Antec PSUs Achieve Lowest Failure Rate: Study

[btarunr]

Antec, Inc., the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, has again achieved the lowest failure return rate for its power supply units (PSUs), based on the release of an independent comparative study on PSU failure return rates from Hardware.fr. The study, carried out by Hardware.fr, a leading French web site dedicated to providing the latest independent hardware information for consumers, placed Antec in the forefront of the competition for achieving the lowest overall failure rates of power supplies with consumers.

The comparison study utilized a calculation base of the number of power supplies sold between October 1, 2009 and April 1, 2010. The study parameters required the PSUs to have been active for six months to one year, and the failure rates of the PSUs measured were taken from a major French e-tailer. The statistics "per brand" were based on a minimum of 500 PSUs sold and the statistics "per model" were based on a minimum of 100 PSUs sold. For statistics "per brand", Antec earned a rating of 0.61 percent, securing its number one spot for having the lowest rate of power supply returns. The figure below displays the statistics "per brand" comparison results.

• Antec 0.61%
• CoolerMaster 1.10%
• Fortron 1.29%
• Thermaltake 1.39%
• Corsair 1.68%
• Enermax 2.47%
• Seasonic 3.32%

"Antec keeps the head from the previous rankings, again with a very low failure rate", says Marc Prieur, editor of Hardware.fr.

"Throughout its 25 year history, Antec has remained a consumer-centric company. For the third time a row, the results in this independent study underscore the reliability and value of Antec power supplies," said Scott Richards, senior vice president, Antec. "We're proud of this recognition because it is product related, not just a popularity vote. The results serve as a testament to our focus on quality. It is the only independent survey of its kind I know of anywhere in the world so it is relevant to consumers everywhere."

Additional information and access to the complete Hardware.fr study, is available here.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

the corsair numbers at the sauce is suprising

 

[Inioch]

Yes, especially the individual product rates:

- 10.87%: Corsair TX 950W
- 9.71%: Corsair HX 620W
- 5.15%: Corsair HX 1000W

What?

Also Caviar Blacks didn't do too well and the memory list was also interesting.

 

[Frizz]

Good thing I went for a high end coolermaster PSU

 

[LittleLizard]

CMON, is in french. Will look at it anyway

 

[assaulter_99]

CMON, is in french. Will look at it anyway

I guess it helps being multilingual! You can also translate the page, but what has been said has been nicely resumed here anyways.

 

[claylomax]

the corsair numbers at the sauce is suprising

I'm not surprised. Their latest AX1200 has had some problems. http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6970 http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=645398&mpage=1

 

[buggalugs]

CMON, is in french. Will look at it anyway

There are tools to translate in an instant. Google toolbar has a translate function the works really well.

 

[cdawall]

i'm not really surprised i wish they had more PSU manuf....

- Maxtor 1,04% (contre 1,73%)
- Western Digital 1,45% (contre 0,99%)
- Seagate 2,13% (contre 2,58%)
- Samsung 2,47% (contre 1,93%)
- Hitachi 3,39% (contre 0,92%)

that one surprised me Maxtor a subsidiary of Seagate out scored Seagate

 

[Mistral]

Enermax and Seasonic with a higher failure rate than Fortron? Excuse me? Fortron?

 

[cdawall]

Enermax and Seasonic with a higher failure rate than Fortron? Excuse me? Fortron?

its part of fortron source power

http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/


they have been around quite a bit and OEM alot of powersupplies

 

[buggalugs]

Enermax and Seasonic with a higher failure rate than Fortron? Excuse me? Fortron?

I know, theres a few surprises there.

 

[claylomax]

its part of fortron source power

http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/


they have been around quite a bit and OEM alot of powersupplies

Spot on. FSP has more PSU on the 80plus list than any other manufacturer. http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80PlusPowerSupplies.aspx

 

[ShinyG]

BTW: Older version (may 2010) in english:

http://www.behardware.com/articles/788-1/components-returns-rates.html

Looks like Antec managed to improve quality, while Corsair dropped a bit...

 

[assaulter_99]

Looks like Antec managed to improve quality, while Corsair dropped a bit...

Like the old saying, you are most likely to fail while you are at the top. Look at the car industry. For some time GM was no1 car manufacturer in the world, we know how it ended. Then came Toyota, we all again knew what happened. When you are at the top, you are most lilkely to ramp up prod and skimp/cut corners on quality/do bad products and still sell due to them riding their luck on brand quality image.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

also ppl forget corsair also rolled out the newer shittier CX brand of PSUs so while im guessing there units are fine in general a few bad units + lower quality mainstream = higher overall failure rate. eitherway dosent matter to me all units fail at some point.

then again dosent Corsair at least on newegg sell 2 psu for every 1 sold from a different brand? so wouldnt that mean a much larger user base to acquire data from just a thought still overall dont care that much in general long as Corsair follows up on there warranty i dont give a rats ass

 

[CDdude55]

Surprising numbers..

It could be due to the usage of most Corsair, Enermax and Seasonic PSU's, consider they tend to be used more by enthusiasts who tend to stress the system out more.

 

[AsRock]

Enermax and Seasonic with a higher failure rate than Fortron? Excuse me? Fortron?

Hehe maybe because they sell a hell load more. One fact i'll buy a Seasonic \ FSP PSU before any of those top supposed rated ones.

 

[Cheeseball]

Yeah, I've got a OEM-looking (e.g. gray/beige) 550W FSP that even has a 80+ certification.

 

[Mussels]

Yes, especially the individual product rates:

- 10.87%: Corsair TX 950W
- 9.71%: Corsair HX 620W
- 5.15%: Corsair HX 1000W

What?

Also Caviar Blacks didn't do too well and the memory list was also interesting.

actually thats about right. i recall hearing bad things about those models (the only reason i have the HX1000 is cause i got it for $50)


if you notice, all but the 1000 is discontinued/replaced, with those three.


antec must have stepped up their game, a few years back i had nothing but trouble with them. had quite a few of their basiQ units die on me too - but i just binned them rather than RMA.

 

[Inioch]

actually thats about right. i recall hearing bad things about those models (the only reason i have the HX1000 is cause i got it for $50)


if you notice, all but the 1000 is discontinued/replaced, with those three.


antec must have stepped up their game, a few years back i had nothing but trouble with them. had quite a few of their basiQ units die on me too - but i just binned them rather than RMA.

Was there a problem with the OEM or what, I can't recall anymore. Still find it a bit bad for a brand like Corsair to have released so many bad PSU's (although also many great ones).

Also the amount of units sold doesn't effect failure rates really as some have been suggesting with Corsair. The study only took in products that had sold over 100 pieces. The return % should stay the same over or under, only affected by quality.

 

[Mussels]

Was there a problem with the OEM or what, I can't recall anymore. Still find it a bit bad for a brand like Corsair to have released so many bad PSU's (although also many great ones).

Also the amount of units sold doesn't effect failure rates really as some have been suggesting with Corsair. The study only took in products that had sold over 100 pieces. The return % should stay the same over or under, only affected by quality.

i think it was the OEM, iirc they changed the OEM after those units came out.


one thing that really screws these results over too, is the fact it relies on users to warranty them.


cheap PSU? dont bother returning it!

paid tons for a corsair with a 7 year warranty? return it!

users simply not returing units could skew the results pretty badly. (generally, to make the more expensive brands look like they have higher failure rates)

 

[scaminatrix]

It might just be because a lot of people who get CoolerMaster/Antec PSU's get them with a case, and then upgrade PSU sometime after?
I just don't think that "reliability" is the biggest factor in these numbers. There's also the fact that some people just don't bother claim on their warranty. They buy another PSU and forget about the old one for whatever reason.
But someone who spends money on a Seasonic is more likely to claim on warranty.

EDIT: Damn! Ninja'd!! You edited while I was typing!!

cheap PSU? dont bother returning it!
paid tons for a corsair with a 7 year warranty? return it!
users simply not returing units could skew the results pretty badly.

 

[Andy77]

Apparently everyone has a problem finding that USA flag button...

http://www.behardware.com/articles/810-1/components-returns-rates.html

December 25, 2010.

 

[aphasia]

i think the most alarming statistic from the hardware failure rate article is from the storage category, specifically hard disks and RAM.

in all the other categories (psu, mb and video card), if your part fails, its not a big deal. you can just buy a replacement and swap out an you're back up and running in no time (perhaps the exception here being the motherboard which may require os to be reinstalled).

however if a HD (magnetic or ssd) fails, this could range from catastrophic (no recent backup or no backup period) to major headache (reinstall everything or restoring from image). with storage frankly the most important part of a pc, the failure rates for these parts is unacceptable.

ram failure rates are fairly alarming too. though these stats can be skewed a bit. the parts with the highest rma rate are mostly performance parts thus the failure rates could be attributed to user error (over volting or incorrect timings).