[SOLVED] Artic Blue 850W Power Supply | Reviews needed

[Cubixty]

Hello guys ,

So I found this power supply on sale for £32.58 ($40.78) . Im building my first pc so I need to know if its good .

Mobo : MSI B450M Pro
CPU : Ryzen 3 1200
GPU : MSI GTX 970 Twinfrozr 4GB

Thanks!

 

[PC Tailor]

There are several red flags on this one:

1) Money - You get what you pay for with most power supplies, cheap power supplies are never good power supplies. (But equally not all expensive ones are good). I've never seen a £30-50 power supply ever be great quality.

2) If you can't find any detailed reviews, that's also a red flag, as it means it's likely not a big game player, where they don't often achieve the standards that the industry really requires. The best and biggest get tested - regularly.

3) I've never heard of Arctic Blue - if you've never heard of the brand, it's a warning sign. I equally can't see a spec sheet anywhere that shows it's certification or the make of the components used (not even Caps manufacturer) - which is another big red flag

4) It's that price, for 850W - there is no way it's a good power supply.

5) You can tell a lot by the quality of a PSU by it's warranty - For example most Seasonics come with 10 or 12 years warranty. Because they arguably are the best. And their units are fantastic quality. For example:

• Corsair VS (poor quality) = 3 years
• EVGA B1 series (E.g. 450B - poor quality) = 3 years
• Corsair RM (decent quality) = 5 years
• Seasonic Focus Plus (great quality) = 10 years
• Corsair AXi (great quality) = 10 years.
• Your PSU (from what I have seen) offers a 1 year warranty - I would avoid it like the plague!

The PSU is the component that supplies power to all other components, so it should be the last component to skrimp on, as a cheap PSU = poor quality PSU = risk to your other components. So I would never personally recommend a PSU below a tier 3 (and even then I will always aim Tier 2+). So it does depend on your budget, but paying more for your PSU on a good quality unit, does ensure the safety of your components and usually gives you a much better warranty. It's not always the case, but more cost usually means better quality from reputable brands.

I gave some recommendations on a previous post of some top quality PSUs that don't break the bank:

Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $66.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-07 11:06 EDT-0400

Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $79.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-07 11:07 EDT-0400

Power Supply: Corsair - RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $79.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-07 11:09 EDT-0400

Personally - I stand by that SeaSonic are still the brand to beat - 10 to 12 year warranty!
I have not bothered with Corsair AXi or SF for example as the above are just as good but cost much less.
Lowest tier PSU I'd be willing to recommend is a Corsair CX. But the above are much better,

 

[Cubixty]

There are several red flags on this one:

1) Money - You get what you pay for with most power supplies, cheap power supplies are never good power supplies. (But equally not all expensive ones are good). I've never seen a £30-50 power supply ever be great quality.

2) If you can't find any detailed reviews, that's also a red flag, as it means it's likely not a big game player, where they don't often achieve the standards that the industry really requires. The best and biggest get tested - regularly.

3) I've never heard of Arctic Blue - if you've never heard of the brand, it's a warning sign. I equally can't see a spec sheet anywhere that shows it's certification or the make of the components used (not even Caps manufacturer) - which is another big red flag

4) It's that price, for 850W - there is no way it's a good power supply.

5) You can tell a lot by the quality of a PSU by it's warranty - For example most Seasonics come with 10 or 12 years warranty. Because they arguably are the best. And their units are fantastic quality. For example:

• Corsair VS (poor quality) = 3 years
• EVGA B1 series (E.g. 450B - poor quality) = 3 years
• Corsair RM (decent quality) = 5 years
• Seasonic Focus Plus (great quality) = 10 years
• Corsair AXi (great quality) = 10 years.
• Your PSU (from what I have seen) offers a 1 year warranty - I would avoid it like the plague!

The PSU is the component that supplies power to all other components, so it should be the last component to skrimp on, as a cheap PSU = poor quality PSU = risk to your other components. So I would never personally recommend a PSU below a tier 3 (and even then I will always aim Tier 2+). So it does depend on your budget, but paying more for your PSU on a good quality unit, does ensure the safety of your components and usually gives you a much better warranty. It's not always the case, but more cost usually means better quality from reputable brands.

I gave some recommendations on a previous post of some top quality PSUs that don't break the bank:

Thank you for the detailed review! Im looking for a £50 PSU . Are there any that you could recommend for me? I know its not the best budget but thats all I have left :/

 

[PC Tailor]

Thank you for the detailed review! Im looking for a £50 PSU . Are there any that you could recommend for me? I know its not the best budget but thats all I have left :/

UK Based? (makes it easier for me as I am too!)

 

[Cubixty]

UK Based? (makes it easier for me as I am too!)

Yes

 

[PC Tailor]

The lowest possible tier PSU I'd ever be willing to recommend for your price budget would likely be a 2015 Corsair CXM for example. They're not the best, but they're decent enough for the price.

If I were you, I honestly would save up a bit more, and get something like a Seasonic FOCUS Plus for example, even though it is around £90, you get double the warranty! But obviously that's up to you, the CXM model 550W is currently on sale a bit on Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CP...62596962&s=gateway&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&sr=8-1

it really is the only PSU at that price range I could recommend - I would personally save up, but that's your choice ultimately. The CXM are still a good enough line and pretty well valued.

550W should be enough for yourself, the 970 recommends 500W, and those estimates are usually higher than required - obviously limits upgradeability down the line (a bit) - but you should have more than enough headroom.

 

[Cubixty]

Thank you for the help! I appreicate it