Question PSU Tiers

[mahin1384]

Hey fellow PC builders,

I wanted to ask: what do you think about categorizing PSUs into tiers? I've heard of the Cultists Tier List and also psu prices to go alongside it. Has anyone else used this site or similar tier lists for PSU shopping?

Also, for those who have used tier lists, how much do you factor them into your final decision vs. other criteria like specific features or brand preferences?

 

[Lutfij]

We had a PSU tier list on our forums, too though not with prices since prices can and will vary with regards to availability and regions. The best thing to do is to cross-reference with info found off the web, you can use Hardware Busters' reviews on PSU's as well.

 

[geofelt]

Power supply tier lists are very useful for those with little direct psu experience.
That includes most of us, including me.
I like the detail found on the cultists list mentioned above.

But, I might have issue with the assignment of tiers which has some subjectivity to it.

Not knowing anything else, I suggest people look at the warranty and select candidates with longer 7 years of warranty or more.
Then check on reviews from a reputable site.
I miss the jonnyguru reviews.

 

[mahin1384]

Power supply tier lists are very useful for those with little direct psu experience.
That includes most of us, including me.
I like the detail found on the cultists list mentioned above.

But, I might have issue with the assignment of tiers which has some subjectivity to it.

Not knowing anything else, I suggest people look at the warranty and select candidates with longer 7 years of warranty or more.
Then check on reviews from a reputable site.
I miss the jonnyguru reviews.

Warranty information sounds good. Why 7 years?

 

[geofelt]

Warranty information sounds good. Why 7 years?

An arbitrary number.
Some budget units are ok at 5 years.
Less than 5 years, stay away.
A power supply, particularly for a gamer can be a a relatively long lived purchase.
Spending $100 for a higher powered psu with a 10 year warranty will allow for a graphics card upgrade.

 

[Eximo]

I've been hitting up Cybenetics recently, but they don't have a very comprehensive list. But a few of the newer ATX 3.0 and 3.1 PSUs are in their lists, and as long as they pass Cybenetics gold, should be pretty decent. It would be nice if 80 Plus was more than a set of specs to hit and actually a measure of quality.

Actually kind of hoping LTT Labs PSU testing division gets a large enough dataset to be useful.

Gamer's Nexus also went down that path, but it seems they've shifted directions.

What most find out is that there is little return for doing a lot of PSU reviews. Most people don't buy PSUs with any real thought behind it, but they will look up articles on CPUs and GPUs.

What I can say is, that since I started paying attention to PSUs, I haven't had an unstable system in many years.

 

[mahin1384]

I've been hitting up Cybenetics recently, but they don't have a very comprehensive list. But a few of the newer ATX 3.0 and 3.1 PSUs are in their lists, and as long as they pass Cybenetics gold, should be pretty decent. It would be nice if 80 Plus was more than a set of specs to hit and actually a measure of quality.

Actually kind of hoping LTT Labs PSU testing division gets a large enough dataset to be useful.

Gamer's Nexus also went down that path, but it seems they've shifted directions.

What most find out is that there is little return for doing a lot of PSU reviews. Most people don't buy PSUs with any real thought behind it, but they will look up articles on CPUs and GPUs.

What I can say is, that since I started paying attention to PSUs, I haven't had an unstable system in many years.

I know, PSUs aren't discussed much, or atleast less than they should be. Unfortunate.

 

[mahin1384]

An arbitrary number.
Some budget units are ok at 5 years.
Less than 5 years, stay away.
A power supply, particularly for a gamer can be a a relatively long lived purchase.
Spending $100 for a higher powered psu with a 10 year warranty will allow for a graphics card upgrade.

For the 10 years, question is, would it actually be usable after 10 years, in terms of wattage? But yeah I get the point, 5+ years minimum.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I'd agree with others above. Tier lists are very useful in getting a good idea of brand and model. I then research each model I'm interested in by reading comprehensive reviews. The PSU is very important, and also as suggested above, most people have no idea about them, or how they power the system. It's perhaps the singular most important component in a PC build.

Tom's do quite a few reviews of PSUs along with a few others.

There are also a few very knowledgeable mods/ambassadors who have some expertise here.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

For the 10 years, question is, would it actually be usable after 10 years, in terms of wattage? But yeah I get the point, 5+ years minimum.

The min warranty level I'd go with is 7 years. 10 years preferably. Any good PSU worth it's salt, will have a 10 year warranty. With that you get peace of mind that it's made with quality components, and has robust over/under protections.

 

[shADy81]

For the 10 years, question is, would it actually be usable after 10 years, in terms of wattage? But yeah I get the point, 5+ years minimum.

My current PSU is almost 10 years old and came with a 10 year warranty. I have a replacement ready, just havent had time to take everything apart yet.

 

[mahin1384]

My current PSU is almost 10 years old and came with a 10 year warranty. I have a replacement ready, just havent had time to take everything apart yet.

Which PSU was it and what's your replacement? Do you have to replace it after that long, or can you let it run?

 

[shADy81]

EVGA G2 750w. OEM is Superflower, its a Leadex internally.

Things age for sure, but this one hasnt even been run much over half capacity for most of its lifetime. Had a 980TI which was pulling 250W and various Intel and AMD CPUs running on it none of which pulled more than 100W. All of which means it hasnt been pushed hard, it'll probably be OK long past warranty but why take the risk.

I have a Superflower Leadex VII 850 W to replace it. 850W just because Nvidia is getting silly with power requirements these days and I want the option to go high end without replacing the PSU for a long time.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Warranty information sounds good. Why 7 years?

you should consider this the amount of confidence the manufacturer has in the unit.

if they are sure it can last that period of time without malfunction, then it is a good sign they have put higher quality materials and design into that unit.

if they know it is built with subpar materials and using subpar design, they know they will be replacing those models more often so they give them a shorter warranty/lifespan to avoid it.

 

[geofelt]

Once a psu is purchased and is running properly, leave it be until it fails or becomes insufficient.
Past the warranty time is ok, I think.

A suggestion:
Find a place to save the extra cables where you can find them years later.
You may need them for an upgrade or new build.
Perhaps also save the purchase documentation for a RMA

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

We had a PSU tier list on our forums, too

just wondering, why has it been removed?

 

[Math Geek]

mostly it got removed due to no one being around to keep it updated. so it went out of date and became useless overall.

it is a thankless job that took a ton of time to keep the research up and the list up to date. there was some beginning work to overhaul it a few years ago but again it just takes a ton of time and it's hard for many of us to find that time.

it's also a bit harder to find as many reviews as we used to be able to get. so many new models out there and i can't find any real review of them anywhere to even know how its made, how it performs or anything. it's all gone to those crappy YT videos like everything else. "look the pc started up, so this is an AWESOME psu everyone should buy (oh and buy it from this link so i can get paid!!)" and that kind of nonsense.

i learned a ton when johnyguru was around and enjoyed learning about all things psu but in the end even with a few of us working on it, keeping a list going was just becoming overwhelming.

 

[USAFRet]

For the 10 years, question is, would it actually be usable after 10 years, in terms of wattage? But yeah I get the point, 5+ years minimum.

A 10 year warranty mostly counts in the idea that the manufacturer has faith in it, for a decade.

Will that wattage amount be usable in your next uber PC? Unknown.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

it went out of date and became useless overall.

surprising how many of the units that were included in it are still being used, even bought new each & every day, giving many a better list than most places offer to use for some comparison.

still don't get what the purpose of removing it was, definitely not a useless thread by any means.

 

[Math Geek]

wasn't an easy choice to make as it was widely used, respected and quoted many other places for sure. we get that and we tried to keep it going.

but in the end with no one to keep it up, it was decided to delete it rather than let it go down in flames which is what would have happened for sure.

if you've never tried to maintain such a thing, i can assure you it is a massive undertaking. it's not just adding new info as you go either. models get updated or changed for various reasons making it's position potentially different so you're constantly checking/reading and adjusting that info for existing models. links get changed all the time so any product page links of other stuff has to be constantly checked and updated regularly to ensure it is accurate.

then you have the newer models coming in which have to be researched and a judgement made on where it belongs. this is not always obvious leading to lots and lots of arguments among not just the forum users but also those maintaining it. throw in the lack of quality professional reviews for many of these new models and then we're just guessing based on available limited info. as we know no brand makes/markets universally good or bad units. so you can't just say "well it's made by ______, so you know it is good/bad"

i'd love nothing more than to bring it back and there are always off and on discussions behind the scenes on how to do it properly. but in the end it's just not happened for many reasons.

i'm less inclined to bring back "tiers" per se but would rather a simpler more obvious description such as "good for top end oc'ed machine" "good for the average gaming pc" "good for an office build" "good for nothing and should be taken out back and shot" lol

but that's just me.