The Neo HE itself is not one of the most stunning when it comes to looks, but it certainly looks nicer than a low cost unit. The colour of the whole unit is gunmetal grey and there are no flaws in the paintwork. Cooling is provided by a single 80mm fan at the rear of the PSU. This fan is speed controlled by the unit itself. You would think that a single low RPM 80mm fan isn’t enough to cool a 550 watt PSU, but the efficiency of the unit makes it generate less heat, so the 80mm should be enough.

Also located on the rear of the unit is the on/off switch. Although the unit is switching, meaning that it can work everywhere on the planet, there is no 110V/230V voltage switch as the Neo HE will automatically recognize the input AC voltage itself.

 

While the left side of the Neo HE is completely bare, the right side is mostly covered by a sticker which lists the basic specifications of the unit and precaution notes. There are also a few air ventilation holes. The rear of the Neo HE is different when comparing it to most other power supply units however as the whole surface is covered by ventilation holes. The basic cooling concept of the unit is to allow air from the rear to enter, while the 80mm fan exhausts the air to the outside of the case. There are also 5 connectors for the 5 device power cables which you can attach. The connectors are all the same since you can attach any cable to any of them and it still will work fine, as we mentioned earlier.

Here is a shot of the 20/24 pin ATX connector, like many other more recent power supplies you can switch from 20 to 24 pins with very little effort by simply remove or add the 4 pin connector.

Here you can see the ATX12V/EPS12V Compatible 4 + 4 pin +12V connector, which can be converted into an 8 pin connector for use with dual CPU motherboards etc.

Now let’s open the Neo HE up and see what’s hiding beneath the pretty exterior.
Please be aware this is not recommended, because it would void your warranty.

Cranking the Neo HE open will show you why the Neo HE is so heavy. The heatsinks of this unit are fairly large to begin with. Much attention was given when shielding wires, coils and other components, to keep them from directly touching the casing walls or anything else inside the unit. There are no voltage adjustment pots something that is rare nowadays, and we would like to see that included on high end power supply units again. The cable clutter is kept to a minimum, maximizing airflow this way. Almost nothing interferes between the rear to the front of the unit, keeping the way clear for air to enter from the rear and exhaust from the front of the unit after cooling the heatsinks.