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

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arobison17 said:
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.
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If you are really OCD about such things like many of us, you do a lot of splitting hairs over PSU's. Individual PSU's with overall similar capabilities can have very different strengths and weaknesses. You can spend hours studying such things and picking out a PSU that fits your individual preferences, just like any other part. Back in Ye Olde Days, I never imagined so much time could be occupied on such a seemingly unremarkable component.
 
FALC0N said:
If you are really OCD about such things like many of us, you do a lot of splitting hairs over PSU's. Individual PSU's with overall similar capabilities can have very different strengths and weaknesses. You can spend hours studying such things and picking out a PSU that fits your individual preferences, just like any other part. Back in Ye Olde Days, I never imagined so much time could be occupied on such a seemingly unremarkable component.
Click to expand...
The thing is, the PSU is the heart of your system. Without it, NOTHING works!
 
FALC0N said:
If you are really OCD about such things like many of us, you do a lot of splitting hairs over PSU's. Individual PSU's with overall similar capabilities can have very different strengths and weaknesses. You can spend hours studying such things and picking out a PSU that fits your individual preferences, just like any other part. Back in Ye Olde Days, I never imagined so much time could be occupied on such a seemingly unremarkable component.
Click to expand...


Some of us learned the hard way, when a PSU of unremarkable quality, died, and took their hardware with it.
 
Speaking of good EVGA deals, i noticed this on pcpp and haven wandered if ita a good unit.

EVGA GD 500w (2019) 80+ Gold Power Supply $45
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/vH...old-certified-atx-power-supply-100-gd-0500-v1

Seems to be pretty good.

DC-DC
A lot protection features
Japanese main capacitors
Strong 80+ gold efficiency
40c temp rating
Strongdc output ratings

5 year warranty.

The sleeve bearing fan is certainly a cost saving measure but it shouldnt cause problems.
 
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remixislandmusic said:
Speaking of good EVGA deals, i noticed this on pcpp and haven wandered if ita a good unit.

EVGA GD 500w 80+ Gold Power Supply $45
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/vH...old-certified-atx-power-supply-100-gd-0500-v1
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Well, other (older) EVGA GD models were may by FSP. But without proper review, it's hard to tell who's OEM for 2019 GD units and if it's any good. Though, it misses UVP (Under Voltage Protection) and it also has cheap sleeve bearing fan in it, so it doesn't look that good,
specs: https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=100-GD-0500-V1

remixislandmusic said:
Also, are the 2019 Corsair RM units any better than the older ones?

Even if they are simmilar they would still be good.
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TH reviewed Corsair RM (2019) series and all scored 3.5/5, making it slightly above average,
RM650, link: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-rm650-power-supply,6187.html
RM750, link: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-rm750-power-supply,6172.html
RM850, link: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-rm850-power-supply,6127.html

Though, Corsair RMi and RMx series units are solid ones and better than the new RM series, scoring solid 4/5 in TH reviews,
RM750x, link: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-rm750x-v2-psu,5585.html
RM850x V2, link: https://www.tomshardware.co.uk/corsair-rm850x-v2-psu,review-34350.html
RM750i, link: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-rm750i-power-supply,4223.html
 
Those new G5 units have every protection I have ever seen. No reviews yet that I've seen, but my main interest is whether or not they have inline caps or if EVGA has figured out yet that one of the main reasons people are buying Seasonic Prime Ultra titanium units, at roughly 30-40 bucks more, is because they don't have to sacrifice any measurable ripple due to using custom sleeved cables in high end builds. If they'd move the caps into the unit, they'd probably sell more of them.
 
Darkbreeze said:
Those new G5 units have every protection I have ever seen. No reviews yet that I've seen, but my main interest is whether or not they have inline caps or if EVGA has figured out yet that one of the main reasons people are buying Seasonic Prime Ultra titanium units, at roughly 30-40 bucks more, is because they don't have to sacrifice any measurable ripple due to using custom sleeved cables in high end builds. If they'd move the caps into the unit, they'd probably sell more of them.
Click to expand...

Have to see what the reviews say I suppose.
 
Darkbreeze said:
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.
....
Click to expand...
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Spend hours and hours looking at tiers of PSU, comments and other stuff on internet, and comparing with what is available in my country.
This post explained basic knowledge for anyone searching for power supply. And gave precise answer why people say to avoid some brands.


I found Seasonic Core-GC-650 for around 100$, and putting a stop to this seach.


PS. Since end of 2013 i am running Thermaltake Smart SE 630W. As programmer, computer is on for most of its time, mostly working on low power, so far so good...
 
Thermaltake Smarts are not exactly, umm, good.

My signature has a sortable database in it. If you go there you can find tons of info about PSUs.

You do have to know a bit about PSUs to understand what most of the things mean, but I dont know a lot in that area and can figure a bit out,
 
For any who care, I have decided to move away from the list of reviews on this thread and instead focus only on models that are both currently being sold in most markets AND are units we know that nobody is going to go wrong with, whether they are on somebody's Tier 1 or Tier 3, or have no more tears. Ahhhhhh.

Anyhow, those of you who know who you are, if there are specific units that you think should be listed there, which fall under the "you can't go wrong with one of these" that I don't have listed there, please feel free to recommend that I add it to the list or make a note of it there for reference. Thanks.

Anybody who wishes to, feel free to link to that first page if you want. Or even link to it with a note saying look what this idiot did. I couldn't really care less either way. Hopefully it helps somebody and also I'm sure there are plenty of folks here who'd prefer to see just links to that instead of spoilers on every PSU thread I post in. You're welcome.
 
Are there reviews for them? I'll look later if you don't know for sure. To be clear, I'm not going to post every unit out there that is unlikely to blow up. But if it's a common model, widely available, that has reviews that back up it's legitimacy, and can reasonably be stuck in there somewhere, then I'm happy to include it. There are not going to be a LOT of units that lean towards what would be tier 3 or 4 models on somebody's tier list. I included a mention of the CX units in there only because they ARE widely available, extremely affordable, sold by Corsair and are significantly better than their predecessor models.
 
I think the evga gd is pretty good, but cant find the reviews.

I have looked at evgas page and saw the following:
Its not top of the line for sure, with its 40c temp rating, lack of any modularity, and sleeve bearing fan. But on the other had EVGA brags about but them offering 80+ gold certification, Japanese main caps, DC-DC, 5-year warranty, and all of the protections you would expect from a good psu.

A lot of things are unknown. Platform and actual performance for example.

But you can get a 700w 80+ gold EVGA GD for like $65, making it seem like a steal.
 
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If there are no reviews of a model, it's not going on there. Just like the PSU Tier list used to be. Without a review, it is impossible to say that a unit is trustworthy and has reliable quality, and I'm not putting my name behind any model that I can't point to a reputable review, something much more than just an unboxing or software test, actual review and breakdown, to show that in fact the facts say it is a product somebody will not go wrong if they buy.
 
He might. He's not an EVGA fan though TBH. Well, specifically, if that is a Super Flower built unit, he's not a Super Flower fan. He tends to bash them, sometimes deservedly, when given the chance. Sometimes not deservedly.
 
NightHawkRMX said:
Well thise models are one i often see for lower prices.

Im not sure how good they are and cannot find reviews, but i think it wiuld be nice to be able to say whether they are good or not.
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You need to have a higher level of Google-Fu to find a review of EVGA GD series. :sol:

Since EVGA GD series is exclusively released only for Chinese market, the review of EVGA 550 GD is also in Mandarin,
link: http://coolpc.com.tw/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=234830

Some further info about that unit,
official specs: https://tw.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=100-GD-0550-V7
official data sheet: https://www.evga.com/Products/Specs/PSU.aspx?pn=5D67F0CF-C6AC-498F-8FD5-0E8FFE34F021
JG forums discussion: http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?14041-EVGA-450GD-550GD-650GD
 
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/vH...old-certified-atx-power-supply-100-gd-0500-v1
www.evga.com

EVGA 700 GD, 80+ GOLD 700W, 5 Year Warranty, Power Supply 100-GD-0700-V1

The EVGA GD Series of power supplies builds upon a Solid Gold Foundation. Available in 700W, 600W and 500W, these power supplies are engineered to reach the same level of performance as EVGA's top-end gold units, but at a great value. Featuring 80 Plus Gold certified efficiency and a mainboard...
www.evga.com www.evga.com

Im talking about the 2019 models which come in 500 600 and 700w varients. They are readily available in the us.



Finding reviews for the newer ones are even more impossible.
 
And THAT, usually tells you one of two things. Either they are too new for anybody to have reviewed them yet, or they are not a model that the manufacturer is proud enough of to send out review samples of them because they don't want the bad feedback they know they are going to recieve going mainstream public because when Aris or Oklahoma Wolf, or another PSU reviewer says "this unit is not good", then they might as well just shut down the production line for that model because it's never going to be a high volume seller. Also, if reviewers don't feel the unit is good enough to bother wasting time on for a review, they may abstain from doing a review on it if a sample WAS sent, or decline to spend money on it in order TO review it if no sample was sent.

Other times, well, no, that pretty much covers it.
 
Also, I have a question, is there any reason PSU wattages are what they are.

Most 520/620w units are S12 or M12 based.
The majority of new sub 850w PSUs seem to end in 50 (EX: 550w)
The majority of new PSUs over 850w seem to end in 00 (EX: 1200w)

There are plenty of outliers to the bottom 2 points, but it seems to be true for most.
 
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