PSU tier list 2.0

[FALC0N]

It's SHARKOONADO!!!!

 

[FALC0N]

Great picture Darkbreeze! How did you dig that up on such short notice ?

 

[Novuake]

I'm willing roll with sharkoon on the name alone. Anyone willing to combine a Shark AND a Raccoon can't be all bad.

What so great about raccoons?
Shagger would have been better. Pun intended.

 

[FALC0N]

You just don't get it novuake. It's a shark, and is a raccoon. It's SHARKOON!

Just look at Darkbreezes picture. It says it all!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Heh. This place is nuts. I like it.

 

[Novuake]

You just don't get it novuake. It's a shark, and is a raccoon. It's SHARKOON!

Just look at Darkbreezes picture. It says it all!

1. Calling American Mcgee's Alice Cheshire cat shark or raccoon(or both) is just a nono and utterly blasphemous...

2. Also. Badger > Raccoon = Shagger(you could make it Shadger too, but wheres the fun in that) > Sharkoon.

3. The off-topic is real.

 

[Darkbreeze]

He's talking about the raccoon coming out of the water in the post up above, related to the sharkoon PSU we were questioned about a few posts up. He's not referring to my avatar. Heh.

 

[Novuake]

He's talking about the raccoon coming out of the water in the post up above, related to the sharkoon PSU we were questioned about a few posts up. He's not referring to my avatar. Heh.

Ah... Now I feel dumb... 😀

 

[Darkbreeze]

Nope. You do NOT feel dumb. I won't allow it. It was probably just the system acting up. I'd go with that.

Attention, Novuake does not feel dumb. See there. You feel better already. Heh. This too shall pass.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Alright guys, as wonderfully off topic as this thread has gone ( and I did laugh ) as a mod I have to be a party pooper.

So less of this:

And more of this:

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Yes Arc series , not a good choice.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Alright guys, as wonderfully off topic as this thread has gone ( and I did laugh ) as a mod I have to be a party pooper.

So less of this:

And more of this:

THAT, is awesome. It's Trek dog. Another Sci Fi original. Er, I mean, of course, let's get back on topic.

 

[FALC0N]

There a lot of questionable calls on this list.

How does the Antec High Current Gamer get tagged a tier 2 PSU when the Corsair RM, a PSU of almost identical quality, get tier 3? How about the LEPA G500? All Japanese caps and top quality voltage regulation earns a tier 3, right next to HEC/compucase? Really? Not sure how the Fata1ity has fared since the OCZ bankruptcy, but it was well above tier 3 before. I could go on. There is also no way the Sharkoon should be Tier 5. It deserves at least a one tier upgrade based on name alone.

On the flip side of things, Failing to create a tier 6 to illustrate how badly Powork sucks is also a glaring oversight. In fact, it didn't even make the list at all. Some dude sold 700 of them on ebay for $120!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PoWork-RED-X-650W-Max-ATX-Power-Supply-w-12cm-Fan-20-24-Pin-SATA-NEW-Fast-Ship-/140965873286

That's CRAZY!!!!!!!

 

[dottorrent]

Let's clear a couple of things up.

Antec's HCG series and Corsair's RM series are world's apart. Antec's HCG series is made by Delta Electronics and Seasonic. Corsair's units are made by CWT and Chicony. The Corsair units have pretty horrific ripple thanks to some poor capacitor choices.

LEPA's G500 hasn't been properly tested using the best testing equipment. And don't say Hardware Secrets or Anandtech's reviews are thorough, because they aren't. It's on there because this list is based off Newegg's list. LEPA's units range from Shocking to decent, apart from a few units.

Sharkoon's units are off the scale of bad. They use Power Giga, a notorious company that uses the cheapest parts available to make their units. Let me put it to you this way, I would rather hook a leaking car battery to my PC than any of Sharkoon's units.

The last Fatal1ty unit was OCZ's / Firepower's worst. It was essentially an old gen NZXT Hale82N i.e. It was bad. Su'Scon caps are a complete No-No to all reviewers and did not pass Intel's Haswell compliancy test, despite being labelled.

And there's always units being added. All these units must have been reviewed by reviewers with the correct testing equipment and not testing the fan speed, temperature or quality of the sleeving.

 

[FALC0N]

Let's clear a couple of things up.

Antec's HCG series and Corsair's RM series are world's apart. Antec's HCG series is made by Delta Electronics and Seasonic. Corsair's units are made by CWT and Chicony. The Corsair units have pretty horrific ripple thanks to some poor capacitor choices.

Worlds apart in your mind, maybe, but not in reality. CWT and Chicony are good OEM's. I have examined multiple reviews of both platforms. I don't see any basis for your claim. And I certainly didn't see any "horrific ripple" from any of them. If I had to split hairs, I would say the Antec is a little stronger. Not nearly enough to justify a lower tier.

LEPA's G500 hasn't been properly tested using the best testing equipment. And don't say Hardware Secrets or Anandtech's reviews are thorough, because they aren't. It's on there because this list is based off Newegg's list. LEPA's units range from Shocking to decent, apart from a few units.

An Enermax platform combined with all Japanese Caps should tell you all you need to know. One, a great OEM. Two, corners were not cut. Show me where that formula doesn't equal high quality and I will nominate you for the Nobel Prize. Then add the hardware secrets review to the equation, which shows great voltage regulation and very good ripple control, and you have a clear tier 2 unit.

Not sure what your issue is with hardware secrets. They are not the most thorough, but they are certainly competent. Its also VERY rare for other review sites to disagree with their results, so they must be doing something right.

The last Fatal1ty unit was OCZ's / Firepower's worst. It was essentially an old gen NZXT Hale82N i.e. It was bad. Su'Scon caps are a complete No-No to all reviewers and did not pass Intel's Haswell compliancy test, despite being labelled.

Im a little wary of OCZ/Firepower, as I have not been able to locate a post-bankruptcy review. However, the older reviews were certainly worthy of tier 2.

Exactly who said it failed "Haswell compliance"? Not that I care much about that. The issue was overblown.

Sharkoon's units are off the scale of bad. They use Power Giga, a notorious company that uses the cheapest parts available to make their units. Let me put it to you this way, I would rather hook a leaking car battery to my PC than any of Sharkoon's units.

Of the 9 PSU series Sharkoon has released, 8 of them were made by Fortran, Channel Well, or Enhance. Only one comes from Power Giga. Review material is limited, but it all units performed respectably in the reviews that have been done. This body evidence warrants no worse than a 4.

Besides, do you really want to argue with him?

 

[ko888]

CWT and Chicony are good OEM's.

If Chicony Power Technology is as good an OEM as you say they are then why have Corsair dropped them as an OEM and moved over to CWT for the RM750 and RM850 models? I think it had a lot to do with the higher than normal RMA rates for those Chicony made models.

Not sure what your issue is with hardware secrets. They are not the most thorough, but they are certainly competent. Its also VERY rare for other review sites to disagree with their results, so they must be doing something right.

Hardware Secrets hasn't done a PSU review since July 31, 2013. How are they relevant anymore?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

CWT is capable of making good products. They also are capable of crap. Chicony made nothing but problems for Corsair. The TX 750/750M and 850/850M never were made in enough numbers to rate a review ( tells you something right there ) and the RM 750 failed in testing from HardOCP. Not to mention they made 2 revisions of the RM 750/850 in like a year. Now as ko888 pointed out, Corsair has dropped them. That screams quality to me.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Chicony was brought in as a Corsair OEM for the first time for the third version of the TX 750/750M and 850/850M. They were only made for a short time and as such they never made it to a real review.

I wasn't real clear in that first post, sorry.


Also those units that test so well at jonnyguru are sent there for testing by Corsair. HardOCP buys their units retail......and Jonny does work for Corsair. Not saying the site is biased since his employment with Corsair is why OklahomaWolf and Tazz started doing the reviews but you have to wonder why all the Corsair units do so well there and not when they are bought from the retail market. Shades of Ferrari and cherry picked review samples.

Oh and the first revision of Chicony built RM units were so bad they were recalled.

 

[Karadjgne]

The RM line isn't OK, just a few of the lower wattage psus are OK. For the higher wattage, take the 750 and 850 for instance (Chicony built) those units failed miserably in testing, not being able to pass any load tests as they thermally shutdown long before reaching 100% load. Chicony normally builds quality units, up there with Delta, Seasonic etc as far as quality of build goes, but in this case, they got sabotaged on output by Corsair demands and design of components. Quality built? Yes. Quality design and components? Oh hell No. Belong in tier 4? Definitely.

450,550w not a problem, 650 is pushing your luck, 750+... Run. The case design is just thermally lousy.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

You can spend your money however you like. If Seasonic, Superflower or Flextronics doesn't make it I'm not going to buy it. And Flextronics is overpriced. Just my opinion but there it is. Thankfully I don't live somewhere that availability dictates my choices.

 

[FALC0N]

If Chicony Power Technology is as good an OEM as you say they are then why have Corsair dropped them as an OEM and moved over to CWT for the RM750 and RM850 models? I think it had a lot to do with the higher than normal RMA rates for those Chicony made models.

I actually I don't really know a whole lot about them. It was Oklahoma Wolf, who does the Johnny Guru reviews, who compared Chicony quality to Delta. Until I hear otherwise, from somebody who knows what they are talking about, I am going to run with that.

Corsair also dropped Seasonic for all but one unit. By your logic, that must have been quality issues. And how do you know Corsair dropped Chicony? Maybe Chicony dropped Corsair. I do know they one of the bigger OEM's out there and could have had their own reasons for dropping out. If you have evidence of higher RMA rates for the RM, I suggest you present it. So barring any evidence to support your claims, I have to consider your positions pure speculation.

Hardware Secrets hasn't done a PSU review since July 31, 2013. How are they relevant anymore?

It was probably not clear form our discussion, but the LEPA unit in question was only reviewed once. That review was Hardware Secrets.

 

[FALC0N]

RM 750 failed in testing from HardOCP. Not to mention they made 2 revisions of the RM 750/850 in like a year. Now as ko888 pointed out, Corsair has dropped them. That screams quality to me.

HardOCP tested the RM750 well outside of its rated performance envelope. And all it did was shut down. I have serious issues with a methodology that tests a unit well outside what its rated for, only gets a simple shutdown, and then calls it a failure. That's exactly what its supposed to do. Yet, Corsair fixed the issue anyways, which was confirmed at the end of the review: Corsair has verified changes made to RM units that would address the shutdown issues we experienced. These changes would very likely earn the Corsair RM series at the very least a "HardOCP PASS.

The Antec High Current Gamers 900 also failed the HardOCP testing a few years back. I don't hear anyone rambling on about that.

Chicony made nothing but problems for Corsair. The TX 750/750M and 850/850M never were made in enough numbers to rate a review ( tells you something right there )

What it tells me is that you like to speculate and draw conclusions without supporting evidence. Then again, don't we all?

 

[FALC0N]

Chicony was brought in as a Corsair OEM for the first time for the third version of the TX 750/750M and 850/850M. They were only made for a short time and as such they never made it to a real review.
.

True, but your conclusion based on this is speculative. There are many reasons this could have happened.

Also those units that test so well at jonnyguru are sent there for testing by Corsair. HardOCP buys their units retail......and Jonny does work for Corsair. Not saying the site is biased since his employment with Corsair is why OklahomaWolf and Tazz started doing the reviews but you have to wonder why all the Corsair units do so well there and not when they are bought from the retail market. Shades of Ferrari and cherry picked review samples.

Corsair reviews well EVERYWHERE. HardOCP is the exception, not the other way around.

Oh and the first revision of Chicony built RM units were so bad they were recalled.

Not exactly. They were recalled due to the shutdown issue identified in the aforementioned HardOCP test. Problem is it only occurred in circumstances that would have been extremely difficult to replicate in real world usage. I commend Corsair for applying the fix, but it wasn't a huge issue by any means.

 

[FALC0N]

Jonny may currently work for corsair but he has called them out in the forums. The CX750 also had a less then stellar review on JG even for budget unit. techpowerup also gave the RM 750 & 850 (chicony platform) a solid review so there are other sites out there besides JG giving it similar reviews. Like a said, the RM units seem capable but are overpriced and corsair is clearly selling the CS & RM series based on the brand name rather then value of the unit. A bit of a head scratcher when every other competitive brand seems to be launching a line based on the seasonic G platform.

Even the CX is a quality unit. The issue is that Corsair overrates and overprices it. Its rated at 750w at 30c and it delivers, but that is unrealistic to expect that system to stay at 30c. In real world applicaton, the cx 750 is really a 600w or 650w. If they called it that and priced it accordingly, it would be a great value product. Thats where corsair is really failing these days, product placement and pricing. They are rarely the best choice in a particular price segment. But the quality is still pretty darn good.

 

[FALC0N]

The RM line isn't OK, just a few of the lower wattage psus are OK. For the higher wattage, take the 750 and 850 for instance (Chicony built) those units failed miserably in testing

Corsair has only twice failed a review. Both were simple shutdowns, and both occurred outside the rated performance envelope of the reviewed unit. The problem was so small that no other review considered it a failure. For the record, the RM850 was not one of those units.