@Goldstone: on the last page I just talked about that article and why it's wrong (or at least why the conditions they lay out do not guarantee the solution that a golden sample was sent).
It has subsequently emerged that the sample provided by EVGA to JonnyGuru was manufactured by Super Flower, whose Leadex platform is well known for its performance and high quality. Aris of Tom's Hardware (and TechPowerUp), however, bought their review sample from a retail outlet. The manufacturing of the latter had been outsourced to RSY, with (in this case) a resulting decline in build quality. It remains unclear whether Super Flower outsourced its production, or if EVGA is using multiple suppliers or switched manufacturers all together. Regardless, lesser quality PSUs would appear to be in stores in comparison to what was reviewed at JonnyGuru, arguably the most influential review site for PSUs.
[Update, 10/13/2017: EVGA informed us that as of today all B3 units come from Superflower, not RSY]
as of today all B3 units come from Superflower, not RSY
Final Analysis
Something is clearly wrong with EVGA's B3 family. If we had problems with one or two samples, we might chalk it up to bad luck. But this is the third B3 unit in a row to die during OPP testing. You don't need to be an expert to realize that Super Flower didn't tune the over-power protection point on these PSUs properly, and needs to fix the issue as fast as possible.
Thankfully, our 750 B3 died quietly, just like the 850 B3. However, it did fail before we were able to finish all of our tests. This time around, we didn't even bother to let EVGA know its product expired on the bench. After all, the company still hasn't responded to our concerns about the 450 B3's failure, where the main fuse remained intact, creating a fire hazard.
Efficiency 80 PLUS GoldAt a glance, the main differences between the G1 and the new G1+ units are the following:
Our comments on the above differences have to do mostly with the fan selection. Surely an FDB fan makes less noise compared to a similar spec DBB fan, but it isn't more reliable, especially under tough operating conditions where DBB fans can be matched in reliability only by fans that use magnetic bearings. FDB fans are currently so popular because users need more silent system components, and double-ball bearings can indeed be quite noisy, especially under very low speeds.
Smaller dimensions (180mm length for the 1000/850 G1+ vs. 200mm of the 1000 G1 and 170mm length for the 750/650 G1+ vs. 180mm length of the 750/650 G1)
Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) fan for the G1+ units vs. a Double-Ball Bearing (DBB) for the G1 models
Different platform (but there is no information on the OEM of the new G1+ units)
Notably higher performance and lower noise output in the G1+ units, according to EVGA's claims
Its revamped Earthwatts Gold Pro line is based on the highly successful Seasonic Focus platform, which combines high performance and an affordable price tag. There are three Earthwatts Gold Pro units with capacities ranging from 550W to 750W. They all feature 80 PLUS Gold efficiency, and the flagship was tested by Cybenetics, where it achieved ETA-A (88-91%) efficiency and LAMBDA-A- (25-30 dB[A]) noise certifications.
https://plugloadsolutions.com/psu_reports/Antec%20Inc._OEM_EA750G%20PRO_750W_ECOS%205058.1_Report.pdfFinal Analysis
Antec made the right call to partner up with Seasonic; we expect this cooperation to continue. The EA750G Pro is a decent PSU overall. But it doesn't have anything that makes it stand out from the crowd, and the competition in this category is very tough. Besides Seasonic's excellent Focus PSUs, the EA750G Pro also has to face Corsair's TXM and RMx families, Bitfenix's Whisper and Formula units, Thermaltake's offerings at similar capacities, and others. Some of the competition costs more. For example, at the time of this review, Corsair's RM750x was selling for $110. But we don't think a $10 or $20 premium is high enough to be a deal-breaker for enthusiasts trying to decide between fully modular and semi-modular designs. If Antec wants this product to stand up against the competition more effectively, it needs a price lower than $80. Of course, this might not be as easy as is sounds. When you come out with something new, though, and need to re-establish a connection with the market, compromises inevitably have to be made.