? Sounds weird to me dude, and belive me. It ain’t got anything a more expensive power supply from Antec, Seasonic, Corsair etc hasn’t got.
April 27th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Does the psu come with any connectors that can be used for case fans?
May 15th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
I have had it for 6 or so months and im using 1 ati 5770 and its starting to fail on me
i DO NOT rec someone getting it
May 18th, 2011 at 11:19 am
been using mine for coming to a year now, on a lower spec setup. works fine.
how is it failing on you actually? random power down?
July 22nd, 2011 at 7:23 am
[...] [...]
November 21st, 2011 at 12:35 pm
This is a pretty decent power supply for the money. Sure there are better ones available, but you pay a lot more for them.
I really like the color of the power supply wires, and they are very easy to route behind the electrolytic capacitors of the typical motherboard. The power supply comes with a small tube of wire routing glue so that you can glue the wires to the side of the motherboard case if necessary. The glue has a very nice smell as well.
December 1st, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I would like to confirm Phillip’s comments about this power supply. What finally convinced me to purchase one of these supplies and not another brand was the reports of the sweet smelling glue.
December 3rd, 2011 at 7:02 pm
These power supplies are very strong and capable. Recently, I had a very bad case of influenza and was continually coughing. At one particular time I coughed a large blob of lung phlegm up and it shot out of my mouth and splattered onto the intake side of the power supply fan. Man, this power supply took the insult in its stride. The RPMs of the fan slowed down briefly whilst it processed the phlegm and then it regained its normal RPM and nothing else untoward happened.
Not many power supply manufacturers go to the trouble of designing in protection from lung phlegm. Vantec deserve a lot of kudos for this mighty power supply.