Mercury KI 250PPS True Power SMPS Quick review

Mercury, a brand from Kobian which deals in budget-friendly IT accessories and peripherals. Lately, they have announced their low-budget power supply Mercury KI250PPS PSU and here in this quick review, we discuss for whom this power supply is meant for?

If you are planning to build your own personal PC then the PSU is the main component or you can say a firewall for all costly hardware components you have on your system. Well, the market is full of known and unknown SMPS brands from high-end Corsair, Cooler Master to low-end Intex or Zebronics like Power supply in India.

However, if we talk about Mercury which is another name in India providing power supply with a wide range of options from 250 Watts to 1450 watts, to cover a low configuration system to high gaming systems. The KI series, about which we are going to talk, is the latest edition by the Mercury, working at 250 Watts and as per the company they are targeting SOHO market with it.

The company announced a price for the PSU is ₹ 999, however as it is yet not available online while reviewing it but can easily be got from the local Computer peripherals dealers around or lower than ₹900.

Specifications:

• Total Output Power: 250W Continous Maximum
• SATA connectors for Serial ATA Drives
• Built-in long-life, 80mm Cooling Fan
• Efficiency: >70% at Full load, Nominal Line
• Hold-Up Time: > 16ms at full load, Nominal Line
• Rise TIme: <20ms at FUll load, Nominal Line
• OverPower protection : 120 % to 160 %
• Safety Protection Circuitry Prevents Damage Resulting from Short Circuits, Over Current and Over Voltage
• Surge Protector.

Design of Mercury KI 250PPS PSU

In terms of design, don’t expect to get some sexy and stylish gaming PC like Power supply, at this low price of Rs 999, we will only get a conventional silver colour metallic body SMPS and same is the Mercury KI 250PPS. The size of the PSU is standard and can be easily fit in any regular small to standard cabinets.  If I talk about its box quality then again being at this price, it is acceptable.

Inside the box of the KI 250PPS, we will find the PSU module itself and a power cord with a regular three-pin European interface.

If you consider the power connector as its front side, then the right to 230 V AC input socket it has a heat dissipation 80mm fan, which is regular in size not big nor too much small. The backside is blank with some grills to get fresh air inside the PSU to cool down its electric components. One the same side all the DC power cables coming out for the motherboard to supply electricity.

If you talk about the power supply connectors for a motherboard, the PSU comes with 20+4 pins main supply connector for motherboard along with 4-pins CPU power connector. Furthermore, to connect SATA drives it offers 3 connectors and 2 Molex connector for old PATA drives or internal devices.

By acknowledging the connectivity options available with this PSU, you can easily use it with any basic or entry-level system to attach 3 SATA hard drives or SSDs or 2 SATA drives and 1 DVD ROM.

The quality of the plastic used for the connectors is hard and durable and doesn’t bend easily, I am saying this because currently, one of my systems is running on Corsair CX 500 which is around INR 3500 on Amazon and quite good PSU even for mid-range gaming PCs but unfortunately after using it for some time now, I start getting cracks in SATA connector sides because of thin plastic. As I do testing of different SSDs or PC components so switching of then is more often than any regular user. However, the problem is with almost all SATA connectors of CX 500, that’s why I am saying this, at least the quality of plastic is good in this cheap priced Mercury PSU unit.

Performance

First, let’s talk about its fan noise, so even after using it for a month, I didn’t find any substantial noise at all which bother my work or surrounding. It was able to draw out the heat quietly. However, the overall build quality is cheap like any other SMPS available of iBall or Zebronics at this price range. 

The 12V rail of the PSU can provide a peak output of 15A which should be at least in an SMPS you are about to use with small form factor systems with 250W PSU.  Thus, it can easily support and run a standard low configuration or entry-level motherboard without a graphics card. Yes, if you are planning to run GPU or power-hungry devices along with motherboard then this is not your cup of tea. 

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Furthermore, it comes with short circuits, power overloads, in-built surge protector, overvoltage protection and also has the CB/CE/TUV certification that ensure it is safe to use as a power supply for PC systems. Also, the hold-time is 16ms which is quite good for this price range PSU. 

Interior view of a Mercury KI- 250PPS ATX SMPS:

Input filter capacitors

Large Primary and Secondary heat sinks with a transformer in between.

Output filter coil and capacitors

Verdict:

If you want a decent PSU under 1000 rupees and good quality alternative to cheap iBall and Zebronics PSUs in the 250 Watt range; then Mercury KI 250PPS PSU is a good choice for low configuration entry-level PCs running in homes and small businesses, for general purpose work. Also better than those inferior PSU units coming pre-installed with shoddy cabinets that have the propensity to cause issues in the system’s hardware.

However, if you are one who wants to use Graphic cards, power-hungry CPU or into overclocking stuff, will not recommend it to you and should go for PSU above 2500 or 3000 rupees range. Also, if you looking for slightly higher ampere at this price then VIP 400R Plus can be an option which has 20W at +12V rail. Nevertheless, the things which give an upper hand to KI 250PPS are the circuit, surge, over-voltage protection; whooping 3 years warranty and cheap price, definitely, you can go for if it satisfies your requirements. Although, it already has overpowered and surge protection, yet, we recommend to use UPS, if you have a fluctuation problem in your area.