The unit's incredibly low hold-up time forced me deduct a good chunk of points from its final rating, all while spoiling the overall picture. I expect a 1.7 kW unit to come with much larger bulk caps, but there apparently wasn't enough space on the main PCB to accommodate them. Whatever the case, the registered hold-up time was even lower than half of the allowed limit, so you better have this PSU connected to a good UPS should you buy one. Although the platform counts several years in production, it can still offer up good performance, which, however, cannot match that of the high-end competition. That said, at its current price, the deal looks good if you take its low hold-up time and its increased ripple at 5VSB with light loads out of the equation.

There aren't enough PSU offerings with a capacity of over 1.6 kW in Europe, where this LEPA unit is available. There are actually only two, the Super Flower Leadex with 2 kW capacity being the only alternative to LEPA's offer. If you are in need of such a high capacity PSU, the P1700-MA looks like a good deal because of its price/performance ratio and its quality components, which include Japanese electrolytic capacitors. However, there is a big "but" here. Given its low hold-up time, you should only use it in combination with a strong UPS that can support it in a worst-case scenario or you might lose some precious date during even the slightest power cut. If you don't care about data loss or already have a good UPS, you might want to consider buying this unit; that is, if you need 1.7 kW. Seeing a good platform fail so horribly in a test that is required by the ATX specification is a sad thing. LEPA should have made room for bigger APFC caps even if the result would have been a larger PCB and, as such, a larger unit. Finally, all noise haters out there be warned: This PSU is loud, especially once stressed.