Raidmax Monster RX-700AT Power Supply Review

[Guest]

Raidmax is the first company to utilize Andyson's new Titanium platform with its Monster RX-700AT PSU. This is a semi-modular unit with a double ball-bearing fan and Japanese capacitors, promising high performance and exceptional efficiency.

Raidmax Monster RX-700AT Power Supply Review : Read more

 

[vladm007]

You can see the level of faith Raidmax has on the quality by having a 2 years warranty.

 

[g-unit1111]

You can see the level of faith Raidmax has on the quality by having a 2 years warranty.

Yeah that's kind of a deal breaker. :lol:

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Another unit cheating on the PWR_OK tests. I'm sick of this crap. Also, those caps on the modular board don't look like Chemi-Con polymers, they look like electrolytics (not that it matters, I'm just questioning if you made a wording error). I also don't like the lack of a thermistor at all. That's some really high inrush current. They could have dished out some cash for one and a relay. I also think the warranty needs increased, but realistically it should last a lot longer than 2 years.

 

[powernod]

Another unit cheating on the PWR_OK tests. I'm sick of this crap. Also, those caps on the modular board don't look like Chemi-Con polymers, they look like electrolytics (not that it matters, I'm just questioning if you made a wording error). I also don't like the lack of a thermistor at all. That's some really high inrush current. They could have dished out some cash for one and a relay. I also think the warranty needs increased, but realistically it should last a lot longer than 2 years.

Exactly my thoughts!
Failure at Power_OK signal & huge amount of inrush current = Deal-breaker for me

 

[Aris_Mp]

if they provide a 5-year warranty and work on the price it has potential. The inrush current is an easy fix with a relay-bypass relay, however the lower than the required hold-up time isn't so easy addressable. A larger bulk cap will need more Amps to charge and more Amps lead to increase power losses, so efficiency will take a hit.

 

[basroil]

Very close to be very good, and then it fails at the holdup time... looks like there's still only two real PSU manufacturers (seasonic and superflower)

 

[Sakkura]

Why would anyone wonder why Raidmax only has a 2-year warranty? With the junk they've released in the past, it's a miracle they provide any warranty at all.

 

[g-unit1111]

if they provide a 5-year warranty and work on the price it has potential. The inrush current is an easy fix with a relay-bypass relay, however the lower than the required hold-up time isn't so easy addressable. A larger bulk cap will need more Amps to charge and more Amps lead to increase power losses, so efficiency will take a hit.

I think any warranty above 5 years is kind of redundant. In 7 or 10 years you won't have that PSU anyways since you'll be replacing it with something new to keep up with new tech. 5 years I would say is about the length of time a warranty should be.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Very close to be very good, and then it fails at the holdup time... looks like there's still only two real PSU manufacturers (seasonic and superflower)

Superflower cheats on holdup time on various units. Look at the Leadex Gold 550. The 650 G2 also is a problem most likely, and the 750 G2.

 

[firefoxx04]

I've used their cheaper units 3 times. One failed, however, it's environment was a worst case scenario. Very hot Michigan summer with no ac, dusty room, and almost always running the system with 100% cpu and gpu load.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I've used their cheaper units 3 times. One failed, however, it's environment was a worst case scenario. Very hot Michigan summer with no ac, dusty room, and almost always running the system with 100% cpu and gpu load.

Better question... why were you using their cheaper units? How expensive were these rigs?

 

[Martell1977]

I still wouldn't use their products. At least it seems they are trying, but in the end they just couldn't get it right. Maybe the next revision of this will fix the issues, but I wont hold my breath. Still an "avoid" brand to me.

 

[Archaic59]

Could have been Raidmax's big chance to make a better name for themselves. As it is, just another PSU to add to the 'Do Not Recommend' list.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Could have been Raidmax's big chance to make a better name for themselves. As it is, just another PSU to add to the 'Do Not Recommend' list.

But at least it's not a Johhny Lemon PSU.

 

[TJ Hooker]

if they provide a 5-year warranty and work on the price it has potential. The inrush current is an easy fix with a relay-bypass relay, however the lower than the required hold-up time isn't so easy addressable. A larger bulk cap will need more Amps to charge and more Amps lead to increase power losses, so efficiency will take a hit.

I think any warranty above 5 years is kind of redundant. In 7 or 10 years you won't have that PSU anyways since you'll be replacing it with something new to keep up with new tech. 5 years I would say is about the length of time a warranty should be.

Why would new tech require a PSU upgrade? The ATX PSU spec seems fairly static, meaning that it's unlikely you'll be forced to upgrade for compatibility reasons. And the current trend is that components are becoming more efficient, meaning that anyone who bought a good PSU with a decent wattage should be fine for future upgrades. A high-quality PSU seems like it would have the longest potential useful life of any computer component, except maybe the case.

 

[sillynilly]

Gah with that price, issues, and poor warranty this is a pass for me. I rarely scrimp on a build and a quality PSU is near the top of my list every time (top 4 after MOBO, GPU, etc.) Pass, pass, pass.

 

[basroil]

Why would new tech require a PSU upgrade? The ATX PSU spec seems fairly static

It's precisely BECAUSE of that! PSU minimum specs don't change, but hardware being powered does. Haswell introduced energy levels so low that ATX compatible PSUs sometimes failed to recognize that the CPU is on at all (and you get C6/7 crashes). On the other end, cards like Maxwell chips introduced very aggressive power saving features that load and unload the 12V lines with up to ~25A transients that are well outside the ATX specification testing. The PSU can be 100% ATX compatible with 3x the wattage necessary and still fail at both idle and load!

 

[iam2thecrowe]

With the overall name Radimax have made for themselves in the past, i wouldn't buy one, you would have to pay me to install one of their PSU's in my PC. Even if this particular unit got rave reviews, i still would not trust it. They need to make an overall improvement to their FULL lineup and not provide misleading specs on ANY of their units, or they will always be that company like diablotek, sunbeam and ultra, among a few others, that no one trusts.

 

[TJ Hooker]

@basroil
I did think of the new Haswell c-states that caused issues with older PSUs, but didn't think it was much of an issue seeing as how they can be disabled in BIOS with no ill effects. Certainly not enough to cause me to upgrade an older but good PSU. The info about Maxwell transients is new to me though. However, if modern graphics cards are introducing loads outside the atx spec, and the spec itself doesn't change, is there any guarantee that a modern PSU will handle it better than an older one?

 

[basroil]

However, if modern graphics cards are introducing loads outside the atx spec, and the spec itself doesn't change, is there any guarantee that a modern PSU will handle it better than an older one?

Guarantee? No. But just check the transient response tests for things like the Seasonic 660XP2 and Superflower Leadex Gold 850 and compare them to lower quality (and older) designs (even platinum/gold ones) and you'll see a huge improvement.

 

[logainofhades]

Very close to be very good, and then it fails at the holdup time... looks like there's still only two real PSU manufacturers (seasonic and superflower)

FSP has been making an effort, at least. Some of the GQ Evga units have been shown to be pretty decent. Every company has its hits an misses, just far too many have more misses than hits.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Or look at Great Wall. Those Corsair SF units are great.

 

[Co BIY]

I'd like a comment on the interesting louvers on the top quarter of the fan. I hadn't seen that before. Is it functional ?

I personally think Semi-modular is fine if it gives an efficiency advantage. Efficiency lasts for the life of the system. A small improvement in ease-of-installation is a one-time benefit. (maybe that's the difference in perspective of an end-user/owner and a pro builder who's time is money)

Those who want Titanium efficiency might go for any feature that was considered more "efficient". OTOH maybe they are just people with lots of money who want "the very best". Or the market could be a mix of both making it hard to get it right for every user.

Since "Power good" signal problems are common across manufacturers I'd like to hear some explanation about why the manufacturers aren't getting this done right. Does the fix cost a lot ? Take expensive IC's ? Reduce efficiency making it hard to hit targeted 80 plus levels ? Or do they think it is not actually needed and maybe an outdated part of the spec they chose to ignore ?

 

[Onus]

Jonnyguru gave this a "Recommended" award.
While I think the PWR_OK not dropping before the rails do is an issue, it isn't a destructive one, and can be mitigated entirely with a decent (~4ms transfer time) UPS. The lack of OTP and the two-year warranty are the red flag items to me, and high inrush current can be destructive.
Even at a much lower price, I don't think I'd buy one.