RedJaron :
[They may get buzz at this capacity, but I'd consider the mainstream enthusiast section between 450W - 650W right now. That range can safely and reliably run the vast majority of machines, even LGA 2011 or twin GPUs provided your PSU has the right cables. You only need to go above 700W if you're really pushing overclocks with two GPUs or using 3+ GPUs.
No argument there..... same thing can be said about nVidia's 960 or 970 series. But which one gets released first and which one is the one the websites wanna get their hands on. Also for whatever reason, there are an extremely small number of highly rated (jonnyguru 10 build quality / 10 performance) PSUs in the lower size ranges (see below). Vendors wanting too put their best foot forward because high ratings create the customer mindset.
Th best historical example is the IBM A20 series laptops. Every year the PC magazines had the IBM A20 on the cover and it sat at the top of every ranking. However, because of the cost, it had very few sales. However, "winning the title" created a consumer mindset that had everyone buying lower priced IBM laptops because "they were the best" even tho those lesser priced models were no where near the A20 in the performance category. Then one day some bean counter decided to drop the A20 line because low sales numbers versus cost was not that favorable as compared to the mass sales lower priced lines. IBM stopped making the magazine covers and within 2 years IBM ceased to exist as a brand name.
jonnyguru ratings
EVGA GS 650 - 8.5 performance / 9.5 build quality
EVGA GS 850 - 10.0 performance / 9.5 build quality
EVGA GS 1050 - 10.0 performance / 10.0 build quality
So if you are EVGA, knowing that the 1st PSU released in a new line will get the most reviews, which one you wanna put out there 1st ?
Look at the 3 bar charys here. 1st is the lowest 1/3, 2nd the middle tier and 3rd the highest
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/LEPA/P1700-MA/9.html
4 of the top 5 are 1600 watt units
most of the 1st 1/3 are 500 - 650
Just 2 in the top 1/3 are below 750. One of those is the Seasonic SS-520FL ... great PSU but how many want to pay for that quality at $140 ? The thing is making a PSU bigger doesn't really cost that much. It takes the same amount of labor to make a 520 versus a 1050.... the costs for shipping, packaging, overhead etc are nearly identical. Even the parts cost is small. However, people are more willing to pay more at the bigger wattages ... and not so much at the lower wattages. As a result, it's harder to justify putting the same quality materials and employing the same quality labor skill levels in the lower wattage / lower cost units.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram