The Power Supply Unit tier list Discussion thread

[Deleted member 217926]

I think what dottorrent meant was that the Gigabyte Odin series were last reviewed in 2007 and no matter how well a unit did in testing in 2007 those results will not translate to the same score by today's standards.

Personally I would guess tier 3 at best based on only being 80 Plus certified

I would have to see reviews of the newer Sumo Gold and Platinum. The OEMs are CWT and ATNG and both can make a very good unit but both can turn out some junk as well.

Looks like Andyson and AcBel Polytech are the OEMs of the other series and just by default I would avoid these unless someone shows me a reason not to.

So all in all unless Gigabyte is the only brand available to you I would not recommend them.

 

[dansgas1000]

I know they are cheap but shouldn't CiT go to Tier 4? Sure they are cheap but they not no name and are a tad better than the Tier 5 ones. No where near as good as Corsair CX series etc though of course

 

[dottorrent]

I know they are cheap but shouldn't CiT go to Tier 4? Sure they are cheap but they not no name and are a tad better than the Tier 5 ones. No where near as good as Corsair CX series etc though of course

CiT PSU's are poor. There's little to no reason to purchase any of their units.

 

[ko888]

CiT is considered to be a generic brand. They market and label their PSUs based on the PSU's peak power rating. I don't see any CiT PSUs being sold in North America because their PSUs don't seem to support universal voltage input. Seems to be UK only. They are also unable to get any level of 80 PLUS efficiency certification. Does anyone know who the OEM is?

A reputable company will only market their PSUs based on the PSU's continuous power rating.

 

[dottorrent]

CiT is considered to be a generic brand. They market and label their PSUs based on the PSU's peak power rating. I don't see any CiT PSUs being sold in North America because their PSUs don't seem to support universal voltage input. Seems to be UK only. They are also unable to get any level of 80 PLUS efficiency certification. Does anyone know who the OEM is?

A reputable company will only market their PSUs based on the PSU's continuous power rating.

Most of their products seem to be made by Deer and their "higher" end products made by Zebronics.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

All I see is this thread at overclock.net saying they are low end HEC/Compucase units.

http://www.overclock.net/t/838799/cit-any-good-psu

 

[dottorrent]

My first one was a CIT PSU and i had a look inside to find a Deer logo in mine. Threw it away immediately and didn't even care about the warranty.

 

[megahmad]

I am not really a PSU expert but based on lots of reviews, shouldn't the FD Newton R3 Series be placed a tier higher? maybe t2 class A? I've heard a lot of good things about them...

Some reviews of various models:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Fractal_Design/Newton_R3_800W/11.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5737/fractal-design-newton-r3-1000w-80-plus-platinum-power-supply-review/index5.html
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=339
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Fractal-Design-Newton-R3-800-W-Power-Supply-Review/1752/13

 

[dottorrent]

I am not really a PSU expert but based on lots of reviews, shouldn't the FD Newton R3 Series be placed a tier higher? maybe t2 class A? I've heard a lot of good things about them...

Some reviews of various models:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Fractal_Design/Newton_R3_800W/11.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5737/fractal-design-newton-r3-1000w-80-plus-platinum-power-supply-review/index5.html
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=339
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Fractal-Design-Newton-R3-800-W-Power-Supply-Review/1752/13

Ripple suppression on the minor rails are higher than normal for a platinum rated unit. If the OEM of the unit, ATNG, were to add another Japanese capacitor for the +3.3v and +5v rails just to lower the ripple slightly, it would make at least Tier 2 Class B.

 

[megahmad]

Didn't think of this one! told you I am not an expert 😛, so far it's a great list, I will let you know if there is something to be improved in the list.
Thanks.

 

[Vic 40]

If you look at the scope shot from Tom's Hardware's own review of the Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 520W you can see that the ripple and noise are outside of the allowed ATX specifications:

The reviewer is still recommending it. Isn't that a strange thing then?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

If you look at the scope shot from Tom's Hardware's own review of the Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 520W you can see that the ripple and noise are outside of the allowed ATX specifications:

The reviewer is still recommending it. Isn't that a strange thing then?

Goes to show you why Tom's is not a reference source for many power supply reviews 😉

 

[anbello262]

What about the Sentey BRP series?
I know they're bad PSUs, but how bad? Are they tier 4 or tier 5? Are they dangerous to a system?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Sentey BRP would be a tier 5 to me.

 

[anbello262]

I believe the same, but is there any real review on them? I have not been able to find one so far... I'm using one at the moment, no problem, stable overclock, don't really care if this system breaks soon or if it kills another of my components, as I'm hoping this is only a temporary system. Also, it will be easy to sell, since Sentey BRP series are held in high esteem by casual buyers and some misinformed gamers, in this area... Still, not a single problem with this PSU...

But, well, where I live it's so hard to get a nice PSU that Thermaltake TR2 are the most recommended you will usually find... If you want a nice XFX or Seasonic, you will have to pay about 5 times more for the same wattage (the BRP 500 is about us$50, while the XFX 550 costs about $250...), and we don't have much variety (._. )<

 

[Novuake]

I believe the same, but is there any real review on them? I have not been able to find one so far... I'm using one at the moment, no problem, stable overclock, don't really care if this system breaks soon or if it kills another of my components, as I'm hoping this is only a temporary system. Also, it will be easy to sell, since Sentey BRP series are held in high esteem by casual buyers and some misinformed gamers, in this area... Still, not a single problem with this PSU...

But, well, where I live it's so hard to get a nice PSU that Thermaltake TR2 are the most recommended you will usually find... If you want a nice XFX or Seasonic, you will have to pay about 5 times more for the same wattage (the BRP 500 is about us$50, while the XFX 550 costs about $250...), and we don't have much variety (._. )<

Blasphemer... Feels like it should be the 11th commandment NOT to do that.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Sentey has some really good models. It looks like their higher end stuff that's 80 Plus Gold and Platinum certified is made by Superflower.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page29012.htm

The BRP series is made by R-Senda. I have to admit I had never even heard that name before. That along with the fact that the 500w model only provides 26.5 amps ( 318 watts ) on the 12v rail tells me it's probably junk.

 

[Novuake]

Sentey has some really good models. It looks like their higher end stuff that's 80 Plus Gold and Platinum certified is made by Superflower.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page29012.htm

The BRP series is made by R-Senda. I have to admit I had never even heard that name before. That along with the fact that the 500w model only provides 26.5 amps ( 318 watts ) on the 12v rail tells me it's probably junk.

"Probably"

 

[anbello262]

I know I shouldn't do something like that, but it's the best thing I can find where I live for... Getting a better quality one would cost MORE than my APU... Where I live prices are really high, and anything that deviates slightly from normal is REALLY expensive.
Here, I paid about $50 for the PSU, $30 for the case, $150 for the APU, $70 for the motherboard, $85 for the HDD and $50 for my ram.
If I wanted an XFX 550, for example, it would cost me $200 (only for the PSU). That's $150 more than my sentey BRP, so it would be cheaper to just replace any part that might break than getting a high quality PSU from the beginning.
There's no way I could build a budget gaming system for $450 with a good quality PSU where I live...
Of course I would really suffer if my PC broke (I'm not really good at expressing myself D: ) but still, I don't plan to upgrade this further or have it for more than 1-2 years...

So far I've never had any problem, and I've been able to overclock ram, igpu and cpu quite high (for the stock cooler), so I might be lucky on this one...

 

[i7Baby]

In the end costs win out. We can't recommend second rate power supplies (or motherboards etc) because mostly it is not the right financial decision - especially in the long term. We provide advice, but in the end its your money and your decision.

 

[anbello262]

Yes, I understand, sorry for talking about something unrelated to the original topic, I got carried away D:
But, then, no one can find BRP series? I would like them to be incorporated into tier 5, so that no one else will buy them and risk their system, but I understand that will not be possible unless a reliable review is found...

 

[chimera201]

What the heck is Zalman ZM Series? There is no such thing as ZM Series from Zalman. All their PSU model numbers start with ZM and not series.

LE series
OEM : Hui Cheng Electronic Technology
No reviews

LX series
OEM : Hui Cheng Electronic Technology
No reviews

APS series
OEM : FSP
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Zalman-ZM360B-APS-Power-Supply-Review/539/1
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/673

US series
OEM : CWT
http://hardocp.com/article/2011/12/13/zalman_zm450us_450w_power_supply_review/#.U4C8Ffna58E

ST series
OEM : HEC, Enhance Electronics
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/981

RS series
OEM : FSP
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/882

GS series
OEM : CWT
No reviews

GS II series
OEM : Hui Cheng Electronic Technology
No reviews

GT series
OEM : FSP
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/chieftec-coolermaster-corsair-zalman_11.html#sect0

XT series
OEM : Enhance Electronics
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/885

GLX series
OEM : Sirtec
No reviews

GV series
OEM : Enhance Electronics
No reviews

SV series
OEM : Enhance Electronics
No reviews

HP series
OEM : FSP, Enhance Electronics
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/661
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Zalman-ZM850-HP-Plus-Power-Supply-Review/1170


GoldRock series
OEM : Enhance Electronics
No reviews


Platinum series
OEM : CWT
No reviews

 

[Denis Stoikovski]

Will i be fine with corsair vs 650w and gtx 770 msi twin frozr i5 3350p?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Will i be fine with corsair vs 650w and gtx 770 msi twin frozr i5 3350p?

Yes. That is fine.

 

[Hi_im_JK]

any chance the Corsair AX series could be included?