SPCR gets shout out @ HardOcp PSU Roundup

gforcefan · Post by **gforcefan** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:54 am

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.h ... h1c2lhc3Q=

"Certainly there are a few other great resources on the Web for PSU reviews like JonnyGuru, PCPer, and SPCR."

They review $50 psu's - not suprisingly, they are not so good for enthusiast systems.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:33 am

Hello,

It is nice to get a mention, I suppose, but they are basing their a large part of their judgements on the performance at full rated capacity -- which implies that this is necessary; which is simply wrong. They do mention (at least) the efficiency of each unit, but they do not mention the noise levels, AFAICS.

So, if the unit can safely provide 400 watts, then it certainly can be used in virtually any machine; "enthusiast" or otherwise!

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:08 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,

It is nice to get a mention, I suppose, but they are basing their a large part of their judgements on the performance at full rated capacity -- which implies that this is necessary; which is simply wrong. They do mention (at least) the efficiency of each unit, but they do not mention the noise levels, AFAICS.

So, if the unit can safely provide 400 watts, then it certainly can be used in virtually any machine; "enthusiast" or otherwise!

Safely is the key....I think a majority of these except the silverstone/antec do NOT provide safe power. They have terrible dc power ripple and regulation when worked hard...or if their capacitors/parts start to fail. That would be a real pain to troubleshoot as well. I'd personally put the following three as tied for #1 in importance: Silence, DC Quality, and Efficiency. If any are lacking, that's a psu to avoid! Personally I'm disappointed they didn't include the earthwatts or S12-II by increasing the limit slightly.

protellect · Post by **protellect** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 11:22 am

I like how the article was summed up quickly;

They all suck.

You can get the 450W Corsair for 75$ or a 380W Antec Earthwatts for 60$.

Corsair, Antec Earthwatts/HE's, Retail Seasonics, or PC Power and Cooling, Some Tagan, Some Enermax.

Simple enough. Not shelling out the bucks for a good power supply is just setting yourself up for good trouble.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 2:55 am

Hello,

You can also get a Fortron Source "Green" 300watt for $43 shipped. It has better than 80% efficiency, and it is very quiet indeed.

gforcefan · Post by **gforcefan** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:47 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,

They do mention (at least) the efficiency of each unit, but they do not mention the noise levels, AFAICS.

In their defense, they have mentioned in previous articles that although they do quick listen tests, they are not really setup to do quality noise tests. So it is probably better when an big website chooses not to do something, rather than do it wrong and misinform people.

Solid Snake · Post by **Solid Snake** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:51 am

I got a 450w StarTech in that price range that is quite good. I never got to see how it performed in stock form because I hacked it apart right out of the box. All the switching devices were large, not those puny TO-220s. I'm surprised nobody ever looks at the switching devices when trying to gauge the quality of a PSU.

EsaT · Post by **EsaT** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:34 am

Solid Snake wrote:All the switching devices were large, not those puny TO-220s. I'm surprised nobody ever looks at the switching devices when trying to gauge the quality of a PSU.

Size of switching transistors/rectifiers doesn't necessarily mean much, some designs use multiple smaller ones which are connected parallel.
After all it's the end result which counts.

Jonnyguru reviews also mention those components and while not doing load testing Hardware Secrets practically disassembles PSU completely.

Solid Snake · Post by **Solid Snake** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 11:05 am

All PSUs that I've seen use 5 switching devices (regardless of size) and also a 7805 for the 5v standby. Not only can the larger ones perform better at a given temperature, but they usually have lower on state impedance which means more power and less heat.

loimlo · Post by **loimlo** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:00 am

I think it's a good thing to most of us, at least to me. Most mid/low-end gaming system with one discrete VGA would consume 100~180W AC draw at full running, it's a little beyond Pico ability, but way much to buy 400/500/600W PSU. I tend to buy good quality budget(compared to 1KW monster) PSU ranges from 250W to 350W, however, it's difficult to find good reviews towards this class. A safe bet would be Seasonic 300W or S12 330W, but what else? Average people only need average sized PSU, not 1.6KW PSU for extremists.