Best Power Supply Buying Guide (Jun 2020)

[Regeneration]

Here is another one:

Power Surge Crash when Gaming or Benchmarking.

Hi, during lockdown I've been using my time to update my old PC as its very dated, my old specs were:- CPU - i7-4770k 3.5GHz Motherboard - Z87M-Plus RAM - 8gb GPU - AMD HD7850 2gb HDD - 1tb Seagate PSU - VS450 Corsair 450w Standard stock CPU cooler Extra Coolermaster fan All my upgrades have...

www.techpowerup.com

I don't trash talk Corsair PSUs for no reason.

There is a regular pattern for new threads on TPU:

1. Wrong VBIOS flashes
2. Fake graphics cards
3. Graphics card crossflash
4. DOA graphics cards
5. Problems caused by Corsair PSUs
6. Questions about GPU-Z and other TPU software

You know it's true...

 

[juular]

I don't trash talk Corsair PSUs for no reason.

So you see nothing wrong with 'trash talking' Corsair PSUs as a whole because people are dumb enough to use Corsair VS in their gaming systems ? It's not a PSU for any dGPU, it's group regulated, it's still quite popular because people don't know better but that's no Corsair fault. Market niche for cheap-ass group regulated PSUs exist and they fill it in, that's literally the only one PSU in their portfolio you'll get problems with in PC with dGPU, everything else are DC-DC. And even Corsair VS is at least 40°C rated with not completely dirt-cheap components in comparison with many other PSUs out there including EVGA's N1 and W for example, why you're not trash talking EVGA then ? Ah, right, they have fantastic Super Flower's - EVGA G2 so they can't be bad ?

Nothing to add here, still confirmation and selection bias.

 

[Regeneration]

When people purchase PSU, they look at the brand name and rated wattage. Corsair VS 650w sounds like a normal PSU. Only lousy companies make lousy products.

 

[juular]

When people purchase PSU, they look at the brand name and rated wattage.

And they're doing it wrong. Don't blame the company, blame the people who buy inappropriate PSU for their PCs. Corsair isn't the only one PSU brand that makes group regulated PSUs and you would've knew this if you did your research.

 

[duynguyenle]

When people purchase PSU, they look at the brand name and rated wattage. Corsair VS 650w sounds like a normal PSU. Only lousy companies make lousy products.

This is subjectively false. Any company can have lousy products. This has been pointed out to you time and time again, and yet you're still doubling down. And you repeatedly move the goalpost in order to fit your view even after your biases are pointed out to you.

I don't have any special emotional attachment to Corsair, I do own some of their products, but for the most part I think a lot of the stuff they put out recently have been overpriced, with features that are either poorly thought out and/or overly focused on garish RGB nonsense ("damnit Corsair put a standard bottom row on your mechanical keyboards"). Their PC casing products have been coasting for a while on brand value, largely by-the-numbers refreshes. That said, you don't get to the majority position on the market by being a "lousy company" to quote your words. Over the years just on the PSUs alone they have had excellent products (notably the CWT-produced HX units which I personally ran for years, as well as the Flextronics-produced AXi series which perform so well they haven't even bothered refreshing them for years). Of course they have low-end low-priced product lines (just like any other companies in this market segment, but to write them off as a "lousy" company because they have low end products that are built to a pricepoint is at best, short-sighted, prejudiced and naive). Perhaps you didn't know Corsair is also one of the largest suppliers of DDR memory for the DIY/enthusiast market (though I do too think in this segment, their products are overpriced and binning not as rigorous as some of their competitors).

But of course, you've already made up your mind, so I'm only leaving this comment for the sake of discussion.

 

[cucker tarlson]

hey @juular how is this one ?

Phanteks Innovative Computer Hardware Design

www.phanteks.com

it's actually very reasonably priced for a 850w (just slightly more than whisper m) and it's seasonic I hear

 

[juular]

and it's seasonic I hear

Looks like it is Seasonic Focus, yes.

 

[cucker tarlson]

Looks like it is Seasonic Focus, yes.

is it good inside ? I've no idea.

 

[juular]

is it good inside ? I've no idea.

It should be pretty much just stock Seasonic Focus, just as Phanteks AMP which ends with 750W model so there are probably no difference with Revolt Pro other than for the external design. Seasonic isn't exactly known for modifying platforms they offer much.

 

[cucker tarlson]

12 years of warranty like prime

 

[juular]

12 years of warranty like prime

But it's not, Revolt X is Prime based.

 

[cucker tarlson]

But it's not, Revolt X is Prime based.

you think a dual system off one psu is safe ?
cause if I get this phanteks 850w I can build one inside my p600s
a normal atx board with a 95w cpu max and a 250w gpu max and as secondary something like an amd apu or my 5775c

 

[juular]

you think a dual system off one psu is safe ?

Should be. It's modern PSU with DC-DC so voltages would be good in any load situations and running it even at 100% load would be a problem.

 

[olymind1]

I'm wondering, the newish Seasonic Prime GX-650 is the same model as the Prime Gold 650W with the same loud fan or did they update it?

At least according to Cybenetics' measurements, the Focus Gold 650W series are much more quiet till 400W, and cheaper at the same time.

 

[djisas]

I'm wondering, the newish Seasonic Prime GX-650 is the same model as the Prime Gold 650W with the same loud fan or did they update it?

At least according to Cybenetics' measurements, the Focus Gold 650W series are much more quiet till 400W, and cheaper at the same time.

My GX-750 is dead silent, idle stop fan, Seasonic themselves claim improvements have been made on the platform on the marketing stuff in their site...

 

[olymind1]

My GX-750 is dead silent, idle stop fan, Seasonic themselves claim improvements have been made on the platform on the marketing stuff in their site...

Thanks, hopefully mine will be quiet too.

 

[John Naylor]

I can't agree with this ... I have never seen a "tier' guide that is worth the time to read as broad across the line assumptions are made based upon a single review.... If a list has a CX on it ... I immediately stop reading as I have done more repair work associated with CX series PSUs than all others combined.

 

[EarthDog]

I can't agree with this ... I have never seen a "tier' guide that is worth the time to read as broad across the line assumptions are made based upon a single review.... If a list has a CX on it ... I immediately stop reading as I have done more repair work associated with CX series PSUs than all others combined.

This is your most consice post..ever.

 

[juular]

I can't agree with this ... I have never seen a "tier' guide that is worth the time to read as broad across the line assumptions are made based upon a single review.... If a list has a CX on it ... I immediately stop reading as I have done more repair work associated with CX series PSUs than all others combined.

Surely you also know that, assuming we're talking about Corsair CX, it's not a single lineup but around 5-8 lineups depending on how you count them and how old ones we're talking about, right ? And that aside the fact that probably also dealt with Corsair PSUs in general more often than with most other brands simply because they're more popular and therefore your observation about failure rates of PSUs of some brand should be corrected to their overall volume, otherwise that would be selection bias.

 

[jonnyGURU]

I can't agree with this ... I have never seen a "tier' guide that is worth the time to read as broad across the line assumptions are made based upon a single review.... If a list has a CX on it ... I immediately stop reading as I have done more repair work associated with CX series PSUs than all others combined.

Well, when the CX sells 20x more than any other PSU series, surely you're going to see upwards of 20x more failures.

It's all in the numbers. It's unfortunate. The PSUs that have the lowest "scores" on Amazon, Newegg, etc. are not the ones that fail the most, but the ones that sell the most.