PSU tier list 2.0

[kwa-e]

Count me in!

(After 8 years :I)

 

[Karadjgne]

Might want to try electronic engineering, not electrical. While electrical does cover the basics like ohms laws etc, its a very broad field designed more for line voltages than it is for micro voltages.

 

[Onus]

I was going to suggest badcaps.org also.

All-solid caps are not entirely immune to problems. I pulled an old GT6600 out of my test/repair-parts bag, and a row of solid caps on it were all cracked.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I was going to suggest badcaps.org also.

All-solid caps are not entirely immune to problems. I pulled an old GT6600 out of my test/repair-parts bag, and a row of solid caps on it were all cracked.

Indeed. The way I see it is, even though some argue that many Chinese capacitors may be near the Japanese in quality, I haven't heard anyone argue that they're better. It's pretty set-in-stone the Japanese are the best, whether that be by a foot or a mile. But whatever distance apart they are, I'd always take the ones that are ensured to be more reliable, even if only by a small margin.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Anybody want to chime in and help this guy out http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2951963/psu-died-replaced-computer-frying-drives.html#17393641 He claims that his old PSU dies (CX750), and his new G2 is now frying his drives.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

But if you can get the chinese ones in a PSU $10-20 cheaper...

 

[Darkbreeze]

Toe ME, 10-20 dollars savings isn't worth compromising the longevity of my most important component. I will avoid units with chinese caps whenever possible, regardless of WHAT kind of quality is supposedly reported, due simply to the history of quality issues they have. We still see pet foods, children's furniture and toys (That contain lead), exploding batteries, general inferiority of quality and a further extensive rap sheet of problems with products coming out of china to a significant enough degree that I find it extremely difficult to trust anything coming out of that countries manufacturing facilities.

I realize that it is unavoidable, as 90% of the products we buy are coming off those containers from China, but whenever possible, I will avoid furthering this practice and make every effort to at least TRY and bolster the efforts of companies who do in fact an effort to use caps with KNOWN reliability.

But that's just me. I'm sure this doesn't work for everyone.

 

[billybobbkins17]

Hey guys i have another psu question, my friend has two psu's lying around, and he says he can give it to me are these psu's any good, and they were never ever opened yet for a while

1. OCZ MODXSTREAM Pro 600w
2. OCZ GameXStream 600w another 600w psu

is this a good psu, to power a mid range gpu, despite them being old and ocz no longer being a company and gone bankrupt, is still good or is it garbage and how would this match up with a corsair cx, and ps i ordered the evga gs 1050w 2 days ago, almost coming to my house, it is a great psu btw made by seasonic and 7 year warranty, wished it had 10 like g2 great psu under $150, but still good. anyways thx for the help

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Hey guys i have another psu question, my friend has two psu's lying around, and he says he can give it to me are these psu's any good, and they were never ever opened yet for a while

1. OCZ MODXSTREAM Pro 600w
2. OCZ GameXStream 600w another 600w psu

is this a good psu, to power a mid range gpu, despite them being old and ocz no longer being a company and gone bankrupt, is still good or is it garbage and how would this match up with a corsair cx, and ps i ordered the evga gs 1050w 2 days ago, almost coming to my house, it is a great psu btw made by seasonic and 7 year warranty, wished it had 10 like g2 great psu under $150, but still good. anyways thx for the help

The ModXStream is so-so. It uses all capacitors from Teapo, so that's a major downside when your primary filter capacitor is from Teapo and the unit is 6 years old, so already 6 years of strain on it. Ripple on the 12V rail is poor at 80mv. Those are the two major downsides with the unit.

The GameXStream has no review on it, so I wouldn't take that one either.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

But if you can get the chinese ones in a PSU $10-20 cheaper...

That's usually not the only downside though. Purchasing a unit $10-20 cheaper usually not only gets non-Japanese capacitors, but it gets you typically worse noise and voltage regulation.

 

[Onus]

I'd take the ModXStream over the Corsair CX though. OCZ did indeed get dinged for low-quality capacitors, but that's what's in the CX. If these haven't been used, they should be ok especially if they aren't loaded too heavily and get good airflow through them.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Some of the CXs use Chemi-Con for the primary with most of the Samxon and Capxon on the secondary. It's not so much the capacitors on the OCZ but the ripple. I'm a little strict when it comes to this stuff, but I don't want 80mv of ripple on both of my 12V rails. It's just a lot, even if ATX standard calls for 120mv and below.

The whole CX line is confusing, because you got the old CX, the new CX which don't have any different indication of naming. FOr instance, the 80 Plus CX 500 and the Bronze CX 500 look exactly the same, both called by the same name, but are entirely different. Why can't they just put a "V2" in there so people know what thew heck PSU they're talking about?

The Corsair TX, now that's good stuff. A shame the CX does not live up to its standards, even though CX is fine for budget builds. The TX was much better. The TX even beats EVGA's GS when it comes to regulation and ripple. And, from the reviews of them I've read, use all Japanese capacitors.

 

[Karadjgne]

the TX? or the TXv2 which were markedly better than their predecessors

 

[turkey3_scratch]

the TX? or the TXv2 which were markedly better than their predecessors

My bad, yes I'm thinking of the TX V2.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Toe ME, 10-20 dollars savings isn't worth compromising the longevity of my most important component. I will avoid units with chinese caps whenever possible, regardless of WHAT kind of quality is supposedly reported, due simply to the history of quality issues they have. We still see pet foods, children's furniture and toys (That contain lead), exploding batteries, general inferiority of quality and a further extensive rap sheet of problems with products coming out of china to a significant enough degree that I find it extremely difficult to trust anything coming out of that countries manufacturing facilities.

I realize that it is unavoidable, as 90% of the products we buy are coming off those containers from China, but whenever possible, I will avoid furthering this practice and make every effort to at least TRY and bolster the efforts of companies who do in fact an effort to use caps with KNOWN reliability.

But that's just me. I'm sure this doesn't work for everyone.

It's a potential longevity improvement, not a guaranteed one. I haven't seen any failed caps on recent gear, and by all reports their quality has substantially improved.

They build A320s, apple products, and honestly pretty much everything there. The low-quality end of the market is bad, but as long as you pay attention when selecting components, you can get plenty of decent made-in-china gear.

Even a $15-per-cell Japanese Li-ion will go bang if you're an idiot with the charging circuitry, which is the cause of most of those issues. First to market was a higher priority than getting a good product, and it's not like that ever happens in the first world. /sarcasm

Plus most of the caps made by Japanese countries are not actually made in Japan, but pretty much anywhere else in Asia.

 

[dottorrent]

Hey guys Torrent here.

So a small update on what is happening. I have had little to no time to update the list at all. I will start adding new units to the list Saturday.

Thanks.

 

[tiny voices]

So I have an interesting thing going on. Last night I played some ESO with HWMonitor open and my 12v dropped quite low. 11.750v at lowest. Now I know HWMonitor voltages are not super reliable, but at the same time my 3.3v and 5v were dead on. Like 3.306 and 5.004. I have a 300w FSP OEM unit from an HP desktop that I am going to connect to the mobo/CPU only (leave my 550w powering the GPU with 24-pin jumped) and see if the 12v voltage seems more reasonable.

If while doing this, the 12v is much tighter, does that mean it's time for a new PSU?

 

[Onus]

As the load on +12V increases during the gaming load, your current PSU may be having trouble. How old is it? I don't think the Basiq Plus is a bad unit, but it might be sufficiently old that it is suffering from capacitor aging.

 

[tiny voices]

It was bought in 2011. Maybe it's time for a replacement?

 

[Onus]

HWMonitor may not be accurate in absolute terms, but relatively speaking it probably is. What is +12V when idle? If it's right at 12V, and goes down to 11.75V under load, that's only .25V, which is still 2% voltage regulation. Unless the actual drop is a lot higher than that (e.g. "idle" +12V shows as something like 12.3V, approaching 5% regulation), you're probably fine.

 

[tiny voices]

Max is usually like 12.25v and lowest it goes is 11.75. Usually hovers around 12.15 unless you load it though.

 

[Onus]

Well, unless you see that it has gotten worse in another month or two, it's probably still ok, especially if your system is otherwise stable.

 

[tiny voices]

I would like a new PSU. Probably something 600-650w. I would like to save money while still buying a good unit. I am not opposed to the OEM Seasonic units with no sleeving and all. Aesthetics do not matter.

The PC DOES just die once in a blue moon. Power Kernel 41 in the event viewer. Every like 2 weeks or so. Just figured it was the overclock or something.

 

[Onus]

Nothing really jumped out at me at Newegg, although there were some XFX 550W models. I have yet to see test results on Rosewill's ARC and VALENS units, and I'm sure you don't want Raidmax (HA!).

 

[tiny voices]

:lol:

I'll buy any brand (but Corsair and EVGA for non-PSU reasons). Even a Riadmax if it is proven on a good platform. Any brand as long as the internals are solid. Anything. I actually welcome different/interesting units. I PREFER those. If there is a Seasonic based Apevia or a super slower based Huntkey, I'll buy it. I WANT an obscure unit.