[SOLVED] Are powerman power supplies good?

[Insane Potatoz]

Hey everyone. I stumbled across an eBay listing for an open box 450w Powerman PSU.
I’ve seen these power supplies in some prebuilt machines I think and have seen Brain from Tech Yes City use them.
Are they good enough to be used in an entry level system with maybe an i5/i3 and RX 470?
Here’s the exact model I saw: https://www.ebay.com/itm/333264669507
Thanks for the help!

 

[drivinfast247]

I wouldn't.

 

[Karadjgne]

Some Powerman psus are made in house by in-Win, but most are FSP made units. Figure on them being a step down from the Seasonic S12-II and as such really aren't that good for a modern pc, you'd be better off looking for a decent budget psu like the new CX 550w (black/silver, not black/green lettering)

 

[DSzymborski]

These are ancient and only really suitable for office PCs. Inwin used to stuff these particular ones in their cheap cases like a decade ago and were the very bottom of their barrel. This is completely inappropriate for an RX 470 build and as a cheaply-made, group-regulated PSU without active PFC, probably inappropriate for even an office machine since Haswell. Inwin/Powerman had much better PSUs than this one.

$33 is an insane price, anyway. The correct price is however much you would charge them for the effort of taking it to your local waste disposal's plant electronic recycling program.

 

[Karadjgne]

And I was trying to be nice, but there it is in all its black and white brutal bluntness.

group-regulated PSU without active PFC

Aren't passive pfc illegal now? Thought I read that somewhere...

 

[DSzymborski]

And I was trying to be nice, but there it is in all its black and white brutal bluntness.

You weren't wrong; there are a lot of competent Powerman/Inwin ones out there!

 

[jonnyguru]

PowerMan is InWin. They're typically not bad.

The one you linked only has 360W on the +12V rail.

It also doesn't have APFC, which means it's probably about 10+ years old since lack of PFC has been deemed "illegal" by almost every certification body.

So, bottom line, anyone considering buying this for a PC with parts from this decade is making a really bad decision.

 

[Karadjgne]

Actual best decision made so far, was Op asking before buying. Far too often see posts starting with 'I just bought this.......'

 

[DSzymborski]

Actual best decision made so far, was Op asking before buying. Far too often see posts starting with 'I just bought this.......'

And then when something is criticized, indignantly replying that there's no way they can return anything now! I love those.

"Hey, what kind of car should I buy? I just bought a Honda Civic."
"Is it safe to take 20 ibuprofen? I just took 40."
"Should I go to Italy on vacation? I came back from my vacation to Italy last week."

(Sorry to derail your topic, OP, but if JG wades in and offers his opinion, there's not much else to say; you'll never find anyone participating in any forum with more expertise and you would ignore his advice at your peril)

 

[Insane Potatoz]

Wow thanks for all he answers! I love all the discussion that was going on!
I was slightly considering one of these power supplies, but I assumed they weren’t that good. So thanks for confirming it for me.