Roundup: 12 Gaming Power Supplies Compared

[azriel2]

hahaha!!
its the 1st time i actually commented on one of the post here. even if i agree or disagree with some of the reviews.

for some reason, ive checked the charts and the reviews, and yes seasonic is probably one of the best PSUs around. and.. HOLY CRAP! its not on the recommendations even if all of the other review sites say that this is the best PSU that came out in the market, and to qoute "This is the kind of experience users should expect from premier products no matter if it is a motherboard, videocard, or power supply. Any product carrying a premier price tag such as this should "WOW!" you, and be worth every penny of that price, and the X-750 "WOWs" in a way that makes it worth every bit of its premium price tag."

well, its their reviews, not ours

and to qoute 'The following products went through our testing suite without any glitches, which means that we can approve them from a technical standpoint:"

which means in their technical standpoint. seasonic should not be included.

 

[kenyee]

Needed quietness measurements...

 

[lp231]

Seriously what's with this Corsair crap that everyone just got to have it? About 5-6 years ago if anyone ask for a good PSU, will will be a Antec, Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling and so forth and Corsair will not be on any of the list. Who or when did this Corsair thing started anyway? And it seems right now with Corsair being the "must have", as if you don't pick that then you must be stupid or don't know anything about computers. Well one thing about Corsair is their memory sucks!

 

[jaquith]

RESULTS for Corsair are BOGUS -> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-psu-efficiency,2796-28.html contradicts your own findings!!!

Rigging tests are we?!

 

[anonymous x]

The Seasonic didn't pass one of the tests so it obviously wouldn't fit under the requirements stated to be recommended "The following products went through our testing suite without any glitches, which means that we can approve them from a technical standpoint:"
The level of reading comprehension of many Tom's Hardware readers is appallingly low.

 

[duk3]

The supply is not without weaknesses, though. Seasonic is generous with its eight Molex and nine SATA connectors, as well as with the three CPU connectors.

Is that supposed to be a weakness?
I can't see anything else so.......wow
And are you testing at 80+ 23 degrees C? You can't say a unit fails the 80+ specifications if you don't use the same testing method...

 

[kelemvor4]

[citation][nom]p1n3apqlexpr3ss[/nom]Corsair has a gamer series... whyd they test one of the units from the top line aimed more at enthusiasts?[/citation]
Is tx not their midrange "gamer" product with HX being enthusiast?

 

[RJR]

TH isn't the place for a good breakdown of a PSU, go to:

JonnyGuru if you want a competent PSU review (sorry guys it's the truth).

 

[dertechie]

What temperature do you test these things at?

Checked the whole article, and your "PSU tests coming soon" article, can't find the ambient you test at. Important info, that (especially if you're dinging units for being out of 80 Plus spec over it).

Add me to the cacaphony of people rather annoyed at you DQ'ing the Seasonic on hold-up time despite a command performance otherwise. I don't believe I've ever seen HardOCP, JonnyGuru or HardwareSecrets even mention holdup time, which speaks to just how important that spec actually is.

 

[Guest]

It's not about anyone being a fanboi, Seasonic has been one of the leading manufacturer's of top end power supplies for years. They've redefined the standards. About the only difference is Seasonic doesn't pamper the gaming market with overdone graphics and crap on their packaging. It's not needed. Most of these other brands are simply rebranded versions of Seasonic models, right down to the use of the enclosure design with the now popular honeycomb exhaust openings. Seasonic was concerned with efficiency, quiet operation and stable power before it became so trendy. As for Tom's Hardware, I've seen more and more less than motivating reviews. Apparently like so many other great things, Tom's really sold out when Best of Media got in the picture. Now it is exactly what it says it is..media. Hype. What a shame. With each new review I opt for a bigger and fatter grain of salt.

 

[masterjaw]

Dear Tom's,

Please stop reviewing power supplies.

Sincerely,
Everyone

Agree with this.

This article will be tagged as 'BS' on my book. It would be better to look up for a more reliable and credible reviews somewhere else who actually have reviewed numerous power supplies in the past.

 

[Guest]

@p4l1ndr0m3: Good call.

GX's huge ripple @3.3V is a minor issue and it holds its own well, but Seasonic's hold up time (not even specified, how measured, no scope shots, so you could pretty much made results up) is sub-par and a problem? Hilarious.

 

[youssef 2010]

The images for the ripple benchmarks date all the way back to October. so, did you do the test in October to have the article ready by new year's eve. Man, that's a long time.

 

[airgreek]

Antec does not surprise me since I have owned many of them and never had an issue. I have also owned Corsair and they too have been good. The only names I would trust when it comes to power supplies are, Antec, Corsair, MAYBE Cooler Master, Seasonic, and PC Power and Cooling

 

[deadlockedworld]

These recommendations at the end seem totally arbitrary and don't reflect your charts.

Standing out to me is the Seasonic unit-- that was at or near the top in all charts, but that you wrote was "not without weaknesses" Unfortunately -- you never listed any weakness or demonstrated a clear reason for the selections at the end?

Also you fail to take into account external factors such as warranty, reputation, etc.

 

[deadlockedworld]

[citation][nom]KT_WASP[/nom]Huh?You're kidding right? You mention the NZXT power supply as "being one of the best", but no mention or recommendation for the Seasonic (even tough according to your own tests the Seasonic handily beats the NZXT)? Seasonic is one of the, if not thee, best power supply houses in the land. Most of the times if you see a real good power supply from another brand, it turns out it was a Seasonic unit. I'm not saying there are no other good manufacturers out there... But, to not even to get a nod or anything in the conclusion??Review fail.[/citation]

+1

 

[blader15sk8]

[citation][nom]Olle P[/nom]I fail to see how a low airflow temperature is good. To me it shows that either the fan is running too fast, producing unnecessary noise, or the really hot spots don't get sufficient cooling (with most of the air passing through the PSU without touching any heated surface).[/citation]

You obviously didn't read the whole review, or the look at more than just the pictures in the conclusion section. The Seasonic did not pass ALL the test results to be "Tom's Hardware Certified" (and it is just that, a Tom's approval). The Seasonic failed the hold-up time test, and the conclusion CLEARLY states that the ones on this list are the ones that passed ALL (ill repeat ALL) the tests.

Reading Fail.

 

[blader15sk8]

[citation][nom]KT_WASP[/nom]Huh?You're kidding right? You mention the NZXT power supply as "being one of the best", but no mention or recommendation for the Seasonic (even tough according to your own tests the Seasonic handily beats the NZXT)? Seasonic is one of the, if not thee, best power supply houses in the land. Most of the times if you see a real good power supply from another brand, it turns out it was a Seasonic unit. I'm not saying there are no other good manufacturers out there... But, to not even to get a nod or anything in the conclusion??Review fail.[/citation]

You obviously didn't read the whole review, or the look at more than just the pictures in the conclusion section. The Seasonic did not pass ALL the test results to be "Tom's Hardware Certified" (and it is just that, a Tom's approval). The Seasonic failed the hold-up time test, and the conclusion CLEARLY states that the ones on this list are the ones that passed ALL (ill repeat ALL) the tests.

Reading Fail.

 

[clownbaby]

Way to copy and paste blader15skb! Originality Fail!

I think the problem is that "Tom's Hardware Certified" is a joke when it comes to power supplies.

I equate this test to testing Ferraris on a brick street and then grading them on gas mileage and sound systems.

Tom's needs to get someone who knows about power supplies and circuitry in general. The complete failure to understand the important features and capabilities of a power supply is kind of amazing for a tech site. Tom's does so many things well, but they may as well start testing microwave ovens and lawn mowers if this is the quality of review they find acceptable.

Hold up time? Really? That's what an UPS is for. Seasonic is getting some undue hype in this response column, but regardless they are generally providers of solid supplies. Were the OEMs of the other supplies tested even identified?

Tom's, please stick with what you know. Take this review down. Throw it away. Burn the hard drive it was stored on. And if you ever consider reviewing power supplies again, hire someone else/buy testing equipment/plagiarize.

 

[Guest]

This review is full of youknow what. The most important factor in choosing a PSU (assuming no other fatal flaws) is whether it has all capacitors of high quality (preferably Japanese since the rest are cheap knock offs), yet I'm not seeing any mention of this?

I suspect if the supplies were rated by reliability history of the chosen capacitor supplier, the results would come back as 90% of the supplies failing to meet expectations and we'd be left with maybe two or three choices.

 

[mariushm]

joku, sorry but capacitors are not really the most important. They do play a big part but not that much.
Most important would be ripple on the voltage rails, especially 3.3v and 12v which are the most used, and capacitors play a part in this also but the IC components and their programming inside the psu is more important.

Fact that a psu with ripple above the ATX standard by far 70mV vs standard 50mV on a 3.3 rail receives the recommendation while the Seasonic model with very high efficiency and very low ripple is disqualified because it has 14 ms hold on time vs the 17 standard (like it matters if your power goes off) makes this review a joke.

Technical information is also missing, for example at which load on the power supplies was the ripple measured, at which temperature, the noise level of the fan on the power supply (yes, it's gamer psus but some gamers also have silent pcs with water cooling and ssd drives so it's important)...
The manufacturer of the power supplies is also not mentioned... Seasonic is discredited while some of the top recommended models are built by Seasonic and just relabeled..

I've personally lost my hope in seeing updated reviews or corrections on Tom's Hardware - doubt they even read these messages.

 

[KT_WASP]

[citation][nom]blader15sk8[/nom]You obviously didn't read the whole review, or the look at more than just the pictures in the conclusion section. The Seasonic did not pass ALL the test results to be "Tom's Hardware Certified" (and it is just that, a Tom's approval). The Seasonic failed the hold-up time test, and the conclusion CLEARLY states that the ones on this list are the ones that passed ALL (ill repeat ALL) the tests.Reading Fail.[/citation]

Your right.. According to Tom's testing, the Seasonic failed the holdup time by a total of .7 ms. The ATX 2.3 specification for holdup time is 16 ms, Going by Tom's own performance charts, the Seasonic X-750 did the test in 15.3 ms.

of course, this wasn't stated in the actual article.. just a one sentence blurb about the unit not meeting hold up time. I had to delve further into the site to find actual numbers (via their performance charts). If there is a problem with a unit, you would think a "tech" site would actually tell you what it is, and how bad it is.

But, I say this is all moot, because I wouldn't trust a PSU review from this site. To much is questionable, nothing is really stated and I question if the people that did this article even know what the hell they are doing with power supplies (and lately a lot of other things being reviewed on this site). I question the equipment used and how thoroughly these units were inspected and tested.

I will echo what other have written. Tom's... just stay out of the PSU reviews, leave it to people who actually know what they are doing. Go back to your advertising..re, I mean, regular reviews.

 

[randomizer]

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?

Some Sparkle units are made by FSP Group, an OEM that builds pretty decent PSUs. I don't remember which ones though.

 

[Guest]

I almost puked when they said "ripple and noise are new." Seriously?!?! A review site that doesn't understand that ripple and noise are important to test? They had some good info, but they didn't many any useful analysis/graphs imo. Pretty poor review considering how much time they probably spent in the test lab. Nothing about quality of components, life expectancy, no comparison of ripple/noise between PSUs, bad graphs that are hard to read (combining 115v and 230v together), and noise curves...

They really missed the value of having ripple/noise graphs and just threw them on as a "you asked us to, so here this stuff is." Too bad they took all this time reviewing some great products just to slap together this crap. I was really looking forward to it. On a positive, I'm very impressed with what they tested in and the data collected (just not the way it's presented).

 

[anonymous x]

[citation][nom]p4l1ndr0m3[/nom]Please do not wear your ignorance on your sleeve.[/citation]
No, you just clearly can't read. There isn't a single thing I stated that is wrong.