Sama Forza Titanium 800 W

[crmaris]

SAMA is a Chinese PSU manufacturer which, for the moment at least, doesn't seem terribly interested in retail markets outside of Asia. However, this isn't the case for companies looking to find new OEMs for their products. Today, we will look at SAMA's flagship, the Forza Titanium, with a capacity of 800W.

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[sith'ari]

Dreadful performance at the "Hold-up Time / Power_OK signal" tests!!
Although it's a decent PSU on all the other categories, this failure is enough for me in order to avoid it at all cost!!

 

[badtaylorx]

you say this could damage my hardware, yet you rate it at %89?

I think it's time you rethink your rating system....

 

[dj-electric]

^ What he said. This is a 6/10. TPU is way too generous with its 8.0-10 scoring system. I get why (for the companies), it just isn't so reflecting.

 

[Darksword]

I've learned to "grade on a curve" when reading TPU reviews.

9.7> = 9/10
9.5 = 8/10
9.2 = 7/10
9.1 and below = 6/10

 

[crmaris]

I think that you should read the whole review before judging the final score. Given this unit's relative performance score and other factors it gets a 8.9.
If you don't like the final rating please just stick to the text that I write about it.

 

[dj-electric]

This PSU literally has more cons than pros.
It's slightly over-priced, it does not deliver full load at 46c... in fact, a good portion of the cons are performance and quality of life related issues.

Than why would it deserve a near 9 out of 10?

Again, this isn't you in particular. This happens across all TPU scores. Seems like regular readers have adapted, and for us 8.9 means "do not buy, this is a 6 out of 10". That simple.
My HCP-1000 is a 9 out of 10. This PSU is not.

 

[Ruru]

41.3 dBA at even 10% load, are they serious? With a Titanium-rated unit?

 

[IRQ Conflict]

China uh? Really digging the bottom of the barrel.

 

[-The_Mask-]

This PSU literally has more cons than pros.

No not at all, you should indeed reed the full review and not only the conclusion.

It's actually a really high-end PSU, with some problems, but those problems can be fixed. But even without fixing those problems there are a lot more positives then negatives. Giving this PSU a 6 out of 10 would be a joke. If you give this PSU a 6 what would you then give a real mediocre PSU?

 

[Frick]

Can low voltage damage components?

 

[Stefan Payne]

AHm, Aris...

The LM393 are NOT Opamps, they are dual voltage comperators...
You can use them for OCP and OVP/UVP for +12V on those shitty 8pin ICs...

 

[R-T-B]

I have to agree with the others crmaris, by giving this unit a 8.9 you are putting it right on the heels of units like this:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Corsair/AX650/1.html

Even on your own scoring curve, I don't see it...

 

[Stefan Payne]

Oh and as a negative point: 'no Semi Fanless mode'??!

You're kidding, right?!
Because the semi fanless thingy is just Marketing with no real value, if the PSU and fan and the curve are done right...

What more is there but a quiet PSU? Does it matter how they've done it?!
Especially if they did not include this semi Fanless stunt...

As someone from a company once said:
We do not need high quality fans, we have semi fanless!!111

Besides:
Semi fanless stresses the fan unneccessarily so you need a high quality fan with 2BB bearing, you can not use any kind of sleeve bearing (yes, FDB too!)

So why would you mention this as a negative point?!

A negative point would be that the semi fanless mode can not be switched off!

 

[GreiverBlade]

btw same unit JG rating
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=468

Performance 9
Functionality 7
Value 8
Build Quality 9
Total Score 8.4

nearly same score as here

China uh? Really digging the bottom of the barrel.

and? many things are mad in China, and it's not because the brand and manufacturer is Chinese that the product is a piece of crap,
i.e.:
Antec Phantom 500 PSU : Made in China,
Seasonic M12-II 750W EVO : Made in China,
Xiaomi phones: manufacturer and Chinese brand: some of the best smartphone in the world, quality and price wise ...
stop the bias.

 

[crmaris]

AHm, Aris...

The LM393 are NOT Opamps, they are dual voltage comperators...
You can use them for OCP and OVP/UVP for +12V on those shitty 8pin ICs...

hey Stefan!

The LM393 includes two op-amps. It takes four inputs for these op-amps and has two output pins. Both op-amps are independent from each other. If one of the two compared voltages is lower than the other then either the output is drawn to ground, hence we have electricity flow, or the output stays at Vcc level so we don't have flow. This feature makes them handy in protection circuits.

Now about semi-passive mode. At light loads it can be a good thing and since this PSU has so high efficiency it is a clear omission that they didn't include one. If this was a low efficiency PSU I wouldn't score as negative the luck of semi-passive mode. In high capacity units in general with fans that have high start-up voltages, hence they cannot operate normally at very low RPM, it is good to have semi-passive mode. But in any case this mode must be selectable, for users that don't want it.

 

[Stefan Payne]

@Aris
The manufacturers call them "Low Power Low Offset Voltage Dual Comparators", so it's apropriate to at least use some of that and also call them dual voltage comperators and not opamps...
It's what they are there for and used for...

About semi fanless:
Why is it so important for that?!
If the efficiency is so high, than the PSU does not nead a high rpm fan, so the fan can run pretty slow...

Why should the semi fanless mode be important? I don't see any advantages of that.
Especially after seeing some manufacturers representative saying 'we do not need high quality fans, we have semi fanless'...

Especially after you've taken a look at the HardOCP review of the older RM750 from chiconey, you should come to the conclusion that it's not always the best solution...

Because you have some hotspots and depending on the position of the PSU, it's possible that the OTP kicks in before the fan starts spinning.
Not the best thing in the world.

And there is also the problem of the PSU operating in the area where the fan just starts spinning. In this case, the fan starts spinning for a couple of seconds and then stops for a couple of seconds. And people find this quite annoying.

Normal PSUs do not have this kind of problem and there are already some pretty quiet PSUs out there you can barely notice besides them not having a semi fanless mode.

For a PSU in the 1500W range, I may agree with you.
But in the 800W range not...

Even my rather oldish Dark Power Pro P8 is pretty quiet at low loads. Though that PSU has something modern PSUs often lack: Heatsinks.

So in the end, semi fanless is more something on the marketing side and not something useful - at least unless you go for 1500W monsters and such....


Also I've been told that the semi fanless operation makes a PSU more expansive.
For what exactly? That you can disguise shitty fans?
Why not just using a decent, low noise fan with a quality bearing??

 

[sith'ari]

Can low voltage damage components?

There wouldn't be any limits, if it couldn't cause any damage, would they?

 

[IRQ Conflict]

btw same unit JG rating
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=468

Performance 9
Functionality 7
Value 8
Build Quality 9
Total Score 8.4

nearly same score as here




and? many things are mad in China, and it's not because the brand and manufacturer is Chinese that the product is a piece of crap,
i.e.:
Antec Phantom 500 PSU : Made in China,
Seasonic M12-II 750W EVO : Made in China,
Xiaomi phones: manufacturer and Chinese brand: some of the best smartphone in the world, quality and price wise ...
stop the bias.

btw same unit JG rating
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=468

Performance 9
Functionality 7
Value 8
Build Quality 9
Total Score 8.4

nearly same score as here




and? many things are mad in China, and it's not because the brand and manufacturer is Chinese that the product is a piece of crap,
i.e.:
Antec Phantom 500 PSU : Made in China,
Seasonic M12-II 750W EVO : Made in China,
Xiaomi phones: manufacturer and Chinese brand: some of the best smartphone in the world, quality and price wise ...
stop the bias.

There is a MASSIVE difference between made in China and designed, engineered and made in China. Never heard of Xiaomi, they must be wonderful. Good for them. They are the exception.

 

[Caring1]

I have to agree the score is too high, given the lack of cables supplied and the titanium rating for 800W.
It seems like they were confused when they designed it and weren't sure which end of the market to aim for.

 

[Ruru]

Oh and as a negative point: 'no Semi Fanless mode'??!

You're kidding, right?!
Because the semi fanless thingy is just Marketing with no real value, if the PSU and fan and the curve are done right...

What more is there but a quiet PSU? Does it matter how they've done it?!
Especially if they did not include this semi Fanless stunt...

As someone from a company once said:
We do not need high quality fans, we have semi fanless!!111

Besides:
Semi fanless stresses the fan unneccessarily so you need a high quality fan with 2BB bearing, you can not use any kind of sleeve bearing (yes, FDB too!)

So why would you mention this as a negative point?!

A negative point would be that the semi fanless mode can not be switched off!

Well, something like ~300rpm with low power consumption is IMO wiser than passive, since that is kinda inaudible, but moves air around instead of the unit just heating up..

 

[Initialised]

All show, no go.

 

[crmaris]

about voltage comparators. Most people don't even know what these are while they surely have heard about op-amps.
In addition I don't rely on official description since I know what lies underneath. So I prefer to use more common terms Cannot say you are wrong though since its official name is (dual) voltage comparator. But you have to understand that this IC is just two op-amps into a single package. In any case I think that we over-analysed this matter.

Now about semi-passive mode it doesn't have to do only with capacity, but also with the used fan. High start-up voltage fans aren't of low quality on all cases. Take for example the fan used into this unit. In other words when a fan starts at 3.5-4 V and in this range it outputs over 25 db(A) then the manufacturer should use a semi-passive mode in order to allow for lower noise under light loads, where thermal dissipation is very low. Again for me the best is a selectable semi-passive mode.

 

[Ruru]

Still better than Corsair CX and other similar crap people buys these days, at least this one has top-quality internals unlike those which I mentioned.

 

[Frick]

There wouldn't be any limits, if it couldn't cause any damage, would they?

But why? Current running away?