Technologies such as Nvidia's SLI and ATI's Crossfire, coupled with a new generation of dual core processors, have helped usher in a new era of graphics nirvana. Rendering speeds and features that were near unfathomable a few short years ago are now a reality for all to enjoy. For many though, the path to this digital utopia can be riddled with headache and pitfalls. The reason? Power. Long gone are the days when a decently performing video card could easily be powered off the bus in which it was seated. These days, the amount of power these hungry beasts need to perform their magic can only be appeased by having their own direct link to the power supply. This in turn has put forth a burden on power supply makers to beef up their 12V output to meet the hardware's demands.

Enter Mushkin. That's right; the company who's known the world over for their “enhanced” memory module offerings has decided to try their hand at the power market. One has to wonder why they decided to enter an ever crowding market. In Mushkin's own words “We got so good at building memory, we decided to go on a power trip”. And boy what a good trip this looks to be. Much like their memory, Mushkin looks to again be aiming squarely for the enthusiast segment with their XP-650; a modular, SLI capable, 650 Watt PSU. To combat the ever increasing 12V demand, the XP-650 offers 4 independent 12V rails (QuadRail), each capable of supplying 20A each for a total of 528 W of power. The unit also employs a feature called “RailFusion” which allows it to combine the +12V rails to provide ample power and prevent overcurrent shutdowns. And to top everything off, the modular design includes shielded cables and LED fans.

n paper, the XP-650 looks to be a quality unit capable of running some of the most powerful and demanding desktop hardware available to date. Today we'll be putting this unit through the paces to see just how well it actually handles outside of a paper environment.