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

[Darkbreeze]

Gonna be awfully hard to beat Seasonic using their own platform when Seasonic already has the best performance to price ratio in that category for the most part.

 

[goldstone77]

I agree, I just had the Seasonic PRIME Ultra 750W 80+ Titanium Power Supply SSR-750TR delivered. Went form 485W to ~415W on my Kill
A Watt meter. It will eventually pay for itself ~2 year 6 months.

 

[Darkbreeze]

LOL. Well, later is better than never. You can't put a price on piece of mind though.

 

[goldstone77]

Yeah, better late than never, I'm a happy camper now!

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I'd like to call attention to something seemingly important and great for the industry that seems to be going under the radar of most but a few sites. Aris Mpitziopoulos, the guy who does the Toms and TPU PSU reviews and is in charge of http://cybenetics.com is working on (actually it's done I think) the "Powenetics Project". If we're all sick and tired of people bickering and arguing about the true power consumption of GPUs and other hardware under different loads, this is finally something that can alleviate this.

It can be read about here: https://www.cybenetics.com/index.php?option=powenetics

Welcome to the Powenetics project, which allows the accurate power measurements of graphics cards and SSD/HDDs. This system was designed with three main purposes in mind: to be highly affordable, easy to use and provide accurate data with fast polling rates, in order to be able to “catch” power spikes.To keep the implementation cost as low as possible and provide on the same time the ability to every user to be able to easily find the needed parts, we carefully chose components that are widely available on the market.

There is a recent interview that someone on JG posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSx1RVXRmJ8

This system or means of measuring power he designed will actually be available to anybody who wants to spend $500-600 for it. I don't know how it exactly works but he says as long as you know how to build a computer you'd have the knowledge to use his power measurement system. It works with custom software he designed on the computer that allows you to read the data specifically as so:

It also now supports CPUs. The end plan is that there will be a large database on cybenetics.com containing all the different CPUs and GPUs that will have exact power measurements in place in full detail. We will no longer have to scour the Internet for detailed reviews, and we will be able to see where power calculators online are at fault since this will be the most accurate data.

Just thought I'd point it out, as I personally think it's awesome. I'm not going to dish out $500 for my own but companies like Toms I'm sure will acquire them and possibly even use them in future reviews for power measurements.

 

[Darkbreeze]

This is useful. Nice to see something like this happening. Hard to find hard facts sometimes that are realistic. What the OEM says differs from what Nvidia/AMD says, which differs from what Realhardtechx says, etc. Nice.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

The new Corsair AX1600i has the best vreg I've ever seen http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=542

 

[superninja12]

sfx powersupplies:

corsair:

450w http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=483
600w http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=477

silverstone sx600g 600w: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=524

fsp :

600w: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fsp-dagger-600w-sfx-psu,5033.html
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14334

spoiler: the corsair sf600w is the best sfx psu.

 

[jankerson]

I agree, I just had the Seasonic PRIME Ultra 750W 80+ Titanium Power Supply SSR-750TR delivered. Went form 485W to ~415W on my Kill
A Watt meter. It will eventually pay for itself ~2 year 6 months.

IMO the Seasonic Prime Titanium is the best PSU on the market currently.

Although one can't go wrong with any of the Prime series or Focus plus.

 

[Aeacus]

IMO the Seasonic Prime Titanium is the best PSU on the market currently.

Although one can't go wrong with any of the Prime series or Focus plus.

+1 for that.

I'm also running PRIME 650 80+ Titanium in my Skylake build and i'm very pleased with it.
Though, i'm still thinking if to go with Focus+ 650 80+ Platinum or PRIME (Ultra) 650 80+ Titanium for my Haswell build to replace the M12II-850 EVO out.

 

[jankerson]

IMO the Seasonic Prime Titanium is the best PSU on the market currently.

Although one can't go wrong with any of the Prime series or Focus plus.

+1 for that.

I'm also running PRIME 650 80+ Titanium in my Skylake build and i'm very pleased with it.
Though, i'm still thinking if to go with Focus+ 650 80+ Platinum or PRIME (Ultra) 650 80+ Titanium for my Haswell build to replace the M12II-850 EVO out.

Can't go wrong with either.

Using a Prime 650 Ti in my Main system now and a X-650 in another one.

Also a G-550 in my I7 870 machine.

 

[Aeacus]

Can't go wrong with either.

Using a Prime 650 Ti in my Main system now and a X-650 in another one.

Also a G-550 in my I7 870 machine.

Yeah, both units are great. Though, Focus+ 80+ Platinum is hard to find since Focus+ 80+ Gold is far more popular due to the cheaper price.

Oh, i'm also planning to replace the S12II-520 in my AMD build with the M12II-850 EVO taken from my Haswell build once i get a new PSU for it. While S12II-520 is also a solid PSU, it's fully-wired design is something i don't like because i'm planning to use CableMod cables in my AMD build as well. And for that, i need a modular PSU in there.
Still thinking if i should put the M12II-850 EVO into my AMD build and get terrible efficiency out of it or get a new, much smaller wattage PSU to it as well.

 

[jankerson]

Can't go wrong with either.

Using a Prime 650 Ti in my Main system now and a X-650 in another one.

Also a G-550 in my I7 870 machine.

Yeah, both units are great. Though, Focus+ 80+ Platinum is hard to find since Focus+ 80+ Gold is far more popular due to the cheaper price.

Oh, i'm also planning to replace the S12II-520 in my AMD build with the M12II-850 EVO taken from my Haswell build once i get a new PSU for it. While S12II-520 is also a solid PSU, it's fully-wired design is something i don't like because i'm planning to use CableMod cables in my AMD build as well. And for that, i need a modular PSU in there.
Still thinking if i should put the M12II-850 EVO into my AMD build and get terrible efficiency out of it or get a new, much smaller wattage PSU to it as well.

I replaced and retired both of my M12II's, 620W and 650W.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Focus Plus Gold.

 

[Aeacus]

I replaced and retired both of my M12II's, 620W and 650W.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Focus Plus Gold.

While 80+ Gold is more-or-less a standard nowadays, i want more efficient PSUs for my PCs. Money saved from higher efficiency isn't the real reason. Instead, i'm running my PCs off from UPSes and here, PSU's efficiency plays a big role in the UPSes runtime. That, and also the more inefficient the PSU is - the more heat it produces.

I won't be buying a new PSU in couple of days, more like in couple of months, so i still have time to think about it. But thanks for your input.

 

[jankerson]

They don't like me over there. I don't go there anymore. I've tried to reach out several times with requests for specific information and have basically been told go away, you're not wanted here. Even by email. So F those guys IMO. I still like the reviews they do, don't get me wrong, I just wish it were possible for there to be more consistency in results between sites. Eh, whatever though.

I think the reviews are good and I agree with the rest completely.

 

[lilith002]

Build: Asus Z370-I, i5 8600K, EVGA GTX 1080 SC ACX, 16Gb, 240mm Kracken X52 AIO

I've read the reviews and comments and each of the following PSU seem to be quality products if not for some exception to cable design and I am about ready to purchase -- I'll replace the cables in the future with custom cableMod. But I would appreciate some final thoughts. I am aware of the 550W general recommendation for my build


Platinum
SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Platinum 650W 80+ Platinum
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yc38TW/seasonic-focus-plus-platinum-650w-80-platinum-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-ssr-650px

EVGA - SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum
http://


Titanium
SeaSonic Prime 650W 80+ Titanium Fully Modular ATX
http://

Thank you

*I appreciate threads like this as they provide convenience and some peace of mind as while it is true that reviews can be easily google searched, for new builders such as myself it is not clear which reviewers to trust.

 

[superninja12]

All 3 are perfect. @lilith002.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, it would be really hard to say any of those wasn't a superior product.

 

[Aeacus]

Build: Asus Z370-I, i5 8600K, EVGA GTX 1080 SC ACX, 16Gb, 240mm Kracken X52 AIO

I've read the reviews and comments and each of the following PSU seem to be quality products if not for some exception to cable design and I am about ready to purchase -- I'll replace the cables in the future with custom cableMod. But I would appreciate some final thoughts. I am aware of the 550W general recommendation for my build


Platinum
SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Platinum 650W 80+ Platinum
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yc38TW/seasonic-focus-plus-platinum-650w-80-platinum-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-ssr-650px

EVGA - SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum
http://


Titanium
SeaSonic Prime 650W 80+ Titanium Fully Modular ATX
http://

Thank you

*I appreciate threads like this as they provide convenience and some peace of mind as while it is true that reviews can be easily google searched, for new building such as myself it is not clear which reviewers to trust.

I can personally vouch for PRIME 650 80+ Titanium PSU since i have the very same unit powering my Skylake build (full specs with pics in my sig). And on top of that, i also have CableMod SE-series modflex power cables in use with my PRIME PSU.

PSU works as advertised and it's also dead silent. Then again, there's nothing bad to be expected from the best 650W unit money can buy at current date.
Oh, with PRIME series, you'll get extra 2 years of warranty over Focus+ and SuperNova P2. Latter two have 10 years of warranty while all PRIME series PSUs have 12 years of warranty.

 

[jankerson]

2nd the Seasonic Prime Titanium 650w.

Runs dead silent in the system in my sig.

 

[lilith002]

@jankerson, @Aeacus, @darkbreeze, @superninja12

Thank you for the replies and experiences shared. I've decided to go with the SeaSonic PRIME 650W Titanium. Solid unit with great warranty, efficient, quiet well reviewed and looks pretty good for a PSU. I think it says something positive about a manufacturer when they take the time to add visual appeal to quaility utility parts, even if said part won't be seen.

 

[Aeacus]

@jankerson, @Aeacus, @darkbreeze, @superninja12

Thank you for the replies and experiences shared. I've decided to go with the SeaSonic PRIME 650W Titanium. Solid unit with great warranty, efficient, quiet well reviewed and looks pretty good for a PSU. I think it says something positive about a manufacturer when they take the time to add visual appeal to quaility utility parts, even if said part won't be seen.

You're welcome.

Since the PSU is the most important component inside the PC, it very well may look good also, especially at that high price point.
As far as Seasonic itself goes, Seasonic is one of the oldest PSU OEMs in the world and they have been in business for over 40 years (founded in 1975). Besides releasing PSUs under their own name, Seasonic also makes PSUs to other popular brands. To name the few: Corsair AX series, EVGA Supernova GS series, XFX TS series, NZXT Hale82 series. PSU build quality wise, Seasonic is the leading OEM in the world. And depending on who you ask, either Seasonic or Super Flower is considered the best PSU OEM in the world.

Oh, if PSU is seen or not depends on a PC case used. For example, my Skylake build sits in a Corsair 760T V2 Black case and i can see my PRIME PSU beautifully.
Teaser too (click on spoiler to view):

Spoiler

 

[goldstone77]

@jankerson, @Aeacus, @darkbreeze, @superninja12

Thank you for the replies and experiences shared. I've decided to go with the SeaSonic PRIME 650W Titanium. Solid unit with great warranty, efficient, quiet well reviewed and looks pretty good for a PSU. I think it says something positive about a manufacturer when they take the time to add visual appeal to quaility utility parts, even if said part won't be seen.

Besides releasing PSUs under their own name, Seasonic also makes PSUs to other popular brands. To name the few: Corsair AX series, EVGA Supernova GS series, XFX TS series, NZXT Hale82 series.

Note: There have been shenanigans with some companies using two sources for the same model of PSU. IMO better to just buy it from the trusted source vs. someone who slaps a sticker on it. I like Seasonic!

 

[Aeacus]

Note: There have been shenanigans with some companies using two sources for the same model of PSU. IMO better to just buy it from the trusted source vs. someone who slaps a sticker on it. I like Seasonic!

Yes, brands who doesn't manufacture PSUs can mix up OEMs on same model PSU. Great example is Corsair TX 650W unit.

Model (part number) - OEM (platform)
CMPSU-650TX - Seasonic
CMPSU-650TX-C - CWT (PSHII series)
CMPSU-650TXV2 - Seasonic (S12II series)
CMPSU-650TXM - CWT (PSHII series)
TX650 (CP-9020038) - CWT
TX650M (CP-9020002) - CWT
TX650M (CP-9020132) - Great Wall

I prefer to leave out the middleman (e.g Cosair or EVGA) and buy my units directly from OEM (Seasonic).

 

[lilith002]

You're welcome.

Since the PSU is the most important component inside the PC, it very well may look good also, especially at that high price point.
As far as Seasonic itself goes, Seasonic is one of the oldest PSU OEMs in the world and they have been in business for over 40 years (founded in 1975). Besides releasing PSUs under their own name, Seasonic also makes PSUs to other popular brands. To name the few: Corsair AX series, EVGA Supernova GS series, XFX TS series, NZXT Hale82 series. PSU build quality wise, Seasonic is the leading OEM in the world. And depending on who you ask, either Seasonic or Super Flower is considered the best PSU OEM in the world.

Oh, if PSU is seen or not depends on a PC case used. For example, my Skylake build sits in a Corsair 760T V2 Black case and i can see my PRIME PSU beautifully.
Teaser too (click on spoiler to view):

Spoiler

Indeed it should. Your build looks good, but the PSU has a different look? The one I ordered has a V-shape silver piece that is part of the case. Must just be different visual styles?

Very good to know -- gaining some more peace of mind with my choice.

Note: There have been shenanigans with some companies using two sources for the same model of PSU. IMO better to just buy it from the trusted source vs. someone who slaps a sticker on it. I like Seasonic!

I ordered mine from B&H, so it should be the correct unit. SSR-650TD