PSU tier list 2.0

[ko888]

New unit added into Tier 3 -

SilentumPC Vero M1 600w.

It's in Tier 3 due to basic safety circuitry, but it isn't a bad unit overall. Made by a company I've never heard of before known as Sama AKA Guangzhou AOJIE. Definitely a better unit than Corsair's aging CX line, and that more protection circuitry.

For those wondering where the review for this unit is, check it out here.

After reading the review, I'd put this on tier-4, flirting with tier-5. It CROAKS under stress; protections are missing. It may not kill parts (saving it from that bottom rung), but I'm sure I can find other tier-4 units I'd choose over this one.

Oklahoma Wolf said:

... It's just got this one wide open gaping flaw that allows the 12V output parts to croak without protectively shutting down. Sama needs to fix that, because it could kill someone's video card. ...

I wouldn't recommend it until it's been resolved.

 

[IntelTurtleFan]

Its not meaningless. People do come here and check. Unfortunately most do not though. And its often not until they come asking for help before they ever find out that there are crap power supplies out there. Even then, the reactions vary. Had one night before last where the power supply was made by a company on the Tier 5 list. I told him not only that it was on tier 5, but I cut and pasted the Tier 5 header, and put it in Bold Red text. Meanwhile, someone else said it could be software, and I am sitting here watching this guy spend hours trying to fix the software and completely ignoring the fact that he is a potential fireball running his system.

And for those of us that are helping people out, having a list like this is invaluable.

I cannot agree more. I have helped a lot of people that pick out a terrible PSU and they do not think it is bad. Everyone else comments and corrects me saying the PSU he picked is decent. More often than not it is an Ultra / Diablotech or CX. A fireball is a fireball and whatever people do I hope they pick a quality unit.

 

[MarkW]

They see a 850 watt power supply for $35 and the brain just goes into lala land... 🙁

 

[Darkbreeze]

They see a 850 watt power supply for $35 and the brain just goes into lala land... 🙁

Which is when you show them this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,2862.html


And this:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/26/exploding_computer_vs_reg_reader/

 

[MarkW]

Come on now.... We can always point them to this pic and tell them that this person had a cheap power supply. Keyword: had.

 

[Archaic59]

^ That's a raidmax if I ever saw one.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

Now, that XFX for Neweggs Shellshocker. I didn't see the price, but THAT is a PSU if I ever saw one.

 

[Benjiwenji]

Hows the Roswill Photon series? What tier should they be in?

It's right there in tier three. Use Ctrl + F to search keywords.

Now, that XFX for Neweggs Shellshocker. I didn't see the price, but THAT is a PSU if I ever saw one.

Just bought the XFX core edition pro 850w on shellshocker for 79.99 with additional 10% student discount and $30 MIR xD

I don't need 850w for sure, but it was around the price of the other tier 1- 2 650w PSUs and the MIR topped it up. I am happy xD

So its around tier 1-2 since its by seasonic, right?

 

[Turb0Yoda]

Yep. Tier one or two.

 

[dottorrent]

Rearranged. Unit is now in Tier 4.

 

[MarkW]

Rearranged. Unit is now in Tier 4.

What unit?

 

[Archaic59]

The Silentium I believe.

 

[sivashanth2001]

@dottorrent Hey, if possible could you add the Antec Neo Eco 620C to the tier list? The availability has increased a lot (in London) so I bought one, and I wanted to know in which tier it would be in.

I'm guessing it would either be in Tier 2 and Tier 3, but it has good efficiency and ripple values (according to some reviews) and all its caps are Japanese. FYI, the ball-bearing fan is pretty much inaudible (EVEN on full load!!). Thanks for your time.

 

[MarkW]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/26/exploding_computer_vs_reg_reader/

Its funny you linked that register story. I read that the day it was posted. I still laugh when I run into it. :lol:

 

[dottorrent]

Rearranged. Unit is now in Tier 4.

What unit?

The Silentum unit. That was a horrendous error, even for me.

 

[MarkW]

We do not have the XFX Core series on the list... JonnyGuru has a review of the 550w unit (which happens to be the unit this person I am dealing with is asking about), from back in 2011...

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=225

 

[Darkbreeze]

If it's a discontinued model or series, you're not going to see it on the list. If it's from 2011, it's almost certainly discontinued. That's why I brought up the bit about having a list of discontinued models. I may start gathering that information as we already know which production models, for the most part, are good, but for users with models out of production, but not extremely old, it's nice to have something to point to on that as well.

It's all fine and good to just tell them it's crap, but a lot of people take the written word as gospel and without something to SEE that backs up what you say, they just won't absorb it as factual.

 

[MarkW]

They are still being sold. I do not know if they were discontinued. I found it easily on both the XFX website, and on Newegg. Someone was asking if they were any good. According to JonnyGuru, it is a Seasonic made unit, but I don't know if they might have switched manufacturers in the last 4 years or not.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

They are still being sold. I do not know if they were discontinued. I found it easily on both the XFX website, and on Newegg. Someone was asking if they were any good. According to JonnyGuru, it is a Seasonic made unit, but I don't know if they might have switched manufacturers in the last 4 years or not.

Seasonic is now and has always been XFX's only OEM.

 

[MarkW]

Ok, that is good to know. Unfortunately, while I know I can trust a Seasonic power supply, and do, in my own system, there are a lot of these Seasonics that are not even on this list.

 

[Darkbreeze]

There's a lot of everything that's not on the list. Go by the OEM and reviews if it's not on the list. If the OEM or a reputable review is not available, and the unit isn't fairly new, then it's probably untrustworthy as somebody would have reviewed it had it been worth reviewing, eventually.

If the unit is fairly new or has been recently released, you just have to either wait for a review or visit the forums on one of the PSU sites to see if somebody has taken a peek inside it and related what they found.

 

[MarkW]

Oh man... If I did that, I would find that JonnyGuru Corsair CX review and call those things "wonderful units". And people would later hate me.

But I do get the point. I will recommend any XFX unit now since they are supposed to all be Seasonic. So that makes Seasonic and XFX easy. But I know people are going to ask why they are not on the list. I guess I will just keep telling them what I have been. That I trust Seasonic and do not believe that they make any bad units.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Not every Seasonic unit is exceptional or great. But I don't think any of them are purely crap or could be considered bad units either, with the exception of maybe a couple of their ECO models, not to be confused with the NEO ECO models from Antec.

 

[MarkW]

I know, I was checking those out a few days ago. Made the decision to try to push people towards the G-Series when possible.

I used to live a few hours from the PC Power and Cooling company. And after using their power supplies for years, and trusting everything they made, I was on a business trip and passed the office again, and promised to stop there on the way back home. I did, and I met some really great people. They showed me why their power supplies were better than anyone else at the time, and I have been interested in really good power supplies ever since. It was a Dark Day when they sold out to OCZ though.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

What's so bad about OCZ?? We use their PSU's in class for the past few years constantly swapping between systems and no problems yet.