How We Test Power Supply Units

[Guest]

Our PSU reviews explore performance, noise and temperature ratings, along with the build quality of every power supply we test. Today we introduce you to our methodology, testing equipment and benchmarks.

How We Test Power Supply Units : Read more

 

[JPNpower]

Nobody can fault you guys for not being thorough enough! All we can wish for is that you do these tests a bit more often. I'm at a loss how to navigate the PSU field, and a "Best Picks" section for PSU's would be tremendously helpful.

 

[Nuckles_56]

Really good article, it is now nice and clear how you guys go and test the power supplies, and as JPNpower said, no one can fault you guys for not being thorough enough.

 

[ykki]

@JPNpower= I also think a best psu for the money article would be nice but the power supplies in the market pretty much stay the same. We may go for months before seeing any change in the list.

 

[Kewlx25]

Interesting!

 

[damric]

Looks legit, Aris.

THW used to be the laughing stock of PSU reviews, but your recent reviews have changed all of that.

Keep up the good work!

 

[damric]

Nobody can fault you guys for not being thorough enough! All we can wish for is that you do these tests a bit more often. I'm at a loss how to navigate the PSU field, and a "Best Picks" section for PSU's would be tremendously helpful.

@JPNpower= I also think a best psu for the money article would be nice but the power supplies in the market pretty much stay the same. We may go for months before seeing any change in the list.

I'll make one and submit it through bb-71 to get stickied.

 

[ykki]

I'll make one and submit it through bb-71 to get stickied.

OK. If someone makes a psu list I'd rather see it from you (or the mods). Good luck.

 

[damric]

I'll make one and submit it through bb-71 to get stickied.

OK. If someone makes a psu list I'd rather see it from you (or the mods). Good luck.

It will be a group effort for sure

 

[iam2thecrowe]

It would be nice if all manufacturers could do this testing and publish results when they build the things, or even better for it to be a requirement. Then at least there would be less junk PSU's on the market.

 

[ykki]

It would be nice if all manufacturers could do this testing and publish results when they build the things, or even better for it to be a requirement. Then at least there would be less junk PSU's on the market.

Or more fake reviews.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

As to PSU lists, I know there has been a few around for a LONG time now. Many are not kept up and therefore lack newer PSU units and contain many PSU units no longer available on the market. SOME lists are full of opinions based on a small handful of anecdotal cases and personal biases too. The one with the most upkeep, and therefore the most up to date one I know of is over in the NewEgg EggXperts community and as far as I can tell isn't biased, but is based off solid reviews and real experiences.

https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx

Mind you though, there are some PSUs that may make Tier 3 that many will condemn as if it was a tier 5 unit for quality reasons though, such as the Corsair CX(M) series because allegedly they die as soon as the warranty runs out. I cannot personally verify that at least yet because the only unit I have of that series (a CX600) hasn't hit that time yet. It is in a 6-core i7 X79 platform with a lower end workstation GPU so power demand isn't really all that high.

It would be nice if all manufacturers could do this testing and publish results when they build the things, or even better for it to be a requirement. Then at least there would be less junk PSU's on the market.

Or more fake reviews.

I tend to agree here. Letting manufacturers test and publish the results will do no good. Look at the manufacturers, the ones that fib on how much power their PSUs will deliver: I think we could almost guarantee fake reviews there. It's bad enough when you surf the web for a review on a product and the reviews you find just vomit out what the manufacturer's marketing department released on the item, but to let them tell us how their test had something pass with flying colors when reputable testers (such as OklahomaWolf over on JonnyGuru) test the same unit and find it to be horrific.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

As to PSU lists, I know there has been a few around for a LONG time now. Many are not kept up and therefore lack newer PSU units and contain many PSU units no longer available on the market. SOME lists are full of opinions based on a small handful of anecdotal cases and personal biases too. The one with the most upkeep, and therefore the most up to date one I know of is over in the NewEgg EggXperts community and as far as I can tell isn't biased, but is based off solid reviews and real experiences.

https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx

Mind you though, there are some PSUs that may make Tier 3 that many will condemn as if it was a tier 5 unit for quality reasons though, such as the Corsair CX(M) series because allegedly they die as soon as the warranty runs out. I cannot personally verify that at least yet because the only unit I have of that series (a CX600) hasn't hit that time yet. It is in a 6-core i7 X79 platform with a lower end workstation GPU so power demand isn't really all that high.

It would be nice if all manufacturers could do this testing and publish results when they build the things, or even better for it to be a requirement. Then at least there would be less junk PSU's on the market.

Or more fake reviews.

I tend to agree here. Letting manufacturers test and publish the results will do no good. Look at the manufacturers, the ones that fib on how much power their PSUs will deliver: I think we could almost guarantee fake reviews there. It's bad enough when you surf the web for a review on a product and the reviews you find just vomit out what the manufacturer's marketing department released on the item, but to let them tell us how their test had something pass with flying colors when reputable testers (such as OklahomaWolf over on JonnyGuru) test the same unit and find it to be horrific.

Ok, so maybe they have to get an independent party to test them, and allow the public to access the results. Anything that will get the rubbish mislabeled psu's off the shelf. No other device can be mislabeled and sold based on lies, why is it the humble ATX psu can somehow circumvent the false advertising laws? Nvidia copped a lot with their 970 misinformation yet we let these PSU manufacturers get away with it?

 

[JPNpower]

@JPNpower= I also think a best psu for the money article would be nice but the power supplies in the market pretty much stay the same. We may go for months before seeing any change in the list.

There's not problem with that. As long as good units stay on the list, and discontinued units are left out, I would love such a list. 'Cause with different OEM's and brands and ratings and such, it really is a swamp.

I would love a forum effort to, and would definitely contribute what little knowledge that I have. Although, I asked for a Toms official ver. cause their montor/cpu/gpu/ssd/etc lists are so good and straightforward even to the newest of users.

 

[JPNpower]

As to PSU lists, I know there has been a few around for a LONG time now. Many are not kept up and therefore lack newer PSU units and contain many PSU units no longer available on the market. SOME lists are full of opinions based on a small handful of anecdotal cases and personal biases too. The one with the most upkeep, and therefore the most up to date one I know of is over in the NewEgg EggXperts community and as far as I can tell isn't biased, but is based off solid reviews and real experiences.

https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx

Mind you though, there are some PSUs that may make Tier 3 that many will condemn as if it was a tier 5 unit for quality reasons though, such as the Corsair CX(M) series because allegedly they die as soon as the warranty runs out. I cannot personally verify that at least yet because the only unit I have of that series (a CX600) hasn't hit that time yet. It is in a 6-core i7 X79 platform with a lower end workstation GPU so power demand isn't really all that high.

It would be nice if all manufacturers could do this testing and publish results when they build the things, or even better for it to be a requirement. Then at least there would be less junk PSU's on the market.

Or more fake reviews.

I tend to agree here. Letting manufacturers test and publish the results will do no good. Look at the manufacturers, the ones that fib on how much power their PSUs will deliver: I think we could almost guarantee fake reviews there. It's bad enough when you surf the web for a review on a product and the reviews you find just vomit out what the manufacturer's marketing department released on the item, but to let them tell us how their test had something pass with flying colors when reputable testers (such as OklahomaWolf over on JonnyGuru) test the same unit and find it to be horrific.

Ok, so maybe they have to get an independent party to test them, and allow the public to access the results. Anything that will get the rubbish mislabeled psu's off the shelf. No other device can be mislabeled and sold based on lies, why is it the humble ATX psu can somehow circumvent the false advertising laws? Nvidia copped a lot with their 970 misinformation yet we let these PSU manufacturers get away with it?

To be fair, that seems to be the whole point of the "80plus" certification. There are very few bad true 80plus PSU's I heard.

 

[chimera201]

I hope Tom's do some reviews of budget PSUs. I want to see some explosion! All you do is test high end units that caters to less than 10% of the PSU buyers

 

[coolkwc]

For the electronic load tester, it would be great if the wires connected from PSU to load tester are keep short, if not possible, as thick as possible, or multiple wires connected in parallel. It would become nasty when tested current is very high, the losses through the wiring will be greater, so basically the PSU will need to output more power than the load tester setting, in turn it will affect the efficiency reading as well. I remembered couple of PSU reviews in here revealed the efficiency reading is slightly lower than manufacturer's claim, maybe this was the culprit. Just my little opinion.

 

[Aris_Mp]

Chroma loads have current sense wires so there is no problem there. Also the cables I use are the original Chrona ones, designed specifically for this task.

 

[InvalidError]

One problem with PSU reviews is that they are testing brand-new PSUs out-of-the-box. The true long-term stability and reliability of a PSU is not known for sure until a few years of use under medium-high load.

 

[unityole]

@invalidError

samethings can be said for most electronics, its tough.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

"To be fair, that seems to be the whole point of the "80plus" certification. There are very few bad true 80plus PSU's I heard. "
Unfortunately there are psu's that have fake 80 plus logo's on them

One problem with PSU reviews is that they are testing brand-new PSUs out-of-the-box. The true long-term stability and reliability of a PSU is not known for sure until a few years of use under medium-high load.

yes, i guess thats why its important to take quality of components like capacitors, and any hot spots from poor airflow into account in the reviews also.

 

[jeffunit]

"For the Platinum and Titanium levels, they also measure efficiency with 10 percent of the PSU's max-rated capacity load."

I thought only titanium measures efficiency at 10%. From everything I have read, platinum's lowest measurement is at 20%.

 

[ko888]

As to PSU lists, I know there has been a few around for a LONG time now. Many are not kept up and therefore lack newer PSU units and contain many PSU units no longer available on the market. SOME lists are full of opinions based on a small handful of anecdotal cases and personal biases too. The one with the most upkeep, and therefore the most up to date one I know of is over in the NewEgg EggXperts community and as far as I can tell isn't biased, but is based off solid reviews and real experiences.

https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx

Mind you though, there are some PSUs that may make Tier 3 that many will condemn as if it was a tier 5 unit for quality reasons though, such as the Corsair CX(M) series because allegedly they die as soon as the warranty runs out. I cannot personally verify that at least yet because the only unit I have of that series (a CX600) hasn't hit that time yet. It is in a 6-core i7 X79 platform with a lower end workstation GPU so power demand isn't really all that high.

That list, you claim is most up to date, is definitely not up to date. Right at the top of their Tier 1 brands you see Antec Signature which has been discontinued for a while now and Sapphire Pure that doesn't exist anymore since Sapphire Technology had left the PSU business years ago. Ultra X3 is another log ago discontinued series. There's a lot of obsolete discontinued models on that list.

Some of those discontinued models, from several years ago, wouldn't even make it to Tier 1 when compared to today's best models.

 

[InvalidError]

I thought only titanium measures efficiency at 10%. From everything I have read, platinum's lowest measurement is at 20%.

Just because 80+ requires tests at certain specific point does not mean reviewers should not bother testing at additional points. Some PSU reviewers chart efficiency in 5% increments from 0% to 100% or shutdown/fail.

 

[ko888]

A stepped approximation to a sine wave UPS compatibility test would also be of benefit for those users looking for a UPS for their system.