Internal Inspection:
Opening the unit (which will void any warranty) by removing four screws, you can see the internal components of the power supply. The layout of the components of the iGreen 500W unit is not a surprise, since many power supplies are laid out in a similar fashion. There are two large heatsinks placed in the middle where hopefully most of the heat will dissipate.
There are a few things that caught my attention. If you look at the wire coming in from the right side (which is the 120mm fan wire) you can see where it plugs in for power. The fan is replaceable if you need to replace it, or wish to change to an LED fan. Just be sure you have the correct two-pin fan connection, and not the common three-pin power connection.
On the other side of the power supply, you can see all of the power connections are hard-wired to the main PCB. This is not a surprise, but what did surprise me is how nicely the wires are sorted and connected. If you look closely you can see all the 3.3V wires are together, as are the 5V and 12V wires. Granted this is on the inside of the power supply, which a normal person should never see, but this goes to show you the time and effort that Cooler Master goes through to help ensure you are using a quality power supply.
In this side view of the components, you can see two large capacitors, as well as an IC.
Finally, we have the 120mm fan. Nothing fancy, but it is an auto-adjusting fan, so when more cooling is needed, it will speed up. This is what helps keep the noise level down to a reported 17dBA. When it does spin up to maximum speed, it is reported to be under 30dBA. At any speed, this power supply is quiet.
