PSU tier list 2.0

[turkey3_scratch]

Finally looked over the revised listing a bit, as I was curious to see if the Evga GQ series had been added. Was a bit shocked they were placed in tier 1. I was honestly expecting tier 2 on those.

The GQ Series is the perfect example of why we should not classify an entire lineup into one Tier. This list needs to instead judge each model. The 850W GQ was incredible, definitely Tier 1 quality and just as good as the G2. The 750W one didn't even meet ATX specification for ripple, and that was bad, and deserves Tier 3. The 650W had high enough ripple and looser voltage regulation to earn Tier 2.

This is why we cannot generalize a whole lineup.

 

[logainofhades]

Yea, the 650w was the one I was specifically interested in, as some have asked about it. I was thinking tier 2, was the consensus, in earlier conversation. I normally ignore the GQ 750, because the B2 750 is so well priced. Some ITX cases cannot handle the size of the 750, so the 650 GQ was my next choice.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I'm still interested in hearing how the 1000W GQ performs. You find it for under $120 and if it is as good as the 850 GQ, it'll be one of the best values on the market.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Finally, something we can pretty much all agree on. There should really be two kinds of lists, if there's going to be any. One for value/performance and another strictly for overall internal quality/performance.

As for reviews, they should make mention of value vs performance, but the review itself should be based strictly on internal quality and performance.

 

[CTurbo]

IDK. Ford made the Pinto. Doesn't mean you wouldn't drive a Mustang.

lol I wouldn't drive any of the Mustangs that were made around the same time Pinto was. You can keep the Mustang II.

 

[logainofhades]

IDK. Ford made the Pinto. Doesn't mean you wouldn't drive a Mustang.

lol I wouldn't drive any of the Mustangs that were made around the same time Pinto was. You can keep the Mustang II.

Yea, the Maverick was a far better looking car.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Finally, something we can pretty much all agree on. There should really be two kinds of lists, if there's going to be any. One for value/performance and another strictly for overall internal quality/performance.

As for reviews, they should make mention of value vs performance, but the review itself should be based strictly on internal quality and performance.

The trouble is keeping it all up to date, for a value-based tier list. Would rebates be included? What about when the rebates end? What about normal price increases and decreases?

 

[Onus]

It's an impossible task, which is why the tier listing should focus on quality only; things that don't change or are outside manufacturer control.

Absurd example: If USPS used a baseball bat once on every PSU box coming from Silverstone, should Silverstone be dinged for the resulting astronomical DOA percentage?

 

[turkey3_scratch]

My suggestion for Dotorrent in the future is to do two things:

1) Separate units into individual models, don't classify an entire series together. As seen with the GQ, some especially the 750W model are not Tier 1 worthy, as per the Tomshardware review.
2) Include a hyperlink when you click on the unit so it takes you to the review of that unit. Sources are important to back up your list.

 

[CTurbo]

My suggestion for Dotorrent in the future is to do two things:

1) Separate units into individual models, don't classify an entire series together. As seen with the GQ, some especially the 750W model are not Tier 1 worthy, as per the Tomshardware review.
2) Include a hyperlink when you click on the unit so it takes you to the review of that unit. Sources are important to back up your list.

lol you know how time consuming that would be to maintain? I don't think maintaining a psu tier list is dottorrent's top priority in life.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Mostly, they have already been done that way in the past. If you look closely at the tier list, beside each unit in lighter colors are the specified wattage for that ranked placement. I think only in cases where all the units that existed at the time they were listed scored the same, were they lumped into a single listing. Most of them say exactly what capacity that listing refers to.

 

[toyftw]

My suggestion for Dotorrent in the future is to do two things:

1) Separate units into individual models, don't classify an entire series together. As seen with the GQ, some especially the 750W model are not Tier 1 worthy, as per the Tomshardware review.

2) Include a hyperlink when you click on the unit so it takes you to the review of that unit. Sources are important to back up your list.

Actually - if you want to go with a hyperlink pre requisite - that's already done, johnnylucky's PC Power
Supply Recommendation list. It's not tiered (which is OK with me), but all recommended PSU's
have the links from competent reviews.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

My suggestion for Dotorrent in the future is to do two things:

1) Separate units into individual models, don't classify an entire series together. As seen with the GQ, some especially the 750W model are not Tier 1 worthy, as per the Tomshardware review.
2) Include a hyperlink when you click on the unit so it takes you to the review of that unit. Sources are important to back up your list.

lol you know how time consuming that would be to maintain? I don't think maintaining a psu tier list is dottorrent's top priority in life.

Yeah CTurbo, it's really time consuming adding a hyperlink and splitting up wattages when adding future items to the tier list. That's really going to take up his whole life. The only response I ever get for making recommendations is about how Dotorrent has a life.

 

[Darkbreeze]

First thing I ever read at Tom's Hardware. Back in 2004.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power,745.html

 

[Someone Somewhere]

If I had the time (and I really don't), my pick for the ideal way to make a tier list/PSU recommender would probably come out looking a bit like PC Part Picker.

Scrape all the details from reviews straight into a DB (likely would have to be done manually), and use a bunch of maths to generate a bunch of scores (performance, longevity, functionality etc.) that can't really be argued with. If you had tons of time, scrape prices from Amazon/Newegg and calculate a real-time value score.

Nice thing is that if you change your scoring or what you call a 'good' unit, it's all retroactive.

But as I said, too much work. Though you could make some pretty nice Amazon Affiliates cash...

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I've figured the only way to make an entirely non-subjective tier list is if you actually have scoring methodologies with exact number. For instance, voltage regulation from 1%-0% on the 12V rail gets Tier 1, but say ripple is 80mv and Tier 3, so then you average the two and get Tier 2. Of course, there would be a ton of stuff like this, not just ripple and voltage on the 12V rail, but point be told all you have to do is look in a comparison table as to what tier it would go, average up the tiers, and twa-la! Nobody can complain that something is in the wrong tier because it literally is tiered in accordance with mathematical and statistical comparisons on paper.

 

[ikissfutebol]

Where does SPARKLE R-FSP500-70ETN 500W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Active PFC Power Supply fall on this list? It appears to be an OEM model made by FSP, simply the FSP500-70ETN, that Sparkle has turned retail.

I ask because it's currently about 40% cheaper than any other platinum rated PSU on Newegg. Seems like that would be worth having on the list, even if it's utter garbage.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

FSP doesn't seem to have a model FSP-70ETM, so it seems to be a Sparkle-only unit. No info on it.

 

[tiny voices]

Huh, very interesting. I want to know more.

 

[Onus]

Doesn't Sparkle offer mostly server-class stuff now? I'd be surprised if this is less than tier-2.

 

[tiny voices]

If it ends up being tier2 or better, I will be buying at least 3.

 

[Onus]

It shows up on http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/FSP.htm but there are no reviews.

 

[orionfotl]

It's just an FSP Aurum 92+ (efficiency-boosted Aurum), known from Antec EarthWatts Platinum - group regulated ACRF with poor voltage regulation and crossload. It doesn't perform bad at 500W.

The versions branded by FSP and Antec have very durable capacitors, but the ones (and the fan) in the Sparkle are unknown.

There are three separate 18A +12V rails - one for the motherboard/SATA/peripheral cables, one for the CPU cable, and one for the PCIe cables. So the graphics card has the 216 watts from the third rail, plus whatever it can catch from the PCIe slot from the motherboard cable.

FSP doesn't seem to have a model FSP-70ETM, so it seems to be a Sparkle-only unit. No info on it.

It's ETN, not ETM.

 

[tiny voices]

What do you think? Decent unit? Unknown caps probably not worth risking it?

 

[Karadjgne]

I'm not a fan of separate rail units. Can get misleading if you start looking at high end gpus thinking you got plenty of wattage, when in reality that gpu rail is pushing it's luck on most of those 225w amd cards.