Discussion PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

Page 16 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Mostly if you are buying a Super Flower branded unit, you will want to stick to the units using the Leadex, Leadex II and to some degree, the Golden green platforms. I'd also look at professional reviews as Super Flower, like Seasonic, has been guilty of farming out production on some lower end models (Especially on units made for other brands than their own) to third party manufacturing that is probably not up to par with their own manufacturing quality assurance standards.
 

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
Happened to go to the Seasonic webpage and discovered that Seasonic has released 3 new PSU lineups: Core GX, Core GM and Core GC.

On there, there's written:
The CORE Series is the brand new series that completes the Seasonic lineup. The 80 PLUS® Gold certified CORE Series comes in all three cabling setups, including the fully modular CORE GX, semi-modular CORE GM, and lastly the fixed-cabled CORE GC. The Seasonic Smart and Silent Fan Control automatically adjusts the fan speed according to the temperature inside the power supply. As part of the TUF Gaming Alliance, the CORE Series is the perfect unit to go with your gaming PC.

The availability of the CORE Series depends on your geographic locations. Please contact your local Seasonic representative for more information.
Core GX, specs: https://seasonic.com/core-gx
Core GM, specs: https://seasonic.com/core-gm
Core GC specs: https://seasonic.com/core-gc

All three series have 7 years of warranty, 80+ Gold certification and 3 models: 500W, 550W and 650W.

Here, i wonder, what would be the reason behind Core series?

Looks like Seasonic is competing with itself since they already have PSUs in that range (Focus/Focus+ series), where:
Focus Gold (fully wired) - 5 years of warranty, 80+ Gold certification and 3 models: 450W, 550W and 650W.
Focus Gold (semi-modular) -7 years of warranty, 80+ Gold certification and 4 models: 450W, 550W, 650W and 750W.
Focus+ Gold (fully-modular) - 10 years of warranty, 80+ Gold certification and 5 models: 550W, 650W, 750W, 850W and 1000W.
 

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
In Focus series, there are also:
Focus SGX (fully-modular) - 10 years of warranty, 80+ Gold certification and 3 models: 400W, 500W, and 650W.
Focus+ Platinum (fully-modular) - 10 years of warranty, 80+ Platinum certification and 4 models: 550W, 650W, 750W and 850W.

And if Seasonic is really replacing Focus series with Core series, they are replacing these as well.

Here, i'm worried since i have Focus+ 550 (80+ Platinum) [SSR-550PX] PSU in use which i bought in December of 2018 and i don't want my newest PSU to become discontinued/EOL PSU.

What sets my mind a bit ease is that Seasonic isn't known by replacing PSUs in every few years. On the contrary, when Seasonic releases a PSU line, it's there to stay for several years. E.g S12II series (9 years old), X-series (9 years old), Platinum series (8 years old), G-series (7 years old), M12II EVO series (6 years old) etc. (I placed the age by earliest review.)
 

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
I sent an e-mail to Seasonic about Core series, including possible replacement with Focus series, and Seasonic rep had this to say:
The main purpose of the CORE series is for system builders where fewer connectors and lesser performance are needed and the price point more important.

The FOCUS is our most popular series and a great performance power supply and will continue to be an important part of our power supply offering for the foreseeable future.
While i also asked about the availability of the Core series location wise, i didn't get answer to that.

Though, the new Core series are part of the TUF Gaming Alliance and it looks like it's a special edition PSU, made in conjunction with Asus.
 

Mali_Mrav

Distinguished
Oct 16, 2016
36
2
18,545
Hi all
I have this PSU "LC Power 650W Green Power V2.3 ", so is he gona be ok to suport grap. card who need 500W (RX 570 or similar mid range card) ? Everithing works on regular setings,no overcloking and others stuff. Sorry for my bad english ;)
 

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
Hi all
I have this PSU "LC Power 650W Green Power V2.3 ", so is he gona be ok to suport grap. card who need 500W (RX 570 or similar mid range card) ? Everithing works on regular setings,no overcloking and others stuff. Sorry for my bad english ;)
You have LC-Power Silent Giant series [LC6650GP3 V2.3] 650 Watt GREEN POWER Edition PSU, right? If so, i wouldn't use it. It's made by Great Wall and was released back in 2012.

Also, the official specs page of that PSU is taken offline, indicating that it's discontinued PSU,
link: https://www.lc-power.com/en/product/pc-power-supply-units/green-power/lc6650gp2-v23/

And i wasn't able to find any reputable reviews of it either. I did find two questionable reviews though:
In German, link: https://www.computerbase.de/forum/t...gp3-v2-3-650-watt-green-power-edition.1150462
and in Polish, link: https://pccentre.pl/article/show/lc-power-silent-giant-650-w/id=17849

For RX 570 and similar 150W TDP GPU, i'd use any Seasonic unit in 500W range since those PSUs are tried, tested and proven to be safe and reliable. E.g Focus/Focus+/PRIME series.
 

LastSamurai

Reputable
Jul 14, 2019
124
3
4,585
Does anyone know if there are any compatible custom sleeve cables or cable extensions for the Superflower 750w platinum?i was told I could use any but I don’t no so much?If used what damage would be caused lol
 
Not sure who said you could use any. If you use the wrong cable, it could cause severe damage to your system.

Imagine a cable takes a 12v output and sends it to a device only ment for 3.3v. Bad things could happen.
Could also directly short the 12v rail to ground and blow a fuse if the psus ocp doesnt trip.

Cablemod doesnt have cables for superflower psus listed, but the seasonic ones MIGHT work. I am not sure if that unit is a sesonic design like some other ones.
 

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
Older was simpler i think. Spelled things out for you.
While i initially also thought that older naming scheme is easier since we are used to it, the newer naming scheme has it's benefits. Most notably about the PSU's cable configuration that becomes readable from the PSU's model name. At current time, you need to dig out PSU's specs or images to know if e.g Focus 550 is semi- or fully-modular. (Answer: Focus 550 is semi-modular while Focus+ 550 is fully-modular.) With new naming scheme, semi-modular Focus 550 would become Focus GM-550 and fully-modular Focus+ 550 would become Focus GX-550.

Though, what i'm concerned about is the other Seasonic models which aren't listed in that list. E.g S12II, M12II EVO, G-series, X-series, SnowSilent, PRIME SnowSilent, PRIME AirTouch, non-Ultra PRIME series. Does their naming remain same or are they also converted to the new naming scheme? Since when they are converted as well, there will be several conflicts where, e.g:
PRIME TX-750 is SSR-750TD, SSR-750TR and SSR-750TR-SnowSilent
PRIME PX-650 is SSR-650PD and SSR-650PD2
PRIME GX-850 is SSR-850GD, SSR-850GD2 and SSR-850GD-AirTouch

Edit: Typos.
 
Last edited:

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
If given that Seasonic doesn't rename their other series to avoid overlap, what we'd get in future would be 3x main series:
CORE series (e.g GC-500, GM-550, GX-650)
FOCUS series (e.g GC-450, GM-550, GX-650, PX-750)
PRIME series (e.g GX-550, PX-650, TX-750, GX-1300, PX-1300)

And two spinoffs from main series:
FOCUS SGX series (SGX-500 and SGX-650)
PRIME Fanless series (Fanless TX-600)

I believe that Seasonic keeps their other currently running series as they are:
S12II *
S12III
S12II Evo
M12II Evo *
Eco *
Eco+
G-series *
X-series *
Platinum *
SnowSilent *
PRIME SnowSilent
PRIME AirTouch
PRIME Gold / Platinum / Titanium

* Previous (oldest) generation Seasonic PSU series, which may see discontinuation in near future.
 

Mali_Mrav

Distinguished
Oct 16, 2016
36
2
18,545
You have LC-Power Silent Giant series [LC6650GP3 V2.3] 650 Watt GREEN POWER Edition PSU, right? If so, i wouldn't use it. It's made by Great Wall and was released back in 2012.

Also, the official specs page of that PSU is taken offline, indicating that it's discontinued PSU,
link: https://www.lc-power.com/en/product/pc-power-supply-units/green-power/lc6650gp2-v23/

And i wasn't able to find any reputable reviews of it either. I did find two questionable reviews though:
In German, link: https://www.computerbase.de/forum/t...gp3-v2-3-650-watt-green-power-edition.1150462
and in Polish, link: https://pccentre.pl/article/show/lc-power-silent-giant-650-w/id=17849

For RX 570 and similar 150W TDP GPU, i'd use any Seasonic unit in 500W range since those PSUs are tried, tested and proven to be safe and reliable. E.g Focus/Focus+/PRIME series.
Thank you for explanation :giggle:
 
Jan 18, 2019
3
0
10
Lots of great info in this thread but I noticed on the list there are limited options in the sub500w range. I don’t have a demanding rig but I’m looking to upgrade my Psu from a 280w in preparation for other upgrades:

K600->RX550/570 or 1030/1050
maybe up to an i-5/7 or amd equivalent from Xeon E3.

Do I need one of these higher end listed psus if I won’t be doing serious gaming? I use the pc to play some older titles and do photo editing.

I guess my question is, how important is a high quality gpu if I’m a more causal user?
 
Having a high quality power supply is always important, no matter WHAT kind of system you have or what level of user you are, if you care at all about your hardware. What capacity you need is a different story and is primarily dictated by the graphics card in use and whether or not anything such as the CPU or GPU card are going to be overclocked.

I like the recommendations here, when it comes to determining capacity. Yes, there are a little bit to the side of caution, but it is a good idea anyhow for many reasons, to choose a unit that is somewhat more than your system actually needs anyhow.


http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm


And when it comes to choosing a model, you can look below for some information on that which is purely based on my own preferences and experience and does not reflect the opinions of TH or any other members here. Although, I think many will concur with the listing below.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...commended-models-thread.3212332/post-19794759
 
Last edited:
Jan 18, 2019
3
0
10
Having a high quality power supply is always important, no matter WHAT kind of system you have or what level of user you are, if you care at all about your hardware. What capacity you need is a different story and is primarily dictated by the graphics card in use and whether or not anything such as the CPU or GPU card are going to be overclocked.

I like the recommendations here, when it comes to determining capacity. Yes, there are a little bit to the side of caution, but it is a good idea anyhow for many reasons, to choose a unit that is somewhat more than your system actually needs anyhow.


http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm


And when it comes to choosing a model, you can look below for some information on that which is purely based on my own preferences and experience and does not reflect the opinions of TH or any other members here. Although, I think many will concur with the listing below.


Let's start with the biggest misconception out there, which is that if a unit has high watts it will be ok or is good. Well, that couldn't be further from the truth.

There are plenty of 750-1000w units out there that I wouldn't trust to power a string of LED lights and might in fact be a much worse choice than a unit with a significantly lower listed capacity.

If the platform isn't good to begin with, how many watts or amps it says it can support is irrelevant.

Higher 80plus certification doesn't mean anything, UNLESS it is a PSU platform that we already know is good anyhow. For example, a Seasonic Prime platinum unit is going to be a better product than a Seasonic Prime Gold unit, because we already know the Prime platform is very good, and platinum efficiency along with it shows there are some improvements internally to account for the higher efficiency.

In a case like that, it might be worth it. It's likely the unit will create less heat, it will probably have better performance in regard to ripple, noise and voltage regulation. It might shave a few pennies, or dollars, off the electric bill over the course of a year.

Other than that, it is not going to perform any better than the same platform with Gold efficiency. On the other hand, just because a unit has Titanium 80plus ratings doesn't mean the unit is any good at all. For example, there are Raidmax units with Titanium efficiency and I wouldn't trust one of those to power a light bulb. There are a lot of units like this out there.

If the platform isn't good to begin with, whether or not it has an 80plus certification or is irrelevant.

Whatever you do, don't EVER buy a power supply based on whether it has RGB or lighting, or looks like it might be a quality unit. Some of the biggest hunks of junk out there look just as good as a Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium, but I assure you, they are not. So far there are very few very good units out there that have RGB built in. Maybe one or two models, but rest assured you'll be be paying for the lighting, not for the quality of the power supply.

I don't know what country you reside in, and I know that sometimes it's hard to come by good units in some regions, but when possible, when it comes time to get that PSU, I'd stick to the following if you can.

Seasonic. Seasonic isn't just a brand, they are a PSU manufacturer, unlike many of the PSU brands you see they make their own power supply platforms AND a great many of the very good PSU models out there from other brands like Antec, Corsair and older XFX are made by Seasonic.

Just about anything made by Seasonic is good quality for the most part. There are really no bad Seasonic units and only a very few that are even somewhat mediocre. They do make a few less-good quality OEM style units, but mostly those are not going to be units you come across at most vendors, and they are still not bad. Also, the S12II and M12II 520 and 620w units are older, group regulated models. At one time they were among the best units you could buy. Now, they are outdated and not as good as almost any other Seasonic models. They are however still better than a LOT of newer designs by other manufacturers.

The Seasonic 520w and 620w S12II/M12II units CAN be used on newer Intel platforms, if you turn off C6/C7 in the bios, but I'd really recommend a newer platform whenever possible. Prices are usually pretty good on those though, so sometimes it's worth accepting the lack of DC-DC on the internal platform. Higher capacity versions of the High current gamer are not based on that platform, so they are fine. Those being the 750w and higher versions.

Most common currently, in order of preference, would be the Seasonic Focus series, then Focus plus, then Prime, then Prime ultra. It's worth mentioning that there are generally Gold, Platinum and Titanium versions within each, or most, of those series, but that does not necessarily mean that a Focus plus Platinum is necessarily better than a Prime Gold. It only means that it scored better in the 80plus efficiency testing, not that the platform is better.

Again, don't let yourself get tangled up in the idea that a higher 80plus rating specifically means that it is a better unit than another one with a lower rating, unless you know that it is a good platform from the start. All these Focus and Prime units are pretty good so you can somewhat focus on the 80plus rating when deciding which of them to choose.

Super Flower. Super Flower is another PSU manufacturer. They are like Seasonic and they make power supplies for a variety of other companies, like EVGA. Super Flower units are usually pretty good. I'd stick to the Leadex, Leadex II and Golden Green models.They also make most of the good units sold by EVGA like the G2, G3, P2 and T2 models.

Super Flower doesn't have a very broad availability for the units with their own brand name on them, and are not available in a lot of countries but for those where there is availability you want to look at the Leadex and Leadex II models. The Golden green platform is fairly decent too but is getting rather long in the tooth as a platform AND I've seen some reviews indicating a few shortcomings on units based on this platform.

Even so, it's a great deal better than a lot of other platforms out there so you could certainly do worse than a Golden green model. Units based on the Leadex and Leadex II platforms are much better though.

Corsair. The CX and CXm units are ok as a budget option, but I do not recommend pairing them with gaming cards. The newer 2017 models of CX and CXm are better than the older ones, but still not what we'd call terrific, so if it specifically says 2017 model, or it has a capacity other than an even 100, like 550w, 650w, 750w, etc., then it's likely at least better than those older ones. Aside from that, any of the TX, RMx, RMi, HX, HXi, AX or AXi units are good. Those are listed from best to worst, with the best being the AX and AXi units.

Antec. The True power classic units are made by Seasonic, and are very good, but are not modular. The High current gamer 520w and 620w, or any other PSU you see on the market that is 520w or 620w, are also made by Seasonic, based on the S12II and M12II platform for modern versions, and are pretty good units but again they are an older platform that is group regulated so if you go with a Haswell or newer Intel configuration you will want to avoid those because they do not support the C6/C7 Intel low power states.

The Antec High current gamer 750w and 850w units are very good and are not the older design, which came in 520w and 620w capacities and were good for back then but again, are an aging Seasonic platform that is not the best choice most of the time these days. Occasionally, these older units MIGHT be the best unit available and you could do worse than one of them, but a newer DC-DC platform is desirable when possible if it doesn't mean sacrificing quality elsewhere in the platform. There are however older and newer HCG models, so exact model number will likely be a factor if choosing one of these however both the older models and the newer models are good.

Antec Edge units are ok too, but reviews indicate that they have noisy fan profiles. I'd only choose this model if it is on sale or the aesthetics match up with your color scheme or design. Still a good power supply but maybe a little aggressive on the fan profile. This may have been cured on newer Edge models so reading professional tear down reviews is still the best idea.

Antec Earthwatts Gold units are very good also.

BeQuiet. BeQuiet does have a few decent models, BUT, you must be VERY selective about which of their models you put your trust in. From model to model their are huge differences in both quality and performance, even with the same series. If you cannot find a review for a BeQuiet unit on HardOCP, JonnyGuru or Tom's hardware that SPECIFICALLY says it is a very good unit, and does not have any significant issues in the "cons" category, I would avoid it. In fact, I'd probably avoid it anyhow unless there is a very great sale on one that has good reviews, because their units are generally more expensive than MUCH better units from Antec, Seasonic, EVGA and Corsair.

EVGA. They have BOTH good and not very good models.

Not very good are the W1, N1, B1, B3 (Most models failed testing), BQ, BR, BT and G1 NEX models.

Good models are the B2, G2, G2L, G3, GQ, P2 and T2 models.

FSP. They used to be very mediocre, and are a PSU manufacturer like Seasonic and Super Flower, although not as well trusted based on historical performance. Currently the FSP Hydro G and Hydro X units are pretty good.

I would avoid Thermaltake and Cooler Master.

They do have a few good units, but most of the models they sell are either poor or mediocre, and the ones they have that ARE good are usually way overpriced.

This is just ONE example of why I say that. Very new and modern CM unit. One of the worst scores ever seen on JonnyGuru for a well known brand name product. Doesn't look to be much better than a Raidmax unit. Sad.

Cooler Master Masterwatt Lite 600W review

And most of the models I have linked to the reviews of at the following link are at least good, with most of them being fantastic.

Power supply discussion thread

The Powerspec units sold my Microcenter are a mixed bag. Some of them are fairly decent using the same platform as the Sirfa High power astro lite platform, so not total dumpster fire type units, but not particularly good either, and some of their units are simply garbage and should be listed below in the DO NOT USE category, but I'm leaving them out because there are really no reviews of them and since there are a few units from them that are ok-ish, I'm giving them a "use at your own discretion but buy a better model if you can" grade.

A gray label CX or CXm unit would probably be an upgrade from one of those Powerspec models, without any doubt.

Certainly there ARE some good units out there that you won't see above among those I've listed, but they are few and far between, much as a hidden nugget of gold you find in a crevice among otherwise ordinary rocks and don't EVER assume a unit is good just because of the brand.

If you cannot find an IN DEPTH, REPUTABLE review on Tom's hardware, JonnyGuru, HardOCP, Hardware secrets (Old reviews by Gabe Torres), Kitguru (Only Aris reviews), TechPowerUP, SilentPC crew or a similar site that does much more than simply a review of the unboxing and basic tests that don't include reliable results for ripple, noise, voltage regulation and a complete teardown of the unit including identification of the internal platform, then the unit is a big fat question mark.

I recommend not trusting such units as companies generally always send out review samples of any unit they feel is going to get a good review, and don't send them out if they know they are going to get hammered by the reviewer. No review usually equals poor quality. Usually.


Other models that should never be trusted OR USED AT ALL, under any circumstances, include

A-Top, AK Power, Alpine, Apevia, Apex (Supercase/Allied), Artic, Ace, Aerocool (There might be one model worth using, but I'd still avoid them.), Aspire (Turbocase), Atadc, Atrix, Broadway com corp, Chieftech, Circle, CIT, Coolmax, Deer, Diablotek, Dynapower, Dynex, Eagletech, Enlight, Eurotech, Evo labs, EZ cool, Feedtek, Foxconn, G7, HEC/Compucase Orion, HEDY, High power, iBall, iStar computer co., Jeantec, JPac, Just PC, Kolink, LC Power, Linkworld electronics, Logisys, Macron, MSI, NmediaPC, Norwood Micro (CompUSA), Okia, Powercool, Powmax, Pulsepower, Q-tec, Raidmax, Rave, Rocketfish, Segotep, SFC, Sharkoon, Shuttle, Skyhawk, Spire, Startech, Storm, Sumvision, Tesla, Trust, Ultra, Wintech, Winpower, Xilence (Until I see a reputable review of a model showing different), xTreme (Cyberpower), Youngbear and Zebronics.
This is an incredible response. More info than i ever expected and is much appreciated.

Coming from a traffic signals field i understand the importance of "clean" power. I guess i never thought about the importance of it with a pc and that PSUs could be so different between models and manufacturers.

Again thank you for the info! I'm sure this will be helpful to more people than just me.
 
Well, it's almost an exactly accurate expression of the fact that it is highly probable that you'll find very little copper inside. Light on windings, light on protections, light on the quality of cooling, light on high quality capacitors and light on the quality of soldering and assembly. Lite, indeed.