PSU tier list 2.0

[NightAntilli]

I think we can add Frontech to the list of tier 5 PSUs.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Fair enough; "ages badly" makes me think of the CWT-built units with the questionable capacitors.
My SG-650 has been surpassed in efficiency, but I still suspect it will outlive me.

That was kind of my thought too. And I was thinking, dang it, did somebody update ELECTRICITY and I missed the review?

 

[MasterMace]

missing screws is poor QC, that melted wire also doesn't help. deserves Tier 3.

 

[Achaios]

Hello guys. Many thanks for compiling this list, although I think that the 1.0 version should still have been available. On topic:

I saw somebody mentioned the former "Hiper" PSU brand in p18. Hiper should be in T5. I don't know if you guys are aware, I think they went out of business ca 2011.

Here's my 0.2:

In 2011, I owned a Core 2 Extreme QX9650@3.8 GHz (moderate OC) on a GA-P35-DS4 incl a ATI Radeon HD 5830. The PSU powering the rig was a Hiper HPU-5K880 (880W) with just 30A on the 12V rail.

The unit I had blew up after about 2 months of use. My total power draw in that system never exceeded 400W. Fortunately, it did not destroy my rig when it blew up. I still don't know why and how come my rig wasn't destroyed alongwith the PSU.

( I didn't know pretty much nothing about PSU's back then. I had gone to my neighborhood's computer shop, and had bought the most expensive GPU they had for sale which was the Radeon HD 5830. Then the employee told me "hey you need a good PSU to pwer this. Why don't you buy the Hiper 880W?)

Edit: I forgot to say my Radeon HD 5830 died before the PSU blew up, after just 2 months of use. Not sure if the PSU was somehow responsible.

 

[MarkW]

Almost sounds like you bought into the "Buy Grannies dear old car" at that shop...

 

[Darkbreeze]

If the company went out of business in 2011, that's why it's not listed here. Discontinued models are removed from the list.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

Almost sounds like you bought into the "Buy Grannies dear old car" at that shop...

In which she does burnouts at the drag strip and ruins the cars diff.(or whatever the hell is supposed to be worn out besides tires).

 

[Karadjgne]

I really don't like that term, 'aged', especially when it concerns psu's. The design of the Seasonic G is solid, no ifs, no ands, no butts. The new GS is 'based' on the G, its not a duplicate. So any caps, that some would consider 'questionable' have been replaced by newer, better caps, but the basic design is still there. And it works, and works very well. Change a 85° 47uf chemical cap on a choke for a 105° 47uf solid cap on the same choke and it works the same. No different. If a psu design was solid 4 years ago, its solid now, it'll be a solid design 10 years from now, unless pc power requirements drastically change.

My Seasonic M12-II 520w isn't a new design, but I dare anyone to tell me that because it's an 'aged' design, its now crap.

(don't even think about it darkbreeze, lol)

 

[IntelTurtleFan]

Looks like the EVGA 400W stepped down to tier 4ish.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=436

 

[Darkbreeze]

I really don't like that term, 'aged', especially when it concerns psu's. The design of the Seasonic G is solid, no ifs, no ands, no butts. The new GS is 'based' on the G, its not a duplicate. So any caps, that some would consider 'questionable' have been replaced by newer, better caps, but the basic design is still there. And it works, and works very well. Change a 85° 47uf chemical cap on a choke for a 105° 47uf solid cap on the same choke and it works the same. No different. If a psu design was solid 4 years ago, its solid now, it'll be a solid design 10 years from now, unless pc power requirements drastically change.

My Seasonic M12-II 520w isn't a new design, but I dare anyone to tell me that because it's an 'aged' design, its now crap.

(don't even think about it darkbreeze, lol)

I wouldn't think of it, well, maybe for just a second. Actually, what you're saying falls right in line with my sarcastic comment regarding the fact that "electricity" must have been "updated", and I missed the review. Dang it, now I have to get a new PSU that's not "dated" and works with this "new" electricity. Sigh. JK, no offense to anyone. Just being ridiculous.

 

[sivashanth2001]

I really don't like that term, 'aged', especially when it concerns psu's. The design of the Seasonic G is solid, no ifs, no ands, no butts. The new GS is 'based' on the G, its not a duplicate. So any caps, that some would consider 'questionable' have been replaced by newer, better caps, but the basic design is still there. And it works, and works very well. Change a 85° 47uf chemical cap on a choke for a 105° 47uf solid cap on the same choke and it works the same. No different. If a psu design was solid 4 years ago, its solid now, it'll be a solid design 10 years from now, unless pc power requirements drastically change.

My Seasonic M12-II 520w isn't a new design, but I dare anyone to tell me that because it's an 'aged' design, its now crap.
(don't even think about it darkbreeze, lol)

Same case here. My Antec 620C PSU is based off the M12-II 620W, which I certainly don't think is bad at all. It has all-Japanese Chemi-Con and Rubycon caps, rated at 85° or 105°. Love the almost silent ball-bearing fan. One of the few reasons why they are still on sale in the UK on many sites. Personally, I only trust Seasonic for power supplies (as an OEM or the manufacturer itself).

(As I'm sort-of a noob, I only heard of Super Flower about a year ago and I hope I wasn't the only one who laughed when I heard its name

 

[de5_Roy]

(As I'm sort-of a noob, I only heard of Super Flower about a year ago and I hope I wasn't the only one who laughed when I heard its name

i found "be quiet!" to be quite amusing brand name. it's got a bit or authoritative feel to it. took me a while to realize that it's a brand name.
a lot of low end psus have grand, larger-than-box names. after learning about psus, i found cooler master, raidmax, aerocool and thermaltake psus model names quite funny e.g. "elite" power, "extreme" power, "smart" power and so on. there're no shortage of those.

 

[Darkbreeze]

There's no shortage of a lot of crap throughout the industry and enthusiast market. The bigger the brand name, the bigger the pile in most cases.

 

[Karadjgne]

I think the most over abused term would be a single word. Gold. You can take the biggest pile of crap psu ever designed and built, slap the word 'Gold' in the title, and the masses, for some reason I've never been able to fathom, will automatically assume it must be decent

 

[MarkW]

Oh! But don't you know? Gold means golden. In all cases!

 

[dottorrent]

Anything that says gold = awesome unstoppable quality!!! BUY NOW!!! Days later, it dies and a lawsuit has risen.

 

[Ubrales]

Aggressive puffing perhaps?

 

[Karadjgne]

If you were English, aggressive puffing would have a whole different connotation, trust me lol

 

[Ubrales]

If you were English, aggressive puffing would have a whole different connotation, trust me lol

Not English! American! And it means exaggerating qualities of a product. As in used car terms like 'Immaculate', 'Sacrifice', 'Mint', etc. The US courts permit such terms because, the courts' standpoint is that no one believes such claims.

My neighbors are English, from Birmingham; I will request them for the British meaning of the term.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

lol. Tell us how that goes...
Now, can 18-ish amps on the 12 volt rail power a E5300 and a 740?

 

[Ubrales]

lol. Tell us how that goes...
Now, can 18-ish amps on the 12 volt rail power a E5300 and a 740?

You need a bigger PSU - 400 watts or higher.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-740/specifications

 

[Turb0Yoda]

The thing is, I've seen 750 ti's work on OEM machines with 300 watts... I did the calculations, and it comes out too:

-CPU: 65 watts max
-GPU: 64 watts max
-Other Stuff: 40 watts absolutely overkill for one HDD and two sticks of DDR2 and a dvd player
------------------------------
Total: 180 watts max...

 

[Darkbreeze]

The 750 and 750 TI call for 400w minimum. It will probably "run" on a lower capacity unit, but so will a lot of cards. Doesn't make it a good idea. Also, I don't think I've ever seen a 300w unit with a 6 pin PCI connector. There may be some, but I'm not familiar with any. Most the 750 TI models need at least a 6 pin, although I know there are a few that don't require a supplemental connector.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

The card I am buying has no 6 pin or 8 pin. It runs off the PCIe

 

[Karadjgne]

If you figure @100w for a pc, (drives, mobo, fans, ram etc) 75w for pcie slot, then add cpu, you'll find @225-275w is about average. Granted there will be lower wattage stuff like some of the Alienware is 180w psu etc, but mostly mid 200's is about right.

The problem isn't the measly 250w draw on a 300w unit, its the 250w draw on a measly 300w psu. Most of those 'dime a dozen' brand less OEM psus used by major labels are just so cheaply made for mass production, the actual claims say 300w but in reality are closer to 250w, I've even seen one that tested out at a 208w maximum. And that's if they'll even handle 100% full loads without blowing up. This is why 750ti min required is 400w,not because it needs it, but because it's so efficient that it'll work on those crap OEM, technically.