Roundup: 12 Gaming Power Supplies Compared

[The_OGS]

Remember, the ATX spec says no more than 20A on a 12V line.
Therefore any PSU with 1 single 60-70A+ 12V rail cannot be considered.
Also, a higher delta between incoming and outgoing air would seem to indicate more effective cooling and be preferred.
And quality (not quantity) is key - did you see the Antec graphs? Sweet!
I run an Antec EarthWatts unit myself,
L8R

 

[bildo123]

All Toms needs to do is add some sound benchmarks and we got a very good summation, though Johnny Guru is still nice.

 

[hunter315]

Remember, the ATX spec says no more than 20A on a 12V line.
Therefore any PSU with 1 single 60-70A+ 12V rail cannot be considered.
Also, a higher delta between incoming and outgoing air would seem to indicate more effective cooling and be preferred.
And quality (not quantity) is key - did you see the Antec graphs? Sweet!
I run an Antec EarthWatts unit myself,
L8R

As of ATX V2.3 that limit is no longer in place so it is allowed.

 

[Onus]

I agree with you, Gulli. Just the other day some newcomer-drone on the forum recommended a 650W PSU for a system that could be handled by a 380W Earthwatts. Another recommended one of the Coolermaster PCAR units.

I just wish 80plus would change their procedures to test at 40C, although the fact that they have a 30 minute warm-up period is good.

So yeah, I'm a PSU fanboy, but I think my preferences are supported by consistent quality competent technical reviews. Lately I've only bought Antec or Seasonic. I've considered a few others (like Corsair), but there's invariably a good deal on one of the first two so I make the known safe choice.

 

[V8VENOM]

[citation][nom]juuh[/nom]I call BS. I could run your setup with my PC power & cooling 750w unit.http://www.techspot.com/review/289 [...] page9.html[/citation]

[citation][nom]scook9[/nom]You are either lying or very unlucky (got a bad PSU)......I have crossfire 5870s and an i7 965 and all stock cannot exceed 650W at the wall (about 550W actually used) no matter what I try.[/citation]

To either of you:

Ok, then buy my used POS PC Power & Cooling 1000 Watt PSU - you can have it for $70. It's not the Wattage rating that is the problem, it's the rapid changes in load that trigger A LOT of noise and hence a system reboot. Took me a long time to figure out the problem, had to buy a Oscilloscope from Fry's to monitor the lines going to the 5870's. If I turned crossfire OFF it could handle it, but still a lot of noise on the line.

Problem was very obvious too, games that would suddenly increase the graphics load would trigger the shutdown. I tried everything else to solve the problem, but finally just swapped out the PC Power and Cooling 1000 Watt for the Silverstone 1500 watt and the exact same hardware and games in crossfire now work PERFECTLY, not a single hickup after many manyu many many hours of solid high load use.

Maybe I got a "bad" PC Power and Cooling PSU ... but at $500 the "test" sheet they include with purchase didn't show any problems. But clearly the unit HAD a problem, soooo -- either way you look at it, PC Power and Cooling isn't the company I thought they were. Eithter their testing is bogus or just not revelant to real world situations.

It's VERY difficult to test a PSU, you really need multiple Osc on ALL the lines at the same time and log all the data while you put the PSU thru load tests. Tom's doesn't do that, in fact, no one does that -- it's every expensive to buy that many quality Oscilloscopes.

The Silverstone 1500 Watt PSU has NOT let me down and it's quiet.

 

[KT_WASP]

[citation][nom]santiagoanders[/nom]There are power supply fanbois now? Your beloved Seasonic wasn't recommended so you rant?[/citation]

Fanboi?

Seasonic is one of the premeir manufacturers of power supplies. If you dont know that, then you either don't know what your talking about or have been living in a hole for a while.

Antec: Earthwatts, Trio, HE, Neo and the higher powered TP models.. all made by Seasonic.

Corsiar: Most of thier former line-up that They made their name on? Yup, those were Seasonic units. Now, your starting to see more CWT made units in the line-up (builder series anyone?) and they dont perform as well as their prior units.

Some manufaturers, that make some of the best PSUs out there, can be seen time and time again as the OEM. Some of these are Seasonic, FSP, Enhance and even Seventeam.

CWT is hit or miss.. some of the models are very good, but most are average to sub-par.

PC Power&Cooling used to be top rated, but since OCZ took over, the quality has taken a nose-dive. I think anyone in the know, knows this to be true.

This has nothing to do with fanboism... its about performance that has been proven time and time again. People who been up to date in the tech world, know who makes good power supplies and who doesn't. So, don't star calling people fanbois for knowing what they are talking about, when appearently you don't.

 

[blibba]

[citation][nom]V8VENOM[/nom]To either of you:Ok, then buy my used POS PC Power & Cooling 1000 Watt PSU - you can have it for $70. It's not the Wattage rating that is the problem, it's the rapid changes in load that trigger A LOT of noise and hence a system reboot. Took me a long time to figure out the problem, had to buy a Oscilloscope from Fry's to monitor the lines going to the 5870's. If I turned crossfire OFF it could handle it, but still a lot of noise on the line.Problem was very obvious too, games that would suddenly increase the graphics load would trigger the shutdown. I tried everything else to solve the problem, but finally just swapped out the PC Power and Cooling 1000 Watt for the Silverstone 1500 watt and the exact same hardware and games in crossfire now work PERFECTLY, not a single hickup after many manyu many many hours of solid high load use.Maybe I got a "bad" PC Power and Cooling PSU ... but at $500 the "test" sheet they include with purchase didn't show any problems. But clearly the unit HAD a problem, soooo -- either way you look at it, PC Power and Cooling isn't the company I thought they were. Eithter their testing is bogus or just not revelant to real world situations.It's VERY difficult to test a PSU, you really need multiple Osc on ALL the lines at the same time and log all the data while you put the PSU thru load tests. Tom's doesn't do that, in fact, no one does that -- it's every expensive to buy that many quality Oscilloscopes.The Silverstone 1500 Watt PSU has NOT let me down and it's quiet.[/citation]

If you're so sure it's broken, why have you not sent it back? Send it back, and if they send a replacement then I'll buy it for $35

 

[jaywed]

Dam I was disappointed with the Cougar, the look was really starting to grow on me but definitely not worth the price. I was impressed with NZXT the most. Seasonic looked the best though.

 

[Psychoteddy]

Useful article if it weren't so biased. Didn't test Thermaltake or Silverstone at all. FFS you put SPARKLE in your review. Seriously? Why not some more serious contenders?

 

[mariushm]

I guess the Seasonic was not recommended because it failed that power on time when power is gone for a short time...

Though I'm puzzled - it says ATX v2.2 standard failed but I don't see any mention of the power supply being ATX v2.2 and I actually can't find any specific time value in the ATX 2.2 standard.

I did find the value of 17ms in the ATX v1.1 standard, and that's chosen because it's a full cycle of power of 60 Hz but nowhere in the ATX 2.2 standard.

 

[clownbaby]

I think these tests focus too much on efficiency. Lots of supplies are being made with an emphasis on efficiency while overlooking more importants things like ripple, and voltage regulation. More exotic loading methods, and cross loading are more likely to expose the pretender power supplies. Also, these units weren't tested at their thermal specification.

Why weren't the internals examined of these supplies? Knowing the components used and their design methods can give hints at long term durability and possible QC issues.


While these tests may be sufficient for normal consumer gear, this test was admittedly for higher end gaming equipment. If you don't have the equipment to test power supplies properly, or the wherewithal to test them vigorously and thoroughly, I don't think you should publish your results.

 

[Psychoteddy]

I think these tests focus too much on efficiency. Lots of supplies are being made with an emphasis on efficiency while overlooking more importants things like ripple, and voltage regulation. More exotic loading methods, and cross loading are more likely to expose the pretender power supplies. Also, these units weren't tested at their thermal specification.

Why weren't the internals examined of these supplies? Knowing the components used and their design methods can give hints at long term durability and possible QC issues.


While these tests may be sufficient for normal consumer gear, this test was admittedly for higher end gaming equipment. If you don't have the equipment to test power supplies properly, or the wherewithal to test them vigorously and thoroughly, I don't think you should publish your results.

+1,000,000

 

[dirtmountain]

The Antec Earthwatts units are now manufactured by Delta. It's good to see PSU reviews here at Tom's, but i still prefer http://www.jonnyguru.com/ and http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/ for their reviews.

 

[joelmartinez]

Would've liked to see the xfx 750w BE tested

 

[Guest]

i use sirtec hp-500-a12s 500W . about 3 years past since then. no problem phenom 2 720 x3 0C and 8800 gts OC ( now i have 5750 vapor-x), 4Gb RAM , raid 0 , asus xonar. still ultra silent and cool

 

[redgarl]

Got an OCZ ModXstream 700W that I got for 54$... the best damn thing I bought for that price.

 

[gm0n3y]

I guess its been mentioned here enough times already, but the Seasonic should have garnered a recommendation. Perhaps its was too expensive? Unless things have changed over the last few months, Seasonic is generally considered by most enthusiasts to be the very best manufacturer of PSUs. The only reason not to buy them is because they can be expensive. And yes, many other vendors sell rebranded Seasonics.

 

[gsacks]

I've got a Seasonic X-750 just waiting to go into my next build. I bought it when it went on sale at NewEgg, and now I'm just waiting the Sandy Bridge CPUs before I buy the rest of the system. Not sure why Tom's doesn't give this one a recommendation. Everybody else does.

 

[Guest]

I dont get this high Wattage demand.... i have a amd 640 with 8 giggs of ram, radeon 5670 with 2x1TB hdd, 24" lcd and my power draw goes from 130 at idle to 240 when playing gta IV at highest settings available, so what on earth ppl ???

 

[sblantipodi]

I would like to know at what load they measured the hold-up time.
Is there a way to know it?

 

[bellman80]

I don't know what Tom's been smoking but Seasonic X-750 should definitely be on the recommended list.

 

[mayne92]

While I understand you can't test EVERYTHING but wished there was Thermaltake PSU tested. Granted I've read from other sites the TruePower were excellent during testing I would have love to see them stake up against the rest...

Great article nonetheless!

 

[cmartin011]

Love nzxt rock solid and gold all the way got the 650 tho very good hardware. Thanks Tom for doing a review!

 

[tpi2007]

To the Tom's Hardware crew that wrote this article:

You have committed a serious mistake in the recommendations, and for a simple reason: this site is read by people all over the world, yet you based you recommendations based on people who use 115v electricity. In many countries (in Europe for example), people use 220-230v.

Take the Corsair as an example: it passes all tests for people living in countries with 220-230v electricity. It is much harder to comply when you only have 115v, but you biased the conclusions because of the US having 115v. You should point that out clearly and make recommendations according to the electricity you have in each part of the world-

 

[SirDevon]

Now, I've been a regular Tom's reader for over a decade and I have to agree. To leave Seasonic out of the recommended list is unforgivable. This is a bad example of a power supply review.