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

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Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
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Wasnt there some issues with the focus units? Like ripple and ocp issues?

Some of the FOCUS Plus models IIRC had issues powering Vega 64 and 56 as well as certain GTX 970 models. The GTX 970 problem was solved with a replacement cable, the Vegas were not. Mine will pull down almost 400w on a spike which is insane.

But i digress, the FOCUS and Prime are different platforms. In my case my whole system was pulling down around 700w while gaming, meaning 650w won't do. While its a quality PSU it was able to handle it, spikes would often trigger OCP as expected of course.
 

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
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Wow.

I thought it was crazy when I say my RX480 hit 200w when I flashed an RX580 bios it didn't like.

Yes AMD is lucky Vega was never that popular or you'd have a lot of unhappy customers with systems that crash a lot. I am very happy with the performance and compatibility of my Vega 64, it really crushes everything I throw at it, but the power usage when you have it at its best performance settings is absurd.
 

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
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Given the Vega 64 LC is a 350W TDP card, 400W doesn't seem like it would be that unusual unfortunately.

Right, I built the system about 6 months before its release and believed the hype that it wouldn't be "that bad". Then i preordered one and had it on launch day. I was clearly wrong and ended up having to replace a fairly expensive only 6 month old PSU. That said at first it didn't nearly pull down as much power as later driver updates allowed it to. Performance on it went up, at the expense of power usage. I did get $100 for the old one on eBay though so my net loss was only about $50 after rebates and stuff on the 750w unit.
 
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Which is ANOTHER reason why, despite what some people, even some in positions of experience and knowledge that should know better, say, regarding what a system actually needs, I STILL tend to over exaggerate the recommendation on capacity for systems even beyond what is already exaggerated at RealhardtechX for a given graphics card, because Vega isn't the only GPU architecture that has been known to creep up in power demand over time due to changes in drivers. If you base the GPU requirements off the connectors, not off the initial review testing recommendations, and then add about 40% to THAT in addition to the requirements of the rest of the system, you'll probably never run into a situation where that happens.
 
Oct 1, 2019
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FYI to everyone: the EVGA G5 is an FSP Active Clamp platform, NOT the Super Flower Leadex III as was claimed in the original post.
Also, there is a pretty big difference in the quality between CX and CXm black label, being that CX is better due to its HBLLC primary topology vs the CXm's DF.
One last thing everyone should know is that according to computerbase.de, the Seasonic S12II (can be extrapolated to M12II and evo, as they also use the HY-510N supervisor IC) drops to 8.7V under a 12V overload, which as can be imagined is pretty bad.
 
FYI to everyone: the EVGA G5 is an FSP Active Clamp platform, NOT the Super Flower Leadex III as was claimed in the original post.
Also, there is a pretty big difference in the quality between CX and CXm black label, being that CX is better due to its HBLLC primary topology vs the CXm's DF.
One last thing everyone should know is that according to computerbase.de, the Seasonic S12II (can be extrapolated to M12II and evo, as they also use the HY-510N supervisor IC) drops to 8.7V under a 12V overload, which as can be imagined is pretty bad.

Dude, this isn't the Linus forum. We actually know what we are talking about. Repeating the same half dozen talking points in a loop doesn't make you a PSU expert.
 
Speaking of which, a review, and it's NOT promising. At least not for this model and likely, not for the rest of the lineup if it's anything like this.

The SuperNOVA 1000 G5 costs about the same as the similar-capacity G3 model that it is destined to replace in EVGA's portfolio. Unfortunately, its performance is not up to the G3 unit's levels and to make matters worse, the overall noise output exceeds 43 dB(A), so this is not the ideal power supply for silent operating systems. U.S. tariffs put an end to EVGA's close cooperation with Super Flower, so EVGA turned to FSP which is a good OEM with reliable products, but it cannot meet the performance levels of the Leadex platforms, used in the G3 models.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-supernova-1000-g5-power-supply,6337.html
 

Rogue Leader

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Yes, I think this is the beginning of seeing EVGA become more like FSP in the way of "Yeah, they COULD offer better units but don't". I think this is on EVGA this time, not FSP, because FSP has some very good models out there so we know they CAN do it. EVGA just didn't require them to do it.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
I wonder why they didn't get a better FSP model. Don't they make better?

Anyone hear from Delta in awhile? I miss them. Which they'd come back to the consumer space. We could use a another player.
 
Delta probably makes plenty in the enterprise and industrial sectors, since they fairly well have a big chunk of that market locked down, not to mention making OEM units for many of the prebuilt manufacturers. They're probably like, pfffft, why would we? Plus, as a company, they have their fingers into a lot of other areas than just power supplies. Probably industrial fans is big for them as well, among other things.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
I know. They used to make the Antec signature series. That's the last consumer PSU I'm aware of them making. I had to explain to people back then that just because it's not a seasonic doesn't mean delta is crap. They are very well known in the server PSU market. They do make really good PSUs. I just wish they'd come back to the consumer side seeing as it's all Seasonic and Superflower/leadex platforms now in the high end. FSP and CWT can make some good ones, but they are usually midrange at best. Another higher end player would be nice to have.
 
I agree, it would. Delta makes very good hardware.

Two more high end or at least low upper tiered quality players making solid, reliable, AFFORDABLE power supplies, would be the ticket. The problem is that other players don't have the resources to do that and survive. Every time somebody tries, these big players will cut prices to the point where they are losing money, just to drive the other smaller players out of the market.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Then again, maybe Delta simply does not want nor need the consumer space.

Marketing and Sales cast the chicken bones across the boardroom table, and decided its not worth their time and effort to chase that market.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
I believe since Seasonic has pretty much pushed mainstream psu platform sales, it's OEM department is more than likely not so much a money maker as a basic staple. This would leave Delta plenty of space to really expand its OEM contracts. Seasonic production has got to be spread out if it's outsourcing psus like the S12-III and either refused, couldn't or deliberately over priced the production of the XFX XT's.

Suffering from over-popularity perhaps?
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
I think that's me. Nothing wrong with Seasonic products of course. But when every higher end PSU is Seasonic or Leadex based Superflower things get boring. FSP, CWT, and HEC make some good mid range products. It's just odd to me that there is another known good PSU manufacturer out there who is sitting on the sidelines. More so that they used to make consumer PSUs then stopped. There might not be money in it, might not be where they think they should focus their priorities or a number of other reasons. But at this point its Seasonic or Superflower at the high end for us and it's getting a bit boring over here.

I happen to super like FSP and Delta. It's probably just the fanboy in me hoping one of them steps up in the higher end segment. Oh well.
 
Seems like I read something related to Delta a while back, and it's been a couple of years now so I can't remember for certain, but it seems I remember reading something where Delta had said that they were not going to put any eggs in that basket because they foresee that market being unsustainable and that it was a waste of money to invest in a market that wouldn't exist in ten years, or something to that effect. Five years later, it doesn't look like this market is going anywhere but then again I'm sure for every Seasonic or Super Flower based consumer PSU that gets sold, Delta likely sells ten OEM or enterprise/server oriented power supplies. And that is why they are a go to supplier for those markets and why they likely have no interest in pushing into a market where the profit margins are likely a lot lower than when selling to multi-million and multi-billion dollar companies and data centers.