PSU tier list 2.0

[corndog1836]

It's time to put in another reminder that some PSUs which show on the list as poor quality are mostly determined as such by US reviewers. In the UK, as with all other PSUs, the CX range has been built to British Standards of electrical equiment and wouldn't be allowed on the market if they behaved as badly as some have in the States and elsewhere. It's also a fact that the CX range is the only PSU available in the town where I live at wekends when the trade counters are closed. They also cost a lot more than other makes would, if they were available, which in turn is also a lot more than they sell for in the States.

I recently paid £49 GBP for a CX 430 to replace my test bench PSU which was an unbranded OEM unit taken from a dead PC and had worked for me for over a year. £49 GBP is over $76 USD and 4,900 INR if that helps so these are not cheap units. Someone in India looking for a 20,000 Rupee build is going to spend a quarter of that on a Corsair CX PSU alone.

Remember, manufacturing standards vary from country to country so seek local opinion before taking too much notice of the tier scheme.

I learned something from you. thanx. I learned something else from you as well and that is to go with a super flower or seasonic always....it too difficult to tell which country and which manufacturer is doing what.... seasonic all the way. as we say in south philly " buy dis an furgett about it!!!!!"😛

 

[Deleted member 217926]

I have never heard of power supplies sold worldwide having different specs for different regions. That sounds cost prohibitive to me. All of the units are made at the same factories in China.

Now there certainly are models sold only in certain regions like the Corsair VS aimed at 220VAC for example. No matter what the UK laws are some of the worst junk I see being asked about comes from the UK market such as Alpine. Also the lowest end junk is just as available there as it is here in the US. Xion, Sunbeam, Thortech, Diablotech, Aptevia etc.

 

[corndog1836]

I have never heard of power supplies sold worldwide having different specs for different regions. That sounds cost prohibitive to me. All of the units are made at the same factories in China.

Now there certainly are models sold only in certain regions like the Corsair VS aimed at 220VAC for example. No matter what the UK laws are some of the worst junk I see being asked about comes from the UK market such as Alpine. Also the lowest end junk is just as available there as it is here in the US. Xion, Sunbeam, Thortech, Diablotech, Aptevia etc.

me neither. is he correct????? maybe I didn't learn something...

 

[Ubrales]

The same product supposedly made to the same specs do vary in quality depending upon the country it is made in. This is because of people and different work ethics. To some extent this happens within a country and within a plant. Remember Detroit's "Monday" cars? - same cars, same workers, same production lines, but the end product has "Monday" written all over it!

One exception to this is products made to DIN standards - much higher level of uniformity throughout the world!

 

[Deleted member 217926]

All power supplies sold worldwide come from the same factories in China. It's not like CWT has a factory in the US and one in the UK. Same factory and same production line. Otherwise there would be various reviews based on regional specs. There are not.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ever since Enermax bought Impervio, a company that manufactured in Taiwan, all but one brand of PC PSU's are being built in China.

The one brand that's not built in China is Zippy Emacs. They're sold through Athena Power in the U.S. - JG

All Seasonic products are manufactured in our ISO 9001 & ISO 14001 certified factory in DongGuan China with an overall capacity of 1,00,000 units per month. Our products comply with CE, CISPR22 and FCC part 15 class B, AS/NZS 3548 and safety certifications include UL, C-UL, VDE, TUV, D, N, S, FI, CCC, PSE, CB and so on.

 

[Karadjgne]

I find this whole part of the discussion interesting. I can most certainly agree that some products like Seasonic or Delta are manufactured to a higher standard. That's manufactured. Built. That says nothing about what it's manufactured from. You could take a corsair CX, manufacture it to the same standards as a Seasonic unit, and still end up with crappy CapXon caps in it. So while UK standards will apply as to manufacturing process, there isn't any standard saying a psu must be built using only Japanese solid caps. The Corsair RM 750/850 are above $100 in US, and yet the OEM (Chicony) is of Seasonic calibre as far as quality build goes, yet those 2 units suffer from thermal design flaws and crappy components, hence the tier rating.

Corsair is a worldwide market, but that doesn't mean all marketing schemes are equal. In India, for instance, Corsair has 2 basic competitors, Seasonic and thermaltake. So it floods the market, taking the Lions share, leaving Seasonic with the upper elite and TT in the dust. In Europe, the market has more brand names, so Corsair Jacks up its prices and relies on Brand Name recognition to overpower lesser competitors. Who hasn't heard of Corsair? Same unit, different gimmick

 

[Darkbreeze]

I find this whole part of the discussion interesting. I can most certainly agree that some products like Seasonic or Delta are manufactured to a higher standard. That's manufactured. Built. That says nothing about what it's manufactured from. You could take a corsair CX, manufacture it to the same standards as a Seasonic unit, and still end up with crappy CapXon caps in it. So while UK standards will apply as to manufacturing process, there isn't any standard saying a psu must be built using only Japanese solid caps. The Corsair RM 750/850 are above $100 in US, and yet the OEM (Chicony) is of Seasonic calibre as far as quality build goes, yet those 2 units suffer from thermal design flaws and crappy components, hence the tier rating.

Exactly. And as mentioned, conforming to a specific "standard" in regard to build quality and ISO specifications, doesn't mean it's going to hold up with any given unit's lack of or small heatsinks, aggressive designs regarding trying too hard to be quiet and not hard enough to cool the components (Thus, common failures due to overheating) or the choice of caps that are simply cheap and inferior, too small for the job at hand or not rated for high enough temps, especially if the layout and cooling aren't conducive to good airflow.

 

[Onus]

Companies like Coolermaster, whose products don't meet Western standards, have liar labels and missing protection circuits, will ship them off to the developing world, where people either don't know better or don't have much choice. This kind of dishonesty is why CM is on my "Do Not Buy" list, even for the few quality products they sell.

 

[Karadjgne]

Which would put me in a quandary lol since I bought my CM 690 II Adv before being edumacated about some ppl left handed, round the back, oh ugh really? Tactics. Gotta say, this is one hell of a good case, just picked up a define r5 window for $30, so I'll see how it compares.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, some of their cases are fine. It's their power supplies that leave a bad taste in your mouth.

 

[Karadjgne]

Heh, I nabbed a used CM 600w for $10 off eBay about 6 years ago that's still kicking, but an Athlon II 3200 with a 8800GT 512 couldn't stress that enough to worry about full loads. And no, I've not dared p95 it. I guess some things just need to be taken with a grain of salt.... or 3.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

My friend got a CX PSU for a 6300 anda 650 ti... 600 watts... He SHOULD be fine, since he doesn't OC.... I have to explain capacitors now.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Heh, I nabbed a used CM 600w for $10 off eBay about 6 years ago that's still kicking, but an Athlon II 3200 with a 8800GT 512 couldn't stress that enough to worry about full loads. And no, I've not dared p95 it. I guess some things just need to be taken with a grain of salt.... or 3.

Fair enough.

 

[The Grox Empire]

Corsair VS 1 tier better than CX. Does its mean VS better than CX

 

[MarkW]

I think they sell a lot less of those, so we see less of them. But 2 nights ago, I had someone here with what appeared to be a dying VS unit that was only 4 months old. Looked to me to be the same capacitor problem the CX line suffers from.

Remember that we recommend only buying Tier 1 or 2 power supplies. So even Tier 3 power supplies should normally be ruled out in my opinion.

 

[Onus]

Absent notable issues, tier-3 units (and even some tier-4) are probably safe in low-power (e.g. 100W) business boxes. A site like HardOCP runs long term 80% torture tests which are entirely realistic for enthusiast units, but a business box may run at 30% or less, where even some of the tier-4 liar-labeled units are likely able to survive long term (barring input filter problems which would put them on tier-5 anyway).

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The VS series is sold in tremendous numbers but it's only sold in 220VAC markets. They are decent units and much like the CX are often the best thing available to those with access to them.

 

[hoorhay]

Where would this unit be tiered? Just got it for free, and was considering using it until I could purchase a new one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001

 

[Turb0Yoda]

Tier 1 or Two.

 

[Karadjgne]

That's one hell of a freebie, seriously doubt you'd need anything else unless you need something larger. The XFX BE are excellent units.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

GPU works fine. I played Next Car Game(so far).... 😀 This PSU has power

 

[Darkbreeze]

That CX? Sure, for now. See how it's doing in six months to a year.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

No, My Delta.
With my math, I don't put out more than 180 watts on average, less when on desktop and chrome, which is most of my usage.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Oh the Delta. Well that's not too surprising. Even their OEM models are usually pretty fair and many are excellent, for what they are. If you can dig up the model number off the unit we can probably tell you exactly what you've got there. Then again, a lot of OEM units don't have a lot of review data, if any, on them. Usually something at least can be found though if it's a worthwhile builder.