Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1650 W

[Mussels]

The GF3 1650W *does* have OTP. It might be worth updating the review to reflect this.

assuming it works, I haven't double checked the review but many lower quality PSU's often state they have protections they don't

 

[Chrispy_]

assuming it works, I haven't double checked the review but many lower quality PSU's often state they have protections they don't

Aris said he couldn't see any OTP circuitry during teardown, and that if there was any he'd missed the trigger point was way too high - so even if there is any it's not much use.

I'm no PSU expert, but this most certainly isn't Aris' first rodeo. Presumably he knows how to identify an OTP circuit and even if there's one there it needs to kick in before the capacitors get too hot, otherwise it's utterly pointless.

Every PSU has rudimentary OTP built in. When it gets too hot to be <not on fire> it sets itself on fire and the flames consume PCB - opening the circuit and shutting down the PSU; Guaranteed to work 50% of the time...

 

[Avro Arrow]

Not sure why you would consider Corsair over rated? Over priced? Sure, but not over rated.

Overpriced and overrated are synonyms because if people are willing to pay too much, then the product is overrated.

They are extremely hands on with design, testing, and quality assurance than any other pure brand out there. In fact they have several test labs at their in house facilities and one of only two pure brands with in house designers. They work Cybenetics in their designs. Aris has them as the top unit (or top five) in many of his best of tier lists. Also Corsair uses well know OEMs like CWT, Great Wall, and Chicony...even HEC on occasion although not up to par as the others.

OCZ bought the brand name PC Power and Cooling but PC P&C were made by seasonic (I owned a few of their units back in the day)

Yep and I consider Seasonic to be absolutely top-of-the-line.

Antec, like EVGA, uses a number of different OEMs from Delta, FSP, Seasonic, CWT, and enhance on occasion

BQ mostly uses FSP but seems to be going with CWT more lately, they have used HEC and Seasonic in the past.

There is no pure benefit to buying from a pure brand or OEM/Brand. Possibly a lower cost with the OEM/Brand but not always. As long as the brand is reputable and the unit well built and performs well, that's all the matters. Also, many OEM/Brands don't have the warranty and in-house front end like a Corsair or EVGA. If anything happens to your unit under warranty, those are two brands I trust to honor your warranty and not have you jump through hoops. I know everyone has their personal horror stories and but two brands have a solid reputation.

No, you misunderstand. My point was that it's good to buy from an actual PSU maker because then you know that it's not some dressed-up turd of a PSU. If you know who the OEM is, then sure, it's fine to buy a re-brand. The problem is that such information isn't always clear or available.

 

[Chrispy_]

If you know who the OEM is, then sure, it's fine to buy a re-brand. The problem is that such information isn't always clear or available.

The problem with cheaper brands are that they'll switch OEMs halfway through a model's lifecycle. Sometimes you'll get a V2 or something to indicate that it's changed, but if you read a good review of a CWT-made PSU and then the model you buy is made by HEC on a different platform, you have no idea whether it's good or garbage.

All of the major OEMs are capable of making good and bad PSUs, based on how cheap the ODM customer wants the end result to be. Skip features, use lower-grade parts, older inventory to save costs etc. As a result, whether it's HEC/FSP/CWT/HiPower/Superflower/Seasonic, I don't trust that it's ever automatically good based on recognisable brand alone.

 

[Avro Arrow]

The problem with cheaper brands are that they'll switch OEMs halfway through a model's lifecycle. Sometimes you'll get a V2 or something to indicate that it's changed, but if you read a good review of a CWT-made PSU and then the model you buy is made by HEC on a different platform, you have no idea whether it's good or garbage.

All of the major OEMs are capable of making good and bad PSUs, based on how cheap the ODM customer wants the end result to be. Skip features, use lower-grade parts, older inventory to save costs etc. As a result, whether it's HEC/FSP/CWT/HiPower/Superflower/Seasonic, I don't trust that it's ever automatically good based on recognisable brand alone.

Well, in what now, over 30 years of building PCs, I've honestly never heard of a bad Seasonic PSU of any kind. For that matter, I've never heard of a bad EVGA PSU but EVGA PSUs are still pretty young while Seasonic is an "elder statesman" of the PSU industry. I chose my EVGA based on how EVGA handles customer issues. Their customer service is nothing less than legendary so even though I knew that my PSU was a high-end SuperFlower, I also knew that if there were any issues, EVGA would take care of me. However, I'm in the rather enviable situation that I have a second 1000W 80+Gold PSU as a backup if anything goes wrong so it's not like I would be without my PC in the case of an RMA.

For the most part, I agree with you. The thing is, some names are synonymous with quality like Seasonic and some are synonymous with epic customer service like EVGA. Those are probably the only two situations in which I would buy on brand alone.

 

[dirtyferret]

My point was that it's good to buy from an actual PSU maker because then you know that it's not some dressed-up turd of a PSU. If you know who the OEM is, then sure, it's fine to buy a re-brand. The problem is that such information isn't always clear or available.

your lack of understanding of the industry along with your desire to turn opinion into fact to justify your purchase makes this statement incorrect. No brand is going to have an OEM design a "turd" PSU just for them, it would be cost prohibitive creating the exact opposite of what the brand wants. The oem already has the "turd" PSU design in place for the brand to white label.

Overpriced and overrated are synonyms because if people are willing to pay too much, then the product is overrated.

no, they are not. The fact that you believe that is disturbing since you can easily look up on webster the definition of the words. If you want a word to attempt to encompass both over priced and over rated, it would be over valued.

 

[Mussels]

Every PSU has rudimentary OTP built in. When it gets too hot to be <not on fire> it sets itself on fire and the flames consume PCB - opening the circuit and shutting down the PSU; Guaranteed to work 50% of the time...

Ah yes, i've ran into that one a few times

Well, in what now, over 30 years of building PCs, I've honestly never heard of a bad Seasonic PSU of any kind. For that matter, I've never heard of a bad EVGA PSU but EVGA PSUs are still pretty young while Seasonic is an "elder statesman" of the PSU industry. I chose my EVGA based on how EVGA handles customer issues. Their customer service is nothing less than legendary so even though I knew that my PSU was a high-end SuperFlower, I also knew that if there were any issues, EVGA would take care of me. However, I'm in the rather enviable situation that I have a second 1000W 80+Gold PSU as a backup if anything goes wrong so it's not like I would be without my PC in the case of an RMA.

For the most part, I agree with you. The thing is, some names are synonymous with quality like Seasonic and some are synonymous with epic customer service like EVGA. Those are probably the only two situations in which I would buy on brand alone.

Plenty of threads of dead seasonics around on the web, it may be less likely but it happens - they can still arrive DOA, still be faulty.

 

[dirtyferret]

Well, in what now, over 30 years of building PCs, I've honestly never heard of a bad Seasonic PSU of any kind. For that matter, I've never heard of a bad EVGA PSU but EVGA PSUs are still pretty young while Seasonic is an "elder statesman" of the PSU industry.

EVGA is a brand and has tossed some crap into the fold with their PSU (units rated at 25c w/ 1 year warranties) along with some very good units. I'm not picking on evga, other top brands have done similar things and their pricing is aggressive you just need to do your homework with them as with other brands. You may want to do a little research on both Seasonic and EVGA

Plenty of threads of dead seasonics around on the web, it may be less likely but it happens - they can still arrive DOA, still be faulty.

Mussels is right, I've built with more seasonic units than any other oem but plenty of threads about seasonic issues. I've experienced several of them first hand. Their S12ii were good but over rated with bad fan profiles and cheap OCP. They tend to have more coil whine issues than other equal quality builds (still minor and not always their fault). They had had issues in the past with Nvidia GTX 970's, AMD Fury's, and some of the more modern flagships GPUs from Nvidia and AMD.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Ah yes, i've ran into that one a few times


Plenty of threads of dead seasonics around on the web, it may be less likely but it happens - they can still arrive DOA, still be faulty.

Oh sure, of course there will be because humans aren't perfect and no matter what it is, anything made by human hands will have "X" number of bad ones per 1,000 units. When I say that Seasonics are rock-solid, I mean that they tend to have way fewer bad ones in the wild than most. Seasonic had earnt their reputation for quality years ago and has never had any scandals or issues to tarnish that reputation. That's a pretty impressive track record when you think about it. Hell, I remember when Silverstone made great PSUs but, as someone else pointed out, success can be lethal to a corporation.

 

[dirtyferret]

has never had any scandals or issues to tarnish that reputation.

absolutely not true

 

[S73fan]

Where did you go Aris ?