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

[4745454b]

Unless you are getting it at substantial savings compared to other models out there i don't see why you'd bother with it. I'm "ok" with using this if it's the best you can afford, but the price is just to high.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Exactly. Some great "sale price" then it might be acceptable in the right situation. Otherwise, it's a non-starter.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

View: https://youtu.be/ejnsP9RXCOs

Yikes

 

[Darkbreeze]

Jesus. It's nothing new though. This old hardware secrets article is from like 2013, or older.

Power Supplies With Fake 80 Plus Badges - Hardware Secrets

Get smart! There are some power supplies in the market carrying fake 80 Plus badges. Updated.

www.hardwaresecrets.com

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I don't know if you watched the video in its entirety, but its not simply a fake 80+ badge like others. In this case it is suspected that the retailer was slapping an entirely fake label onto the PSU, and the model number was not one that GameMax actually says they produce. He peeled off the labels and they were clearly different materials as well.

The inside had a GameMax fan logo, and they think it was a GameMax PSU, just not the model, wattage, nor 80+ rating claimed. Not like being a GameMax PSU is a badge of honor, but it was at least the brand it claimed to be.

The model GameMax thinks the reseller is rebadging as a 650w unit is the GameMax VP350 or VP450, which are not 80+. So it is fake 80+ bronze sure, but its a lot more than just that being faked.

This is all allegedly, but he did say that GameMax sent the retailer a cease and desist, so I think this is truely what happened.

 

[Darkbreeze]

So GameMax is complaining about a retailer putting a fake label on a unit that already has a fake 80+ Bronze certification on the original label? That's great. It's like drug dealers complaining to the police that somebody stole their drugs.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

The original unit does not claim to be 80+ on their website. GameMax isn't falsifying that.

The new label says 80+ Bronze, so that bit is faked by the retailer.

Cybenetics Labs – PSU Efficiency & Noise Level Certifications

The legitimate GP600 is proper 80+ bronze, though.

 

[SuicuneSol]

Are PSUs basically a standardized size? I have a mini-ITX case and I've spotted this one, but I'm concerned it's about an inch longer than the one I have. Then again, they could just be talking about the packaging instead of the product inside.

 

[madmatt30]

Are PSUs basically a standardized size? I have a mini-ITX case and I've spotted this one, but I'm concerned it's about an inch longer than the one I have. Then again, they could just be talking about the packaging instead of the product inside.

Standardised height and width but length (front to back) can vary.

The cv series are only 125mm long so are in fact one of the smallest psu's around.

Not a model I would personally be buying though although the 650w model is the best of the range

 

[SuicuneSol]

Standardised height and width but length (front to back) can vary.

The cv series are only 125mm long so are in fact one of the smallest psu's around.

Not a model I would personally be buying though although the 650w model is the best of the range

I see. Hope you're right.

I had a Corsair CX series PSU powering my PC for 6-7 years. I know the guide on page 1 recommends against it, but I can't completely trust the guide based on my personal experiences. So I'm taking a leap of faith. I'm on a budget anyway, and anything that is "recommend" in the guide is over $100 which is where I'm drawing the line.

 

[madmatt30]

I see. Hope you're right.

I had a Corsair CX series PSU powering my PC for 6-7 years. I know the guide on page 1 recommends against it, but I can't completely trust the guide based on my personal experiences. So I'm taking a leap of faith. I'm on a budget anyway, and anything that is "recommend" in the guide is over $100 which is where I'm drawing the line.

I know I'm right, see those fan screw mounts on the cv, they're set at 110mm.
The cv is barely any deeper than the 120mm fan that's fitted for cooling.
Look at your cx and you'll see a much bigger border between the screw holes and the edge of the casing.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Standardised height and width but length (front to back) can vary.

The cv series are only 125mm long so are in fact one of the smallest psu's around.

Not a model I would personally be buying though although the 650w model is the best of the range

Actually, it really depends on what KIND of power supply we're talking about.

ATX power supplies certainly have a standard for width and height, with length being somewhat variable, but more importantly there are absolutely different "form factors" with micro ATX, SFF, Flex and many other specialized "standards" of power supply. I know you know this, but others might not.

Also, that CV is worse than the CX you used to have. Now, the NEWER CX models, aren't that bad. They certainly aren't top of the line, but they are probably at the very high end of mediocre, which is a lot better than having something less than mediocre.

 

[SuicuneSol]

Okay. Instead of the CV, I just grabbed an Evga BQ. Usually don't get Evga products, but decided to just go for it since I need a PSU, like, now. Hopefully the Evga isn't worse than the CX.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Worse than the CX? Yes, by a fair margin in my opinion.

Certainly not a horrible unit, but also not very good.

From this review of the 850W version:

We can't say the 850 BQ managed to impress us. Although it registers a fairly high performance per dollar score thanks to its affordable price, the unit's absolute performance isn't up to the levels we want to see. Load regulation is very loose, ripple suppression on the minor rails is mediocre, and the 3.3V rail's transient response is weak. To make matters worse, the efficiency levels are quite low, the inrush current under both voltage inputs (115V and 230V) is high, and the cooling fan is loud, even though it uses a reliable bearing. In order to keep the Teapo SC capacitors on the secondary side cool (along with the SBRs responsible for rectifying the +12V rail), HEC went with an aggressive fan profile that sets the minimum rotational speed at 1120 RPM! So, if you hate noisy PSUs, stay away from this one.


On the bright side, the 850 BQ offers a decent hold-up time and its power-good signal is accurate. The +12V rail's response to transient loads is pretty good for this price category, and you get a respectable number of connectors, allowing you to configure a potent system without any problems.

I would not expect the 600w to be better.

Jonnyguru has a review of the 750w version according to google, but the website appears to be down right now.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, it is MUCH worse than the CX, and I agree, it's by a fair margin. You clearly didn't read the information on the front page or you read it, but misunderstood something.

 

[maxamillionfeettall]

Worse than the CX? Yes, by a fair margin in my opinion.

Certainly not a horrible unit, but also not very good.

From this review of the 850W version:



I would not expect the 600w to be better.

Jonnyguru has a review of the 750w version according to google, but the website appears to be down right now.

The 500 and 600w versions are from andyson iirc. Performance is ok, but the OCP on the 12v rail is not implemented, so the unit only ends up shutting off when the 12v rail voltage drops a massive 2.8v to 9.2v and that's where UVP triggers. As per a comparison between a pure power 10 here.

I personally don't think of it too badly as I used to, though the 12v UVP/OCP trip point has me bothered

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Ah, so very different from the 850w.

No otp is another strike against it as well.

Hey at least it doesn't claim to have otp and actually not work like the G3

At it's current price of $70, thats not a good buy. Same price as cx550 and cx550m, or even an xpg pylon.

Not sure hm the op paid tho.

 

[Aeacus]

Jonnyguru has a review of the 750w version according to google, but the website appears to be down right now.

Either use Google Cache or WaybackMachine to read the review,
link: https://web.archive.org/web/20190510065143/https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2016/10/03/evga-750-bq-750w-power-supply/

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'm going to have to try that for some reviews on HardOCP, because there are a lot of them and of course they are all gone once they shut the site down. MANY years of reviews, especially for PSUs.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Not sure what's up with Jonnyguru. It has been down for awhile. Hoping it's not permanent

 

[4745454b]

I don't care if hard stops doing new stuff. But to remove years worth of old reviews was just wrong.

 

[Darkbreeze]

It's not that they "removed reviews". It's that he went to work for Intel and completely shut the site down. The "forum" that's running right now, is just that, a forum only. And it's being run by one of the old staff members or something. I wouldn't expect a site to leave their reviews up if they are shutting down. But it left a big hole in the overall review picture out there especially for units that are from a while back but still in widespread use and even still being sold in some cases.

 

[Saga Lout]

Let's hope he hasn't caught the Covid-19.

 

[Aeacus]

But to remove years worth of old reviews was just wrong.

There used to be loads of PSU reviews on JonnyGuru site, including the older models, like Seasonic S12II, M12II EVO, X-series etc, EVGA BQ and the like. But they changed the site appearance and dropped all those older PSU reviews, where only the newest PSU reviews remained. E.g Seasonic: Focus, PRIME.

And now, the entire site, especially review part is down.

Luckily, we can still access the reviews by WayBackMachine.

 

[4745454b]

I know what happened to hard, and i support not doing new reviews. But they should have "froze" the site so all their old, pre hire stuff was still there. Freeze it, not delete.