In this review we will evaluate Thortech's Thunderbolt Plus 1000W which shares the same cable configuration with its big 1200 W brother, that we recently reviewed. This PSU features a unique aspect, a device called iPower which mounts in a 5.25" bay to display vital statistics like power, current, voltage and efficiency.
Antec recently added three new units to their High Current Gamer series. The main difference between these new PSUs and the older ones is that the first utilize a semi-modular cabling design, becoming this way the first members of this series to incorporate this feature. Today we will test the HCG-620M with 620W capacity.
Thortech's Thunderbolt Plus 1200W is a high-powered 80PLUS Gold certified power supply. One of its unique features is the inclusion of a little 5.25" bay device that displays voltage, power, current and efficiency among others. The unit also has compact dimensions for a 1200W PSU, which means it will fit in all cases.
Most of you probably know Spire from their cooling solutions and maybe their enclosures. However, the fact is that Spire actually has a rich portfolio of PSU products with capacities ranging from 400W to 1200W (RockIT II). Recently they released a new PSU series, called BlackDragon and they were kind enough to send us the 400W model for review.
Here we are again, testing another high-end Enermax unit from the Platimax series. The innovative platform of this unit offers huge power along with Platinum efficiency. Also we find top quality components used along with great build quality.
Antec finally decided to enter the Platinum efficiency club with the new EarthWatts Platinum series. These units address all users that just need a high efficiency PSU, with no bells and whistles. This new series creates a new mainstream class of PSUs and is placed between the EarthWatts Green and the High Current Gamer series.
Despite the name, the Super Flower Golden King PSUs are 80 Plus Platinum certified. Today we will test the 1000 W flagship model to find out if it has the potential to claim the throne for the best, high capacity, Platinum PSU and put the excellent Seasonic SS-1000XP in second place.
XFX is well known for their graphic cards but for quite some time they are also into the PSU market with two series called classic and Pro. Today we will test the flagship unit of the Pro series which with 1250W capacity will easily power even the most demanding systems.
Silverstone recently updated their PSU offerings with a new series, called Strider Gold Evolution. Besides the various internal component upgrades, which provide a small boost to efficiency and offer better performance, the new Striders are equipped with Silverstone's Air Penetrator fan which features increased cooling along with lower noise output.
Almost everybody knows Gigabyte from their VGA and motherboard products, but the company also makes power supplies. Their newest PSU series is called Sumo, which consists of two high power PSUs with 80 Plus Silver certification. Today we test the smaller one with 900W capacity and find out how it performs.
The fight for the top spot in the 80PLUS Platinum category is raging, especially now that many OEMs started offering platinum units with over 1 kW capacity. At this time Enermax probably has the most complete Platinum series, called Platimax. Today we will test its strongest model which features monstrous 1500W capacity.
Corsair's Professional Gold series consists of four PSUs with the most recent addition being the AX650, which as its name implies has 650W capacity. Since more and more users finally find out that they actually need a mid-wattage unit to power their systems, Corsair decided to offer a high quality PSU which addresses all the enthusiasts who defy cost and seek the best possible performance along with top efficiency.
Thermaltake recently added three new models to the Toughpower XT series. Today we are testing the 1275W model, which is the first Platinum unit that Thermaltake releases. With more and more Platinum certified models on the market, it will be interesting to see how Thermaltake's latest power supply manages.
Today we test the middle member of Coolermaster's fresh Silent Pro Hybrid series, which with its 1050W will easily power even the most power hungry systems and at the same time will save you some money from electricity bills, thanks to its Gold efficiency. This PSU will be loved by all silence fans out there since it goes fanless at low loads and on top of that you can control its fan speed.
After testing its bigger brother with 600W capacity, it's high time for the PC P&C Silencer MK3S400 to prove its worth. The new Silencer units pose a big change for PC Power & Cooling since they are the first ever modular PSUs that this company introduces to the market. Along with the top mounted 120 mm fan all PC P&C traditions are broken in these new units.
Till now NZXT had only one PSU series, HALE90, which included only Gold efficiency PSUs. However since Gold efficiency leads to higher prices, NZXT decided to release a new line of PSUs with lower efficiency and more affordable prices, targeting a wider range of users. The name of the new series is HALE82 and all of its members are 80 PLUS Bronze certified and feature a semi modular cabling design.
LEPA is a newcomer in the PSU market, behind which a major manufacturer is hiding: Enermax. Their products target mostly the mid-range market and are characterized in general by good price/performance ratio. Today we will test the G700-MA, a Gold efficiency 700W unit which will be of great interest to users who seek a high quality PSU of average capacity with many high-end features.
As technology advances necessarily some old designs and beliefs are left behind. Without any doubt in today’s highly competitive market only the companies who decide to adapt to the current user demands and needs will see their sales increasing. Apparently this is what PC Power & Cooling did with their new Silencer MK III PSUs in which the abandoned the non modular design and adopted a semi modular one.
Seasonic entered the Platinum party late since they wanted to make a big and well planned entrance. After many rumors, spy photos and lots of unconfirmed data Seasonic's Platinum series is finally released and is ready to fight for the crown. The stronger of the two fresh units, the Platinum-1000W, will be the test subject of today's review.
The first PSU line that NZXT released is HALE90 which consists of five members. All feature 80 PLUS Gold efficiency, modular design, have a single +12V rail and the 140 mm fan they are equipped with is really quiet even at high loads/ambient. Today we will test the HALE90 850W which is the second strongest unit of the series and see if besides looks it offers good performance too.
OCZ's new ZT series fills a gap between the ZX and ZS series. The ZT units feature a fully modular cabling design, 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency, five year warranty and an affordable price for what they have to offer, so the deal sounds sweet. But before we jump into early conclusions let's first see if the OCZ ZT 750W will manage to impress with its performance, too.
Recently Thermaltake has added three new models to the Toughpower series, which are intended for power hungry systems with triple or even four-way SLI or Crossfire configurations. Today our load testers will have some extra work to do since we are going to test a monstrous Toughpower unit with 1500W capacity.
Strictly power is Antec's primary slogan for the new members of their Basiq PSU series, the VPx50P units. As it seems only three things were the main concerns during the design/manufacturing of these PSUs: quality, performance and high price/performance ratio.
After the Maxrevo series Enermax hits again with the Platimax. The members of this series meet the 80 PLUS Platinum certification requirements so they are among the most efficient units on the market. In today's review we will take a detailed look at the Platimax 850W which, among others, uses a semi-modular cabling design and promises reliable performance even at 50°C ambient.
In Win's first Commander power supplies were built by Channel Well Technology. The second generation, which we are reviewing today, uses Andyson as OEM. Internally the Commander II uses a modern design based on DC-DC converters, which promises high efficiency and stable voltage supply.
Antec's new Basiq series offers affordable power supplies that are engineered for 230VAC only, to maximize price/performance. While we don't see fancy colors, sleeved cables, modular connectors or LED lighting, the VP550P features great performance characteristics and good component selection like japanese capacitors.
In Win Glacier is a new modular PSU series which focuses on efficiency and reliability. The Glacier 900W is the first released model and provides up to seven PCIe power connectors for maximum expandability. Warranty is a whole seven years which shows the confidence In Win has in their product.
OCZ, having the value-oriented user in mind, recently released a new PSU series. According to OCZ the ZS series PSUs offer affordable power solutions to value-oriented gaming systems.
Be Quiet, as the name implies, specializes in the construction of silent PC components like CPU coolers, fans and power supplies. In this review we will test the Pure Power CM L8 730W, a modular PSU that targets the tight budget users since it features an affordable price, it is 80 PLUS Bronze certified and is equipped with four PCIe connectors. On top of that it promises quiet operation even at full load thanks to the SilentWings fan technology.
OCZ is very busy lately releasing new PSU models. Today we have the chance to test the OCZ ZS 650W. The main difference compared to the bigger ZS 750W, besides capacity, is the reduced number of available PCIe connectors, only two. Like all ZS units it has 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency, its OEM is Sirfa and it uses a non-modular cabling design.
The new Corsair TX M lineup is an evolutionary step forward from the Corsair TX V2 Series. It introduces modular connectors and a new fan grill design. Internally, the platform provider has been changed from Seasonic to Channel Well Technology. Overall the TX750M is a rock solid performer that comes at only a moderate price increase.
Today we have a chance to test the Super Flower Golden Silent SF-500P14FG, a fanless power supply with 500W capacity which can be overclocked to 600W. In order to achieve this, the PSU will drop a bit in effiency: from Platinum to Gold.
Thortech is GeIL's power supply brand which has 15 years of experience in designing PSUs for industrial use. Today we will test the Thunderbolt Plus 800W, a PSU with Gold efficiency and a shiny iPower Meter device. The iPower Meter displays voltages, power, current and efficiency on a small panel which mounts in a 5.25" bay and also lets you control the PSU's fan speed.
The Kingwin Stryker 500 W is an amazing little PSU. It is one of the few models that offers 80PLUS Platinum efficiency, which means well over 90%, even at low load. In addition to that the power supply is completely fanless, emitting no noise at all - great for a quiet office PC or media PC system.
FSP decided to enrich the successful Aurum series with three new models that feature more wattages and a semi modular cabling system. The latter will be of great interest to many, since nowadays more and more users seek a modular PSU in order to avoid the extra effort needed for cable management with non modular units.
Thermaltake recently decided to join the elite PSU category with high power units that feature equally high efficiency levels. One of the most recent additions in Thermaltake's arsenal is the ToughPower Grand 1200W, which currently is the company's most powerful PSU that meets the 80Plus Gold requirements.
The Enermax MaxRevo EMR1350EWT promises Gold efficiency, 1350W full power and up to 1620W peak power! We will test this PSU to its max to verify if the peak power claim holds and whether the new model can compete with Antec's and Corsair's high-end offerings.
ADATA's HM-650 PSU is built upon a proven platform by the OEM Channel Well Technology. It impressed us with good voltage regulation and great price/performance ratio. One unique aspect is the LED lit fan which changes color depending on the PSU load.
In today's review we will take a look at Antec's HCG-520 power supply, which addresses tight budget users with not so high power demands. The PSU is able to provide up to 40 A on its single 12 V rail which is plenty for up to two graphics cards.
Antec's High Current Pro HCP-1200 is famed as being one of the best high-end power supplies on the market. With 1200 W capacity it's a great choice for systems with three or four graphics cards. We took Antec's flagship for a spin with our upgraded, fully programmable, load tester. The $250 HCP-1200 powerhouse performed admirably, and we love it.
Most of you will probably know Scythe from its cooling products, but the company also has several power supplies in its arsenal. Today we will test the second strongest PSU from the Chouriki 2 Plug-In line, which has 850 W capacity and is 80 Plus Silver rated. All Chouriki 2 Plug-In PSUs use a semi-modular cabling design and are backed up by a five-year warranty.
At Computex 2011 Corsair revealed a new model for the Professional HX series, the HX1050 which will replace the successful HX1000. The OEM remained the same, Channel Well Technology, the capacity increased by 50 W and efficiency remained at 80 Plus Silver. It seems like this PSU has what it takes to be a cost-effective alternative to the Corsair AX1200.
Recently, Cooler Master released their new GX Gold Series. The two most significant improvements of the new models are the change of the OEM from Seventeam to Enhance and the upgraded efficiency from 80 Plus to 80 Plus Bronze. The test subject of today’s review will be the CM GX650W Bronze, which offers similar specs as the previous model but sports the popular 80Plus Bronze certification.
Be Quiet's Straight Power E8 400W is a non-modular power supply coming at a very aggressive price point. According to the manufacturer it boasts an impressive 89% efficiency, also the unit is very quiet - no surprise, given the company name.
Club 3D has recently entered the PSU market. Their new CSP-X1200CS is a high-end 1200 W model which addresses users with up to three graphics cards. Compared to the CSP-X1000CS the CSP-X1200CS, offers more power and better efficiency with its 80PLUS Silver certification.
The Kingwin Lazer Platinum LZP-550 is based on Super Flower's platinum platform (Golden King 550W) and according to the manufacturer achieves over 92% efficiency. The power supply's fan will only spin beyond a certain temperature, so the PSU will emit no noise at low loads. In our review we find that this power supply is the best model available in its power range at this time.
We are always thrilled to see new companies enter the PSU market because this leads to more choice for the end users and competition gets tougher, reducing prices. Today we will take a look at RASURBO's Real&Power 550 W, which is 80 PLUS certified, utilizes a semi modular cabling scheme and comes with attractive pricing.
Antec's High Current Pro 750 W is the smallest member of the High Current Pro Series which is Antec's flagship line of PSUs. The mighty HCP-1200 is well known for being one of the best power supplies on the market, so we wonder if the 750 W version can impress too.
OCZ recently introduced the new ZX PSU series, which consists of three Gold efficiency members with 850 W, 1000 W and 1250 W capacities. Today we have the 850 watt model on our testbench to check if it shows the same usability, quality and price/performance we saw on the 1250 W model that we reviewed a while ago.
Corsair has a wide range of products that address enthusiasts. However the company does not forget Average Joe who just wants to power his low end system. For these users Corsair offers the Builder Series which promises great price/performance ratio. The new Corsair Builder CX430 V2 will be the test subject of today's review.
