Page 1 of 1
AnandTech Interview with PC Power & Cooling Founder
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:35 pm
by HueyCobra
Exclusive Interview with PC Power & Cooling Founder
AnandTech wrote:Not long ago we had a long talk with PC Power & Cooling founder Doug Dodson about power supplies and the question came up why there aren't lower wattage power supplies with enough PEG connectors to support higher end graphics card setups. The reason why will be answered shortly but Doug also agreed to build us a custom power supply based on the newly introduced Turbo Cool 860. The article about that power supply is
already online, and as a follow-up we wanted to post this interview.
We met Doug and the PC Power / OCZ crew at this year's CES show in Las Vegas, and he took the time to answer a few questions we had. We have three topics to cover: Technology, Markets, and Work. These will concentrate respectively on the technology offered by PC Power & Cooling, the newly extended markets created by the acquisition from OCZ, and how the work changed during this time until today.
Those that haven't seen it might also be interested in reading PC Power & Cooling's "
Power Supply Myths Exposed!"
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:00 pm
by jaganath
LOL, two good, cutting questions:
What is your opinion on the constantly increasing wattages of power supplies? Why there are so many power supplies today offering more than 1000W? There is obviously no need for them at the moment.
Why are the high-end power supply manufacturers still pushing such high wattages?...this is good for the companies of course because they make higher margins from higher wattage models?
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:06 pm
by HueyCobra
Don't expect too much from AT, at least not when it comes to PSUs
Dodson used to be good for stirring the pot but his language seems a bit more corporate and careful these days.
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:51 pm
by disphenoidal
I was interested until I read:
DD: Systems with multiple CPUs and GPUs can actually draw around 1000W.
How many CPUs and GPUs does that take? More than almost any 1kW PSU owner uses, I imagine. After that, I figured I wouldn't get anything straight from this article and closed it.
Re: AnandTech Interview with PC Power & Cooling Founder
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:09 am
by merlin
There's honestly far too much bs in this interview. The founder is obviously marketing his own company for almost every question rather than trying to answer honestly. Modular cables cost less than 1% of power unless something is wrong with them. He answers the modular question like it's for 24/7 mission critical servers...which they're obviously not.
Only 1-2% of the entire computer world even uses multiple cpu/gpus on their desktops. This does not jive with the huge number of pointless 750W+ psu's being marketed.
The real truth is that their psus are good, but their marketing stinks and they still don't understand the low power/silence market where a good 300-400w psu is more than enough.
The only positive in this whole article is the comment about a supersilent 500w...with a good price this could be interesting.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:24 am
by HueyCobra
disphenoidal wrote:How many CPUs and GPUs does that take?
It takes the awesome
QUAD QUAD QUINTUPLE + 24 
disphenoidal wrote:I was interested until I read:
I'm amazed you got that far considering it starts off talking about the PC P&C 1200W PSU. You could have saved yourself another minute
Re: AnandTech Interview with PC Power & Cooling Founder
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:55 am
by HueyCobra
merlin wrote:The only positive in this whole article is the comment about a supersilent 500w...with a good price this could be interesting.
Based on most of the PC P&C PSU reviews I've read, I wouldn't have high expectations of "the new ultra-quiet Silencer 500W".
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:32 am
by AZBrandon
Wow. I didn't even know anyone was marketing such a thing. Still, I have to agree with the point that buyers who want tons of cable connections are forced into buying massively overpowered power supplies. I look at my own build for that even; two years ago when I built up my system I wanted to do a 4-drive RAID 0+4 array.
As my first SATA build, I didn't realize you can buy cables that convert the old style power connectors into a SATA power connector, unfortunately. The lowest power Seasonic S12 that had 4 SATA connectors was the 600 watt model. When it was all said and done, the absolute maximum power draw I could generate in any type of real world or synthetic load was around 160 watts at the plug, so figure 130 watts or so DC. My power supply was roughly 4.5 times as powerful as needed, all to just get enough connectors.
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:48 pm
by HueyCobra
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 6:29 am
by dhanson865
For those that are word math challenged that is
QUAD CPU, QUAD CORE, QUINTUPLE GRAPHICS, 24 DRIVES.
4 cpu sockets (total of 16 CPU cores), 5 graphics cards, and 24 hard drives.
So 16 CPU, 5 Video, 24 Drives for short.
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 6:48 am
by FartingBob
dhanson865 wrote:
For those that are word math challenged that is
QUAD CPU, QUAD CORE, QUINTUPLE GRAPHICS, 24 DRIVES.
4 cpu sockets (total of 16 CPU cores), 5 graphics cards, and 24 hard drives.
So 16 CPU, 5 Video, 24 Drives for short.
Im sure at least 90% of 1000w PSU owners have this much in their system. Oh wait no, its just the same as alot of other people, but with more flashing lights and as big a model number as is possible for EVERY component.
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 3:54 pm
by HueyCobra
dhanson865 wrote:For those that are word math challenged that is
I don't get it ... can such people not figure out how to click a link? Perhaps an image may help
FartingBob wrote:Im sure at least 90% of 1000w PSU owners have this much in their system. Oh wait no, its just the same as alot of other people, but with more flashing lights and as big a model number as is possible for EVERY component.
While we may congratulate ourselves on being informed about actual power requirements, at the end of the day most people that buy 1000W+ PSUs probably would do so regardless of their actual present or future needs. We tend to think about needs but every hobby involves wants.
OCZ EliteXStream - quiet PSU for big loads (?)
Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:11 am
by halcyon
AnandTech has a review
http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsu ... i=3280&p=8
I was taken aback a bit by their measurements starting at 15dB(A), but they claim to have built an anechoic chamber and have a system with self noise down to 15dB(A).
What is interesting is that:
The 800W model appears to stay below 22dB(A) (@ 1m) up to 50% load (that is c. 400W of power supplied).
Granted, 99% of us never will need this kind of PSU (I hope), but if somebody does need it, this looks like another decent contender on the quiet front. Do note that the graph I quoted was rated for up-to 50C ambient temp.
Which brings me to a question:
Is it possible they didn't really measure the PSU at those ambient temps (50C)?
Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:30 am
by Wibla
Anandtech is loosing credibility fast in my book, that interview may try to pass off as being serious, but I cant take it seriously when the interviewee gets away with stuff like this:
DD: Just because users like them doesn't make them good. The fact is that with lower wattage consumer PSUs you can probably get away using cable management because the voltage losses are relatively minor and reliability isn't critical. With higher end power supplies above 800W, it would be careless to use such a design because the voltage drop through the connectors is significant and the applications tend to be mission critical.
The issue with high power psu's isnt the connectors, but the sub-par cables they use between connectors, theyre not sized correctly to handle the load. Snug modular connectors like on the Corsair or Tagan modular PSU's I have will not induce voltage loss in any magnitude that will affect operation, thats just nonsense.
halcyon: I have my doubts... but then, I gave up on most of anand's crud a long time ago, theyre going full speed down the slippery slope after THG...