Discussion PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

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LukeSavenije

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And being a mod has absolutely nothing to do with anything other than making sure the forum stays clean
i just think you have a name to represent, not more, not less. but let's leave that aside for now. we both made a mistake here.

but let's go back to the real talk here, both units do electrically incredible stuff, i just think azi is better for a couple simple reasons:
the only line made by flex, a high ranked server oem (even if this normally doesnt say much)
controllable rail config
technically speaking a 10c higher rating, even if i'm sure prime wouldn't have any problem doing 50c

it's not like i hate seasonic... heck, i posted an overview of the new focus today, i just don't think seasonic deserves to be the perfect thing, because no company is.

and of course axi is super expensive, because the cost of production is super high, it's not meant to be cheap, it's meant to show what's possible imo. you don't buy something stupidly high end because it's a better value, you buy it because it's just stupidly good.

and no, even the axi isn't perfect, for mining for example it's better to use a 2bb fan psu because of the longer lifetime

but i rather focus on some other parts of my so called rant, as i think some companies are unfairly judged here, honestly speaking
 
i just think you have a name to represent, not more, not less. but let's leave that aside for now. we both made a mistake here.

Pretty sure I don't know what in the hell you are talking about as far as making a mistake, and as well, pretty sure you are not the head or manager of community here, so I don't think you'll be telling me what I need to do. This conversation is over. I suggest you leave it alone as far as it regards me. If anybody is interested in discussing the merits of certain platforms or models with you they are more than welcome to. Like I said before, I simply don't have the time or the desire to argue any of this with you. And no reason to either. End of story.
 
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As a parting shot to this particular recent discussion, I will say this however, when you advance sufficiently in your understanding and knowledge of power supply platforms and the underlying technology, that you can earn an engineering degree in some field of electronics, and then DESIGN a certification program that grossly exceeds anything that existed before, THEN you can say "Good for Aris". Until then, I think I will take whatever he has to say about any given PSU platform and implementation, as pretty much gospel. If anybody disagrees with that, then I don't what to tell them. I mean, it would literally have been like telling Shelby he didn't know anything about cars.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/new-cybenetics-eta-230v-lambda-230v,36417.html
 

4745454b

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We are people here. Users and mods. I don't if Thermaltake or company XYZ makes one good line of PSUs. My memory isn't perfect and I'm not going to take the time to remember line BFG is a good while PDQ is bad. I need a name I can throw out to a user and know they are going to 95%+ going to get a great or 99%+ get a good/acceptable PSU. Way long ago this used to be Antec. Then Seasonic. Corsair was a name for awhile. Now it's getting so muddled that I'm starting to not suggest them that much.

But I think this is why Seasonic MII's and whatnot are still suggested. Yes, it's a group design. Yes, the protections are lacking. But also yes, as long as you do your best to keep it cool and not overloaded it's still better than the cheap junk out there. If you are going to spend $30, make sure it's not going to burn your house down. And I do think the MII has a better shot at that than anything by "Xtreme Company!"

As for 10yr warranties are best, does anyone remember what happened to BFG? They had a lifetime warranty on their parts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFG_Technologies
 

4745454b

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Exactly. 10yr, 12yr, etc warranty might not mean much after all. I agree with what was said above as well. I probably won't be using my current PSU after 10yrs. Things change. I wouldn't be using a PSU from 10yrs ago now, why should my current PSU be used 10yrs from now? A long warranty period is a sign of quality, but it's only a sign. It doesn't 100% mean it's the greatest ever.
 

xravenxdota

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How reliable are this article.Reason why i am asking are i bought a antec vp600p i got it on special.I use to run a fx 4170 a 125w tdp cpu.I upgraded a year ago to a ryzen 5 2600 and had it with a rx580 for a while upgrading to a 1070 end of the month but so far i had no problems funny noises etc.

According to Antec it has enough power to power an gtx 1070 as it has a low power usage than a rx580 so will i be safe?
 

Mezoxin

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How reliable are this article.Reason why i am asking are i bought a antec vp600p i got it on special.I use to run a fx 4170 a 125w tdp cpu.I upgraded a year ago to a ryzen 5 2600 and had it with a rx580 for a while upgrading to a 1070 end of the month but so far i had no problems funny noises etc.

According to Antec it has enough power to power an gtx 1070 as it has a low power usage than a rx580 so will i be safe?
13 years ago i ran an nvidia 8800 GTS on a crappy HEC 400w it ran without problems for 6 years until the gpu became too old to run games , a friend of mine had the same configuration and his graphics card was dead after only 4 months of use.

Same thing not every smoker gets lung cancer , but that doesnt mean smoking doesnt cause lung cancer
 
How reliable are this article.

What "article" are you referring to? As far as I know, there are zero reviews of the Antec VP600P, and even Oklahoma wolf says he has no idea how good (Or bad) that unit is, in his review of the masterwatt lite 600w. He does however say that the VP600P is cheaper, which tells me if the VP600P is cheaper than the Masterwatt lite, it is INDEED a very poor quality power supply for your purposes. I believe I was told before, as well, by either Jon, Aris or ko888 that the Antec VP units ending in P were all pretty low quality and really only suitable for basic systems, but don't quote me on that. I'm fairly confident that's pretty accurate anyhow since nobody has ever seen fit, even as far as I can see, on overseas sites, to do a review.

 
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A
Exactly. 10yr, 12yr, etc warranty might not mean much after all. I agree with what was said above as well. I probably won't be using my current PSU after 10yrs. Things change. I wouldn't be using a PSU from 10yrs ago now, why should my current PSU be used 10yrs from now? A long warranty period is a sign of quality, but it's only a sign. It doesn't 100% mean it's the greatest ever.

Or that it can't/doesn't have problems. The pre-revision Focus Plus units are evidence that a very good unit can still have issues. Those just happened to be bad enough that they were fairly easily discovered once they started pairing them up with hardware that didn't like them. And also, 100% agree that it simply means the company is saying "this is a good unit and we believe it will last 10 years, and if it doesn't, then we are willing to replace those few units that don't" which is a different thing than saying "you should use this unit for 10 years because it will remain exactly the same quality and output the entire time as what it was when you bought it".
 

Rogue Leader

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A


Or that it can't/doesn't have problems. The pre-revision Focus Plus units are evidence that a very good unit can still have issues. Those just happened to be bad enough that they were fairly easily discovered once they started pairing them up with hardware that didn't like them. And also, 100% agree that it simply means the company is saying "this is a good unit and we believe it will last 10 years, and if it doesn't, then we are willing to replace those few units that don't" which is a different thing than saying "you should use this unit for 10 years because it will remain exactly the same quality and output the entire time as what it was when you bought it".


For what my Seasonic Prime cost me, I am squeezing every year possible out of it. Plus it has good protections so it should die gracefully.....
 
Like I said, once I start using mine, I plan to use it for the full warranty term, and THEN replace it. Probably, unless there is some sign of a problem, it will get retired to a much lower demand system that never even pushes it to the point where the fan is required. Probably get another few years out of it for that system assuming, again, no evident problems.
 
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Aeacus

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How reliable are this article.Reason why i am asking are i bought a antec vp600p i got it on special.I use to run a fx 4170 a 125w tdp cpu.I upgraded a year ago to a ryzen 5 2600 and had it with a rx580 for a while upgrading to a 1070 end of the month but so far i had no problems funny noises etc.

According to Antec it has enough power to power an gtx 1070 as it has a low power usage than a rx580 so will i be safe?
What "article" are you referring to? As far as I know, there are zero reviews of the Antec VP600P, and even Oklahoma wolf says he has no idea how good (Or bad) that unit is, in his review of the masterwatt lite 600w. He does however say that the VP600P is cheaper, which tells me if the VP600P is cheaper than the Masterwatt lite, it is INDEED a very poor quality power supply for your purposes. I believe I was told before, as well, by either Jon, Aris or ko888 that the Antec VP units ending in P were all pretty low quality and really only suitable for basic systems, but don't quote me on that. I'm fairly confident that's pretty accurate anyhow since nobody has ever seen fit, even as far as I can see, on overseas sites, to do a review.

Not much info about Antec VPxxxP series unit out there. Though, what i was able to find are:

Model - Wattage - OEM - Warranty - Review(s)
Note 01: "link" reviews are non-English with Google Translate link to translate them into English.
Note 02: I didn't include non P suffix units, e.g VP450 or VP550F.

VP350P - 350W - Delta - 2 years - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/antec-vp350p/
VP400PC - 400W - CWT - 2 years
VP450P - 450W - FSP - 2 years - link 01 - link 02
VPA500P (VSK cases) - 500W - CWT - 2 years - https://www.hardwareinsights.com/antec-vpa500p-power-supply-review/
VP500PC - 500W - CWT - 2 years
VP500P v2 - 500W - FSP - 2 years - link 01
VP550P - 550W - Delta - 2 years - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/antec-vp550p/
VP550P V2 - 550W - Delta - 2 years
VP600P - 600W - FSP - 2 years
VP650P - 650W - Delta - 2 years - link 01
VP650P V2 - 650W - Delta - 2 years
VP650PM - 650W - Delta - 2 years - link 01
VP700P - 700W - FSP - 2 years
 

xravenxdota

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Thank you guys.The reason i think it's not a horrible psu are the fact that i ran a rx580 which are more power hungry than a 1070 for some time.My whole pc was setup to run on low w(in total less than 400w with a 1070)I have this psu and a coolermaster masterwatt 500 both are 80+ but the CM one was more expensive.

I got the vp600p on a special for 600 in my currency they are going for close to 1k which are about the price of a cheap 750w.Upgrading at the moment are about impossible as im on disability grant but will try upgrade next year if i can.
 

adysmajich

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Can anyone recommend me which PSU to buy?

My rig is
i5 8600k OC @4.8 Ghz,
GTX 1080 OC to 2076Mhz
DDR4 2X8 GB @3000Mhz
SSD m.2 + HDD

I was thinking of Seasonic Focus GX 750 W or Corsair AX 850 /CM series maybe? or EVGA G3?

Which of these is best option for me. I'm looking for a silent PSU, as much as possible.
 

adysmajich

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The Corsair AX850 is the most silent but its a bit expensive , you can get an RMi850 or an RMx 850 that would be cheaper and also silent
I have opportunity to buy AX 850i for 120 EUR (brand new) How about Seasonic Focus GX or EVGA G3? Or any other PSU?
 

Mezoxin

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its the best of the list , it should be compared to Seasonic Prime Platinum or EVGA SuperNOVA 850 T2

but for my prefrence i would still chose the AX860i for its digital monitoring and control features
 
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Aeacus

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Can anyone recommend me which PSU to buy?

My rig is
i5 8600k OC @4.8 Ghz,
GTX 1080 OC to 2076Mhz
DDR4 2X8 GB @3000Mhz
SSD m.2 + HDD

I was thinking of Seasonic Focus GX 750 W or Corsair AX 850 /CM series maybe? or EVGA G3?

Which of these is best option for me. I'm looking for a silent PSU, as much as possible.
For your PC, good quality 600W range PSU is more than enough, even with CPU and GPU OC. That being said, i suggest getting any Seasonic unit, in 600W range. E.g: Focus 650 (80+ Gold), Focus+ 650 (80+ Gold), PRIME Ultra 650 (80+ Platinum) or PRIME Ultra 650 (80+ Titanium),
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/WrNypg,qn7v6h,7fndnQ,fnjJ7P/

Warranty wise:
Focus: 7 years
Focus+: 10 years
PRIME: 12 years (includes all PRIME models: regular, Fanless, AirTouch, SnowSilent, Ultra)

All 3 of my PCs: Skylake, Haswell and AMD are also powered by Seasonic. Full specs with pics in my sig.

Also, PRIME Ultra 650 (80+ Titanium) is the best 650W PSU money can buy at current date and with it, you'll get the highest efficiency (92%), tightest voltage regulation (0.28%), longest hold-up time (30ms), lowest ripple noise (14mV) and longest warranty (12 years) there is. Fully modular cables and toggle-able Premium Hybrid fan control too.
specs: https://seasonic.com/prime-ultra-titanium
review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=536


Why 650W and not 750W or 850W?
Well, let's run some numbers. GTX 1080 is 180W GPU, add the rest of the system to it at about 200W and total is around 380W.
Now, let's consider CPU and GPU OC as well since those add more wattage. Max what i5-8600K can pull @ 5 Ghz is 143.91W (source) but let's round it up to 150W for good measure. Max what OC'd GTX 1080 pulls during GPU stress test is 224W (source) but let's round it up to 250W to give some headroom.
Now, running the numbers again, we get: 150W from CPU, 250W from GPU and about 150W* from the rest of the system, making total power consumption 550W, where 650W PSU is more than enough.

* The rest of the system actually consumes less but i prefer to overestimate wattage consumption, just to be safe.