EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G2 PSU Review

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Wow. Ripple behavior is fantastic.

I would like to see another test. I had a PC with a Coolermaster PSU and 4 HD which were put to sleep mode/hibernation. Sometimes when the 4 HD were powered up the PC hanged, because the 4 HD demanded so much transient power that it threw the PSU voltages out of specs.

I was thinking that I had a great PSU, but it was expensive garbage.
 
i don't get it... isn't this like trying to sell a Ferrari with only 3 cylinders to appeal to the sub-$100,000 clientele?
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The problem is that all of the best-built, best-featured PSUs were being made in 850, 1000, 1200, 1600W variants. If you had just a modest system, something mid-range, you either had to get a PSU that was way overkill, or you had to settle for PSUs that weren't so well built, or as efficient, or as fully-featured. So, this is an attempt to distribute very high-quality products to more of the market. And I am 110% A-Okay with that.
 
i don't get it... isn't this like trying to sell a Ferrari with only 3 cylinders to appeal to the sub-$100,000 clientele?
Click to expand...

The problem is that all of the best-built, best-featured PSUs were being made in 850, 1000, 1200, 1600W variants. If you had just a modest system, something mid-range, you either had to get a PSU that was way overkill, or you had to settle for PSUs that weren't so well built, or as efficient, or as fully-featured. So, this is an attempt to distribute very high-quality products to more of the market. And I am 110% A-Okay with that.
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I agree with this to some extent because there are and were tons of PSU's made by Seasonic. Whether they were Antec units or XFX units OEM'd by Seasonic or not.. They were made by Seasonic. Now, as for fully modular, gold rated variants, those were and still are far and few between. However there are tons of Bronze semi-modular/none modular units which are great for mid-range builds.

I actually own this unit and used it in a build with a 960. I got it right when it came out and for it's price, it offered a ton. I live in Canada and PSU's are way over-priced and the prices make no sense on them. But this unit was priced extremely well likely due to it's availability so I picked one up. No problems and I am glad EVGA is filling this market void. Good on em.
 
this scenario is covered by the transient response tests, which I conduct in page #7 of the review.
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There is something buggy with this design. I load all the article pages on new tabs, to save time, but some times an entire page doesn't load, or only loads partially; it stops "expanding".

I tend to have problem with the graphics.
 
i don't get it... isn't this like trying to sell a Ferrari with only 3 cylinders to appeal to the sub-$100,000 clientele?
Click to expand...
Maybe you have the common misconception about "good quality" PSU being only about maximum power.

Is understandable because the practical importance of the tests run is not well explained.

PSUs articles should expand some information about the practical consequences of having a bad result on each test.
 
i don't get it... isn't this like trying to sell a Ferrari with only 3 cylinders to appeal to the sub-$100,000 clientele?
Click to expand...
Maybe you have the common misconception about "good quality" PSU being only about maximum power.

Is understandable because the practical importance of the tests run is not well explained.

PSUs articles should expand some information about the practical consequences of having a bad result on each test.
Click to expand...

I agree with that last sentence. Great response to a seriously daft comment :)
 
Great.... now we can buy a G2 550 watter for the same price as the G2 750 .... the 750 watt models from EVGA always seem to have a rebate running. My son bought a 1000 watter cause it was cheaper than a 750 / 850. At it's current price, I certainly would never buy one. And ... a B2 750 is half the price.

G2 550 - $89.99
http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=111661

G2 750 - $89.99 after rebate
http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=94405manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1276

Tho to be frank, if a user is doing a single card system that only needs 550 watts, I am more likely to recommend a $45 B2 750. The build quality between G2 and B2 is comparable and the $45 may oft be better spent elsewhere.

The Ferrari rating is perhaps a bit off but more apt I think would be buying a Ferrari to drive 2.3 miles to the train station so you can commute to work each day by railroad. Will you benefit in any way from performance at actual system wattage ?

For example, as PSU's generally see wide voltage variance the closer you get to the rated wattage, the more variation you see. With both the B2 750 and G2 550 at 550 watts, the B2 750 has better voltage regulation on all 3 rails.

So yes, if a user goes by brand names / model lines or tier lists, then yes a G2 will seem a better choice. Will a 550 watt system put enough load on a system to gain an actual benefit from spending twice as much money ? That's not going to be as easy an answer. Build quality is the same, voltage regulation is actually better at half the price.

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=97531&vpn=110-B2-0750-VR&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1444

B2 9.0 Performance / 9.5 build quality
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=393

G2 10.0 Performance / 9.5 build quality
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=380
 


Can't leave us hanging w/o reason why :) ... Recognizing of course that Seasonic RMA process is terrible and cost will always be more with Seasonic's premium lines. Then again I hate those extra 3 end silly PCI-E cables that EVGA provides .... always afraid someone is going to overload them when adding a 2nd GFX card.

Reason I ask is I have 2 users with 750 watt (twin 970s air cooled) and 1000 watt (twin 980 Tis, custom loop, dual pump) watter builds coming up ... down to these two for the 1000 watter

Seasonic Snow / Silent Series or EVGA G2 Series .... so far leaning towards the Snow on the 1000 watter and the G2 on the 750.




But this is a $90 G2, which based upon above, which you would buy over the $60 Seasonic. I haven't used the GS series, yet ... surprised to have seen so few reviews.

As a new entry in the game, EVGA has been making big use of the rebate thing, no doubt to gain market share but that comes at the expense of profit margins.

I love it because I take advantage of it a lot and it does force the competition to do the same. But.... ya gotta wonder.... how much can they cut on the lower wattage models and how long will they continue to run these rebates.

 
@jacknaylorpe

For overclocking, that low ripple is most important to me and I would gladly pay a premium for that. I have a few Golden Greens (aka B2, Capstone) and they are nice but they are not in the same league as the LEADEX.
 


Well, it's not really at Ferrari prices. (That would be $200 or so?) If you're not overclocking and you're running only a single GPU, especially a Intel/Nvidia system, you're probably seeing your system max out at 300-350 Watts. That setup probably describes 75% of even home-built computers. And people running that would like a solid power supply to run their build without having to buy a 1000 Watt PSU to get nice features and good build quality, then having to deal with lousy efficiency.

In Mini-ITX builds, modularity and efficiency are both key features. Cable management can be really challenging, and being able to detach the cables and set them up before you have to put the PSU in can be a lifesaver. I just built my dad a computer with a Cooler Master Elite 130 case and a 450 Watt Seasonic G-series PSU and I had tons of trouble keeping the 2 hardwired cables out of the way of the CPU fan. And once I put the PSU in, it was almost impossible to reach in and adjust the cables. Also, in such a enclosed environment, the smaller heat footprint of a low power, high efficiency PSU is highly desirable. And in a hotter environment, a PSU that uses high quality components can be very important.

So I suppose I would say you're buying build quality more than anything else. A Ferrari isn't really the best really the best comparison since it's all about performance(and they have a reputation for being in the shop quite frequently.) The 550W might sacrifice a a few high performance features, but it still get something that's still very full featured at a price and specs that make sense for your average customer. It's more expensive than the "bargain" options, but provides better value. If I was going to compare it to cars, I would compare it to a mass market Tesla

My next build will be a Mini-ITX Skylake build and this would be a great PSU for it. Unfortunately, I've only found one webshop here in Japan that carries the EVGA PSUs and they only have the lower quality ones.
 
 


If ripple is your concern, the G2 550 is certainly a winner. The Leadex Gold is one of the few platforms that can actually be said to give Delta a run for their money.

I'd put ripple 2nd to voltage stability but it doesn't matter. The G2 750 will certainly have better ripple than the B2 750 at full load. But the part you are leaving out is that ripple rises the closer you get to max load. PSUs are at their peak performance point efficiency wise at half load. Similarly, ripple of the 750 watt B2 under a 500 watt load is much much lower than it is at the 750 watt load. This is not something that will be factored in going by tier lists or platforms and something that can easily be wasted going with anything less than a motherboard which can match this low noise level.





As for the 300 - 350 watts, a single GFX card can pull over 350 watts, and that's before it's overclocked
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_980_Ti_G1_Gaming/28.html

- Intel 4690k can easily pull 135 watts overclocked

- Intel 5830k can easily pull 235 watts overclocked

- Gigabyte 980 Ti can pull 295 - 359 @ out of the box .... and the power limit on that card can be raised 20% w/ Afterburner, so we're talking 354 - 431.

As for efficiency, to operate at peak efficiency on a 550 watts PSU, that would be a 275 watt load. A 4790k (88 watts) and GTX 970 (192 watts) will reach that before overclocking. While I am in now way knocking the G2 or the choice of a 550 watt PSU. If concerned about heat and efficiency...and budget, a larger / cheaper PSU **may** give you more of those things.

An overclocked 4690k (135), one overclocked 970 (212) and say 40 watts for rest of system would equal say 387 watts. So while a 450 - 500 watter would suffice, if ya catch a deal on a larger unit, it is certainly worth considering. A similarly 80+ rated 750 watt unit would be more efficient, product less heat and, most likely, have lower ripple / better voltage regulation.
 
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