PSU tier list 2.0

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I disagree with blackbird with regards to the tier listing. DT's list also has a good and bad section, much in the same that johnnylucky's does. Tier 4 and below is the bad. In my honest opinion, and many people who peruse the forums, a tier list is necessary. You can have 2 - power supplies at the same wattage and efficiency that both generate great reviews. If one of them uses superior parts to the other, it's higher quality. In johnnylucky's list they are both listed in the same list.

I was going to give an example from JL's list, but it appears that he already has an error. He lists out the Antec High Current Pro 850 as a platinum PSU, and links to JG's review of the High Current Pro 850. It's a Gold PSU, not platinum. All of the reviews link to the High Current Pro 850, except for TechPowerUp, which links to the High Current Pro Platinum 850. There are in fact HCP golds and platinums in his list, but the 750 and 850 have both versions (albeit the 750 platinum has no reviews).

But, pretending that it is in fact the HCP Platinum 850, compare for a moment the Andyson R 850 Platinum. Both are off the naughty list, both are reviewed by OklahomaWolf on JG, the Antec in Sept 2013, the Andyson in Oct 2015, both get a 10 for performance, 10 on build quality. According to the review, the Andyson actually outperforms the Antec in a few spots as well. Naturally the Andyson can't be bought anywhere, although it carried a $150 MSRP, and the Antec carried a $250 MSRP, but sells for much less. Which is a newbie to buy? Let's say a newbie found both at $125 (I found my HCPlat 850 for $115, brand new in the plastic), which gets the nod? I will swear up and down for Antec over Andyson any day of the week 366, as Andyson has a lovely history, and in this case has 2 wtf caps, but according to JG's reviews, the Antec got a 9.3, the Andyson a 9.6, because of the MSRP. You know who made a decent recommendation? DT. This example is tiered. Antec gets the nod at Tier 1, Andyson is in Tier 2.

The end goal of a tier list is to further separate a good list into groupings of performance.
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The end goal I look for is a Best for the Money list.
 


Do you have any reviews you'd like to point out that show the CXM is actually good? I do see they are rated at 40C, but until a review pops that thing open and shows that it carries a 105C Bulk cap that's sized to meet hold up specs, and actually meets them, and they rotate out the Crapxons, then there's nothing more to discuss.

The previous units were failing when used for a year, weren't warrantied for gaming conditions, despite having gaming wattages.
 


Capxon is a brand and nothing more. Capacitor manufacturers all have tons of different types of caps, and you'll find at times there are better Capxon caps than Nippon Chemi-Con. The Corsair Vengeance 650 was reviewed and the CX450M is based on the same platform with minor differences (multi rail, not all Japanese caps). So we do know quite well how it performs since it is based upon the same platform as the Vengeance.

Holdup time? Why would holdup time be so important to the average person?
 


Perhaps, but still something that most all units probably aren't tiered upon since only two reviewers that I know of test holdup time. Holdup time is tested under full load anyway, and most of the time people's computer is at a much lower load, so if they test 12ms holdup time it's not the end of the world since your computer probably won't be at 100% load most likely when there is the power fluctuation. But in an area like that, if it's that important to somebody, they could purchase a UPS simply, which of course you'll have to compare the transfer time of the UPS to when the PWR_OK signal is dropped to make sure it'll work. But knowing just the bulk capacitor is not enough to figure out holdup time, it has to be measured since other things come into play for holdup time.
 
Sure. But then you might see 50+ms at low loads; enough to avoid short dips caused by e.g. tap changers, or auto-closers trying to close on a short. These can easily drop the voltage long enough to see incandescent lights flicker.

And if you could avoid spending $50+ by buying a slightly better PSU, why wouldn't you?
 
It depends on the area you live in, Here, I have no problems. What PSU do you propose is a better option than the CX450M? On Jonnyguru they consider it to be one of the best for the money. Oh, and people might want to avoid some of the EVGA G2 PSUs in those areas then if they are having those frequent brownouts, too. As a matter of fact, I think I recall Jonnyguru himself saying that the CXM/Vengeance units don't meet the ATX spec for holdup time. But really, it depends on the person if that matters for them or not. Perfect example of why tiering can be problematic. If a unit isn't tiered based on holdup time, and someone buying a PSU has frequent brownouts, it can be very misleading. Or maybe a unit was put into a lower tier because of low holdup time but the person buying a PSU lives in an area with very stable power.

Personally, it's a lot more important that the PWR_OK signal is dropped safely. Yeah, your computer may shut down, but at least the voltage won't get so low that it can put a lot of stress on the motherboard and other components.
 


No, it's not that, it's just that by MasterRace's post it seemed as if he was implying that a good bulk cap and good holdup time are the only things to look for to see if the CX450M is good or not. There's a lot of other things I'd look at, much of which is already known, such as DC-DC, rifle bearing fan, and of course good electrical performance which CX units very often did have from the start. And semi-modular and black cables, nothing like having that stuff.
 


What is gaming wattages? There are plenty of other PC uses that could need higher wattages.

The CX series never was something I would buy for gaming but then again I don't know very many people here that would buy a lower end PSU for their PC.

That said, I wouldn't put it past Corsair to have made the CXM better. What I find funny though is that the better a PSU, the higher the cost.

I would like some new reviews but it will take time.
 


It's definitely better. Better fan. Better caps. Better crossloading.

But I'm with you that I would like to see some reviews. We have a Vengeance 650 review which we use to predict the CX450M.
 


If that is the same PSU then that review is glowing with praise for it. I can't even believe that they cleared silver and gold efficiency on a bronze rated unit. That is impressive.
 
I always appreciate it when comapnies underrate their efficiency certification to be safe. Too many companies' PSUs just barely hit the efficiency level.

The difference in the Vengeance 650 and the CX650M is the CX650M is single rail instead of multi and does not have all Japanese caps. However I would not be too concerned over the latter one, their warranty is enough to tell you they have improved the capacitors quality, and I think JG may have even said so but I'm not sure. Not sure why the Vengeance are multirail and the CXM aren't - maybe people in America believe the single rail is better myth moreso than Europe???
 
Customers in Germany pay special attention to multiple +12V rails, a design choice that gives them extra peace of mind. In the very unlikely event of a short circuit, the OCP set individually for each rail will prevent the power from raising to hardware-destroying levels, and safely shut the PSU down.

Lots of enthusiasts also demand nothing less than the most reliable Japanese-brand (Nippon Chemi-Con, Rubycon, etc.) capacitors in their power supplies, which the Vengeance series is going to have. It will also feature a 500W and even a 400W unit, as customers in Germany tend to choose more appropriate sizes for their PSUs and do not choose "overkill" just because they can.

The combined +12V rail rating for the 400W, 500W, 550W and 650W units is respectively 399.6W, 499.2W, 549.6W and 648W. The first three models have three +12V rails, each limited to 25A, while the 650W unit has four +12V rails with the same 25A limit..

http://orionpsudb.com/news/corsair-and-cwt-design-a-higher-quality-refresh-of-the-cx-line-also-target-german-market-with-new-vengeance-series​
 


Both the Vengeance and CXM are semimodular. Not sure what you're trying to say here.

I'd like to do some more research on short circuit protection vs overcurrent protection kicking in during a short. Which would more frequently kick in. Because obviously short circuit protection prevents against short, and overcurrent protection also prevents against possible shorts (along with anybody who overloads their system too far).

@Blackbird: So my assumption is correct. Germans are smarter consumers than Americans. Shocker. Except they still aren't getting the most reliable caps in the Vengeance. They are more than likely the cheaper series of the Japanese brands.
 
Just because they're Japanese doesn't mean they're automatically the best. There are different series of caps by all manufacturers.

I'm not denying that they're good, I know they are, but it's still a cheaper unit so you won't get something like RMx grade caps. Which is fine, they need their profit margins and to be able to sell the Vengeance cheaper.
 


Or use the new plug in for Edge 😛

Almost hits 90% efficiency at 50% load (Gold) which is damn good. So far the cons seem to be meh. One is the noise then again if you want silent you normally pay a bit more for that.
 
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