Question Is this a reliable PSU?

[atanaskovicveljko80]

I found this PSU in the PSU tier list in the A tier. Is that list fully reliable? I can't find many reviews of this unit online, so can anyone confirm its quality. The PSU is Chieftec Chieftronic PowerPlay GPU-650FC 650W. I am buying it here https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/chieftec-chieftronic-powerplay-gpu-650fc-650w/1753725.

 

[COLGeek]

That PSU only has a 3 year warranty. I would not recommend.

 

[Aeacus]

I found this PSU in the PSU tier list in the A tier. Is that list fully reliable?

PSU Tier lists are more like guidelines, than actual rules.

That PSU only has a 3 year warranty. I would not recommend.

Official specs say 5 years (60 months).

I can't find many reviews of this unit online

No reviews = crap quality PSU, unless otherwise proven by (reputable) PSU review.

PSU's official specs site has several links to the reviews of that unit,
specs: https://www.chieftec.eu/products-detail/182/PowerPlay_Gold_SERIES/252/GPU-650FC

Overall, Chieftec isn't known to make good and reliable PSUs.
That much you can actually see from the warranty period it has been given, only 5 years.

PSU reliability vs warranty length in a nutshell:
up to 2 years - terrible reliability
3 years - poor reliability (e.g Corsair VS/CS)
5 years - mediocre reliability (e.g Be Quiet! Straight Power 11, Seasonic G12, Corsair CX/CXF)
7 years - good reliability (e.g Seasonic Core/Focus GM, Corsair TX/AX)
10 years - great reliability (e.g Seasonic Focus GX/PX, Corsair RMx/HX/HXi/AXi)
12 years - superb reliability (e.g Seasonic Vertex/PRIME)

So, if you want good and reliable PSU, look towards: Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium.

(My 3x PCs are also powered by Seasonic. I have 2x PRIME TX-650 units and one Focus PX-550 unit. Full specs with pics in my sig.)
(And to add to that, my oldest Seasonic PSU is now 8 years old while still going strong. Since it has 12 years of warranty, the longest there is, this is what i call a reliable PSU. On top of that, 8 years ago, when i bought it, it was the best 650W PSU money could buy. So, there's that as well.)

 

[atanaskovicveljko80]

PSU Tier lists are more like guidelines, than actual rules.


Official specs say 5 years (60 months).


No reviews = crap quality PSU, unless otherwise proven by (reputable) PSU review.

PSU's official specs site has several links to the reviews of that unit,
specs: https://www.chieftec.eu/products-detail/182/PowerPlay_Gold_SERIES/252/GPU-650FC

Overall, Chieftec isn't known to make good and reliable PSUs.
That much you can actually see from the warranty period it has been given, only 5 years.

PSU reliability vs warranty length in a nutshell:
up to 2 years - terrible reliability
3 years - poor reliability (e.g Corsair VS/CS)
5 years - mediocre reliability (e.g Be Quiet! Straight Power 11, Seasonic G12, Corsair CX/CXF)
7 years - good reliability (e.g Seasonic Core/Focus GM, Corsair TX/AX)
10 years - great reliability (e.g Seasonic Focus GX/PX, Corsair RMx/HX/HXi/AXi)
12 years - superb reliability (e.g Seasonic Vertex/PRIME)

So, if you want good and reliable PSU, look towards: Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium.

(My 3x PCs are also powered by Seasonic. I have 2x PRIME TX-650 units and one Focus PX-550 unit. Full specs with pics in my sig.)
(And to add to that, my oldest Seasonic PSU is now 8 years old while still going strong. Since it has 12 years of warranty, the longest there is, this is what i call a reliable PSU. On top of that, 8 years ago, when i bought it, it was the best 650W PSU money could buy. So, there's that as well.)

Thank you for an amazing answer! Could you maybe recommend a good PSU in the price range of the one i mentioned?

 

[Aeacus]

Could you maybe recommend a good PSU in the price range of the one i mentioned?

There are none.

~27,000 FT - Crosair CX 550, fully-wired: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/corsair-cx-series-cx550-550w-v2/2222464
5 year warranty and mediocre quality. Good if you have office PC without dedicated GPU. But for any PC with dedicated GPU (e.g gaming PC), this PSU doesn't have enough build quality.

~36.500 FT - Corsair CX 750, fully-wired: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/corsair-cx-series-cx750-750w-v2/2222465
Same as CX-550 above, but this one is 750W unit.

~44,000 FT - Corsair RM 650, fully-modular: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/corsair-rm-series-rm650-650w-cp-9020280-eu/2222930
10 year warranty and mediocre quality. Probably the best option for you. Should suffice. Better than Corsair CX-series but lesser than Seasonic Focus.

~49,500 FT - Seasonic Focus 750, semi-modular: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/seasonic-ssr-750fm-750w/2332599
7 year warranty and good quality. But this is the original Focus PSU and as of right now, is discontinued.

~57.000 FT - Seasonic Focus GX-750, fully-modular: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/seasonic-focus-gx-750w-pcie5/2229023
10 year warranty and good quality PSU. Also currently in production and would be my default suggestion for anyone.

~70.000 FT - Corsair RMx 750, fully-modular: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/corsair-rm750x-750w-pcie5/2319238
10 year warranty and good quality. Also one of my suggestions for PSU to any gaming PC.

~91,500 FT - Seasonic PRIME TX-650: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/seasonic-prime-tx-650w/1779455
This is my PSU. 12 years warranty and best offered by Seasonic. I have it powering both my Skylake build and my Haswell build (missus'es PC) as well.

As you can see, paying little (~35,000 FT) and expecting good PSU doesn't happen.
Good quality PSUs cost more since they are made up from better components and designed to last many years longer than cheaper PSUs. On top of that, good quality PSU keeps your whole system safe, by providing in-spec voltages for your components.

Keep in mind, that: Since PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC.
Hence, never cheap out on PSU! Also, never buy used PSU either.

But if you want good and cheap PSU, you'll have to buy 2 PSUs: the cheap one and the good one.

 

[--SID--]

Dispite the short warranty the Chieftec is a very high quality PSU.
Review of the 650w https://www.overclockers.ua/power/chieftronic-powerplay-gpu-650fc/ and https://www.tweakpc.de/hardware/tests/netzteile/chieftec_chieftronic_powerplay_650/s01.php
More advanced review of the 750w https://www.techpowerup.com/review/chieftronic-powerplay-750-w/

~36.500 FT - Corsair CX 750, fully-wired: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/corsair-cx-series-cx750-750w-v2/2222465
Same as CX-550 above, but this one is 750W unit.

It's not the same as CX550. While the CX550 has group regulation the CX750 has DC-DC on 3,3v and 5v. Both are relabled Corsair CV units so Corsair is cheating with this units to call it CX. With CX (without M) at least you expect a PSU with the build quality of the former CX which had a LLC + DC-DC platform from CWT and Great Wall. Instead Corsair chose to downgrade the platform to what it is now.

~44,000 FT - Corsair RM 650, fully-modular: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/corsair-rm-series-rm650-650w-cp-9020280-eu/2222930
10 year warranty and mediocre quality. Probably the best option for you. Should suffice. Better than Corsair CX-series but lesser than Seasonic Focus.

This is the 2023 model of the Corsair RM and a relabled RMe with the same HEC platform and the same annoying fan noise. Don't know what it is with the fan of this RM and Rme but I don't like it and many others with me. Warranty is 7 years instead of 10. For this price it's way to expensive.

~49,500 FT - Seasonic Focus 750, semi-modular: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/seasonic-ssr-750fm-750w/2332599
7 year warranty and good quality. But this is the original Focus PSU and as of right now, is discontinued.

Focus Plus Gold with the Focus Plus Gold OCP and ripple issue. Not a unit I would recommand for a 50% higher price than the Chieftec.

~57.000 FT - Seasonic Focus GX-750, fully-modular: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/seasonic-focus-gx-750w-pcie5/2229023
10 year warranty and good quality PSU. Also currently in production and would be my default suggestion for anyone.

~70.000 FT - Corsair RMx 750, fully-modular: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/corsair-rm750x-750w-pcie5/2319238
10 year warranty and good quality. Also one of my suggestions for PSU to any gaming PC.

~91,500 FT - Seasonic PRIME TX-650: https://iponcomp.com/shop/product/seasonic-prime-tx-650w/1779455
This is my PSU. 12 years warranty and best offered by Seasonic. I have it powering both my Skylake build and my Haswell build (missus'es PC) as well.

Way out of the budget for OP and sounds a bit like Seasonic propaganda

As you can see, paying little (~35,000 FT) and expecting good PSU doesn't happen.

It does happen, the Chieftec is fine.

 

[Aeacus]

Warranty is 7 years instead of 10.

Official specs say 10 year warranty,
link: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/p/psu...ly-modular-psu-eu-cp-9020194-eu#tab-techspecs

Dispite the short warranty the Chieftec is a very high quality PSU.

While good quality, but not that reliable. Else-ways, it would have longer warranty. Chieftec isn't the only one doing this. Be Quiet! has also released otherwise good PSU but with short warranty than one would expect of otherwise fine PSU. So, there must be some reason why the warranty is shorter than that of a competitors.

Way out of the budget for OP

Feel free to go over the shop OP linked and suggest something on your own, rather than critiquing of what i suggested.

 

[--SID--]

Official specs say 10 year warranty,
link: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/p/psu...ly-modular-psu-eu-cp-9020194-eu#tab-techspecs

That's not the RM650 you linked. You linked https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/p/psu/cp-9020280-eu/rm-series-rm650-650-watt-80-plus-gold-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-eu-cp-9020280-eu

While good quality, but not that reliable. Else-ways, it would have longer warranty. Chieftec isn't the only one doing this. Be Quiet! has also released otherwise good PSU but with short warranty than one would expect of otherwise fine PSU. So, there must be some reason why the warranty is shorter than that of a competitors.

Warranty is payed by the customer. The longer the warranty, the higher the price of the PSU. That's why Seasonic Prime and Vertex are that expensive. The quality is not that much better to justify the high price.

Feel free to go over the shop OP linked and suggest something on your own, rather than critiquing of what i suggested.

I did earlier. The Chieftec is not OPs own idea https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/which-psu-is-better-for-this-build.3867164/post-23401366

 

[COLGeek]

@--SID-- is on to something regarding the price/warranty. In this case, the Chieftec carries a lower price to match the shorter warranty period.

Personally, I would pass on this one. It is up to the OP whether this is a major factor, or not.

 

[Aeacus]

That's not the RM650 you linked. You linked https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/p/psu/cp-9020280-eu/rm-series-rm650-650-watt-80-plus-gold-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-eu-cp-9020280-eu

Yeah, that's Corsair for you. Releasing different PSUs under same model name without end user being able to make sense between different PSUs.
E.g:
RM650, 5 year warranty: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/p/psu...old-certified-fully-modular-psu-cp-9020054-na
RM650, 7 year warranty: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/p/psu...lly-modular-atx-power-supply-eu-cp-9020280-eu
RM650, 10 year warranty: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/p/psu...-fully-modular-psu-cp-9020194-na#tab-overview

Seen same happen with Corsair TX and TXm series as well.
And entire current CX-series is made by CWT and Great Wall, where one has no clue which OEM PSU they are getting when buying CX-series,
e.g CX450 review: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-cx450-psu,5678.html

With these kinds of shenanigans, eventually, it would be best to avoid Corsair completely.

That's why Seasonic Prime and Vertex are that expensive. The quality is not that much better to justify the high price.

Yet, Seasonic Vertex/PRIME PSUs do last a long time. So, the 12 year warranty they have, is justified. Since how else you'd explain that Seasonic PSUs are known to be reliable and durable?

E.g my oldest Seasonic PRIME 650 (80+ Titanium) [SSR-650TD] PSU is now 8+ years old. Initially, it came with 10 year warranty but shortly after, Seasonic extended the warranty of all PRIME units to 12 years, both to the ones that are currently being sold and what have been already purchased.

The new Seasonic Titanium platform is awesome! The 650W Prime model offers amazing performance in all areas and super high efficiency. Hands down this is the best 650W unit money can buy today and on top of that it is dead silent, even under worst case scenarios.

Mythical levels of voltage regulation, 30+ms hold up time, less than 20 ms ripple on any rail, highest efficiency there is, dead silent operation, 12 year warranty.
IMO, well worth the money it costs.
Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/seasonic-prime-titanium-650w-psu,4690.html

So, if you don't believe in longer warranty period, that's you. I, in the other hand, do trust when manufacturer themselves also do trust the PSU lasing that long, by giving it 10/12 year warranty.

 

[--SID--]

And entire current CX-series is made by CWT and Great Wall

Current CX series is made by HEC!

Mythical levels of voltage regulation, 30+ms hold up time, less than 20 ms ripple on any rail, highest efficiency there is, dead silent operation, 12 year warranty.
IMO, well worth the money it costs.

If Seasonic is best why don't we find any (except for the>1250w units) in de top 20 of the HWbusters/Cybenetics charts?

 

[COLGeek]

Please stay on track, gents. This one is about helping the OP. Not a broader discussion on PSUs. Feel free to start another thread for that.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

The current CX 550 is a CV, remember that. So it has the same quirks about 650+ being DC-DC and 550 or less being group reg, basically a VS. In any case, ok but mediocre. Worse than the chieftec.

How good the chieftec is depends largely o what system you are planning to put it into. What specs are we looking at?

It's not a bad unit, and if Arris says it's satisfactory performance I wouldn't have anything against using it in a lower end or Midrange system.