Best PSUs (Archive)

[Guest]

Here are the best power supplies for gaming PCs. These PSUs offer the best reliability, performance and protection for your components.


Best PSUs : Read more

 

[adamovera]

Archived comments are found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3067995/psus.html

 

[Gam3r01]

Good to see the RMx units getting some light.

 

[LOL92]

why not supernova T2 1600W for best 1600w category??

 

[Samer1970]

What happened to PC power and cooling ? they were the best in old times , even better than seasonic.

 

[fadirocks]

I have the Ultra X4 Special Edition 1000 Watt 80 PLUS Bronze, still working great and I got it for $60 after a rebate

 

[Aris_Mp]

Supernova 1600 T2: Haven't test it so far for Tom's. I have evaluated its Super Flower sibling, the Super Flower Leadex Titanium 1600W, which however didn't outperform the EVGA 1600 P2.

PC Power & Cooling belonged to OCZ for a while and it was sold afterwards to Firepower. They use third OEM platforms for many years now. In my main PC I have a PPCMK3S1200 (made by Super Flower) which runs fine for some years now.

 

[bit_user]

I've been running a SS-860XP2 860 W fully modular 80+ Platinum PSU for 3 years. Currently, it's $190 ($170 after rebate). It's semi-passive (can optionally run fanless to 30%), and doesn't begin to spin the fan above idle until 50%.

Sorta refutes the claims on the Silent Snow line about Seasonic being noisy and poor value for money. Granted, I'm never maxing it, so I can't say how noisy it is under full load.


I also have a SS-460FL2 460 W fanless modular 80+ Platinum PSU, on an i3 system. Yeah, fanless. Current street price is $110.


Both have 7 year warranty. Why is warranty at the very bottom? I'd put it right below Modular, and above the fold.

 

[superninja12]

the seasonic prime series will dominate this whole topic in a few days...

 

[1rishPredator]

I have the Corsair AX 1200i and it's the only component that I will never change when I upgrade. I hope it lasts forever...

 

[turkey3_scratch]

the seasonic prime series will dominate this whole topic in a few days...

The Prime series was reviewed by HardOCP and Kitguru so far. It's nothing you haven't seen really; take the Seasonic Platinum units, make it Titanium efficiency. My most voiced complaint was the poor transient response performance shown in HardOCP's testing, which is unacceptable for a unit of its price and prestige.

The Prime Series is still great, but Best PSUs takes into account price/performance, where it may be outmatched.

 

[lunyone]

Some day we will get affordable options than the ones that were given out by certain manufacturers. I know that if I spend $100 on a 550w PSU I better have a good PSU. Most people are going to buy in the $50-65 range for a 550w PSU, since it makes budget sense to do so. I don't skimp on PSU's, but I do try and make sure that I have at least an 80 PLUS Bronze PSU, so the efficiency is still good and usually if it meets the 80 PLUS Bronze spec, it usually is made with mostly decent parts.

 

[WFang]

anyone know when the Seasonic Prime 600W (the fanless one), will ACTUALLY be available for purchase?

 

[timeconsumer]

So the Corsair RM550X and the EVGA 550 G2 both score 88.11 on the relative performance chart, yet the EVGA 550 G2 scored much higher on the performance per dollar chart 161.53 vs 129.23 and the RM550X gets the nod for best in that power category? I get there's a couple of advantages, 10 year warranty vs 7 year, hold up time, and the Corsair has quieter performance due to low fan usage, but as far as voltage regulation and ripple they are neck-and-neck (even a slight advantage to the EVGA in the 12v regulation and ripple arena). I'll take the EVGA for $10 less anytime considering they both are top-tier performers.

 

[logainofhades]

I will stick with recommending the Evga B2 750w for a lower budget, modular, PSU, unless something else is absolutely necessary, due to size constrictions, or something more powerful is needed.

 

[Gam3r01]

^^

 

[turkey3_scratch]

So the Corsair RM550X and the EVGA 550 G2 both score 88.11 on the relative performance chart, yet the EVGA 550 G2 scored much higher on the performance per dollar chart 161.53 vs 129.23 and the RM550X gets the nod for best in that power category? I get there's a couple of advantages, 10 year warranty vs 7 year, hold up time, and the Corsair has quieter performance due to low fan usage, but as far as voltage regulation and ripple they are neck-and-neck (even a slight advantage to the EVGA in the 12v regulation and ripple arena). I'll take the EVGA for $10 less anytime considering they both are top-tier performers.

I think the EVGA G2 units were pulled due to suspicions that they may be dropping the PWR_OK signal at an unsafe voltage. However, I have thoroughly analyzed the situation and have deduced that most likely the 650 G2 drops the PWR_OK signal at an unsafe voltage whereas the 550 G2 does not. I had the other ones in the back of my head but have forgotten. I'd have to look it up again. But anyway, once it was discovered that OEMs were doing this stuff Aris decided it was unacceptable for a high-end PSU to dorp the PWR_OK signal at an unsafe voltage. The ATX specification is there for a reason, so a unit failing to both have proper AC_LOSS to DC_LOSS and also failing to shut off the PWR_OK signal more than 1ms before there is an out of spec voltage is failing two parts of the ATX specification.