Quality Power supply makers and the ones to avoid?

[Paul98]

Title says it all I am looking for which power supplies to look at and which ones to avoid.

doing new build with
3570k
7850
8 GB ram
1 SSD
3 regular HD's
dvd burner

Will be overclocking

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Good ones: Seasonic (all), Corsair (most), Antec (most), XFX (most)

Bad ones: most (but not all) of the others.

If you want to be guaranteed a top quality PSU, just get a Seasonic. That's the simplest answer.

 

[Zap]

There are plenty of good PSU makers besides Seasonic. Besides selling under their own brand, Seasonic is an OEM (AKA actually manufactures PSUs) for a number of more recognized brands. However, they aren't the only "good" PSU maker or OEM.

How about a specific recommendation? The Radeon 7850 only needs a single 6-pin PCIe power plug, so overall the proposed system (even overclocked) will probably not need much power. Heck, a good 350W PSU can probably run it just fine.

Look into a Rosewill Capstone 450W. They are 80Plus Gold rated for efficiency and the OEM is Super Flower. Super Flower isn't very well known, but their build quality is top notch, the power output of their units are top notch and they have been leaders in efficiency. The Rosewill Capstone PSUs are reasonably priced (I picked up a 450W for around $63 shipped on a sale) and have five year warranties.

Rosewill Capstone 450W now $55 after coupon code with free shipping.

Damn! I paid too much.

 

[lehtv]

Seasonic and brands that it manufactures for (xfx, nzxt, some antec, some corsair, pc power & cooling) are all good... but there are plenty of others that are good too. Corsair's CWT-manufactured units are good, as are Antec's Delta-manufactured units. Then there's Enermax, Silverstone, Cooler Master (Silent Pro and Silent Hybrid lines), OCZ (ZS, ZT, ZX lines), some Rosewills, some Thermaltakes ... Mostly you need to watch out for the cheapo brands with dubious rail amperages, efficiencies, and most of all price tags.

Also, it'd be easier to pick a PSU if you just said where you're buying from

 

[Paul98]

Thanks for the help, I have decided on that Rosewill capstone, but the 550 version for future upgrades.

 

[Zap]

Thanks for the help, I have decided on that Rosewill capstone, but the 550 version for future upgrades.

It won't be enough extra power to support dual cards, but can probably support a dual GPU card. Just remember to use the 15% off coupon code.

Also, they have modular versions, which cost $15-20 more than the non-modular.

 

[lehtv]

A Rosewill 450W PSU for $55 is really not a very good deal. Seasonic M12II 520W for $60 is much better. It will run 7850 CF, just don't overvolt anything to be safe. If you want to be more covered for CF, get PC P&C MK III 600W for $77 after promo ($57 after rebate).

 

[Zap]

You are comparing an 80Plus Gold to Bronze. What's the price of a Seasonic 80Plus Gold PSU? Cheapest Seasonic Gold is 560W and $136 shipped, versus $70 shipped for the 520W Bronze you linked, versus $55 shipped for the 450W Gold Rosewill.

You may as well just come out and say that 80Plus Gold is not worth buying due to the price premium over 80Plus Bronze.

 

[Smoblikat]

You are comparing an 80Plus Gold to Bronze. What's the price of a Seasonic 80Plus Gold PSU? Cheapest Seasonic Gold is 560W and $136 shipped, versus $70 shipped for the 520W Bronze you linked, versus $55 shipped for the 450W Gold Rosewill.

You may as well just come out and say that 80Plus Gold is not worth buying due to the price premium over 80Plus Bronze.

Gold means nothing but how much wattage is being pulled from the wall, i think gold is like 6% more effecient...............

 

[lsv]

There are plenty of good PSU makers besides Seasonic.

Yea and those all have PSUs made by Seasonic

 

[lehtv]

You are comparing an 80Plus Gold to Bronze. What's the price of a Seasonic 80Plus Gold PSU? Cheapest Seasonic Gold is 560W and $136 shipped, versus $70 shipped for the 520W Bronze you linked, versus $55 shipped for the 450W Gold Rosewill.

I wasn't comparing efficiency, no. I was comparing Seasonic vs Rosewill, plus the Seasonic has japanese caps and it's semi-modular and slightly more powerful. Looking closer at the specs of the Rosewill it's pretty impressive for the price though, maybe I was too hasty to count it out.

You may as well just come out and say that 80Plus Gold is not worth buying due to the price premium over 80Plus Bronze.

Yes, a higher efficiency unit is usually not worth the premium over an otherwise identical but lower efficiency unit.

 

[Zap]

Gold means nothing but how much wattage is being pulled from the wall, i think gold is like 6% more effecient...............

Right, but it commands a price premium which puts the Gold Rosewill at an unfair comparison to the Bronze Seasonic. Thus, comparing it to the Gold Seasonic.

Yea and those all have PSUs made by Seasonic

I like Seasonic and have owned MANY PSUs made by them. However, they aren't the be all-end all of decent quality PSUs.

Looking closer at the specs of the Rosewill it's pretty impressive for the price though, maybe I was too hasty to count it out.

Would it help if I point you towards a review of the unit? This review is of the original Super Flower unit. Rosewill just rebranded it (without the horrendous looking sleeving).

Super Flower Golden Green 450W @jonnyGURU

Oh, my... folks, I do believe I'm in love. This thing has some terrific ripple suppression going on here. 12V is under 40mV, and the minor rails are below 25mV. Once again, something not often seen in a unit this size. For a long time now, I've thought that Superflower really had it going on with the Golden Green platform, and these scope shots are just more proof of that. There's not much else to say... Superflower has been hitting the ball out of the park over and over and over lately with this platform.
...
...
Summary

What Superflower has here just so happens to be one of the best smaller units I've tested. The Golden Green 450W is efficient, quiet, and it regulates as steady as Clint Eastwood's shootin' arm. It's just about the best option that I can think of for general purpose light duty rigs with one video card. Bust out the wallet and grab one, says I.

Yes, a higher efficiency unit is usually not worth the premium over an otherwise identical but lower efficiency unit.

Depends on the price premium. With Seasonic Gold units over $100, no. FSP Aurum around $80, maybe. A Rosewill/Super Flower Gold unit for $55? Hell yeah!

 

[lehtv]

Depends on the price premium. With Seasonic Gold units over $100, no. FSP Aurum around $80, maybe. A Rosewill/Super Flower Gold unit for $55? Hell yeah!

You're right Zap. That review convinced me :thumbsup:

 

[Zap]

You're right Zap. That review convinced me :thumbsup:

Are you sure it wasn't my Jedi powaz? :sneaky:

 

[Red Squirrel]

Avoid diablotek.

There's a funny review somewhere on those. Basically it blew up under a basic load test.

 

[lehtv]

Are you sure it wasn't my Jedi powaz? :sneaky:

Well now that I think of it...

 

[Phynaz]

Thanks for the help, I have decided on that Rosewill capstone, but the 550 version for future upgrades.

Bought one of these today. $62 shipped.

 

[BFG10K]

Superflower/Kingwin units are fantastic, easily on par with Seasonic. They’re just not well known.

 

[pauldun170]

Superflower/Kingwin units are fantastic, easily on par with Seasonic. They’re just not well known.

I've had a Kingwin ABT-450 unit running since July 2009
First one was RMA'd after it died withing 30 days.

Could fall in to the hit or miss category but on the hit side it's been a quiet PSU with stable voltage that hasn't blown anything up.
The miss side was the first unit that took a dump after being powered up 15 times

 

[lehtv]

Any unit can die. That your particular unit died says nothing about Kingwin.

 

[pauldun170]

Any unit can die. That your particular unit died says nothing about Kingwin.

Yes, even Seasonic puts out a crappy unit once in awhile.


The product represents the company and if a unit fails it says something about Kingwin. Thats the way it works. So to say "That your particular unit died says nothing about Kingwin." is...know what? Doesn't matter.

As for the brand overall, I was relaying my experiences with them having dealt with 2 of their units and no more.

 

[lehtv]

The product represents the company and if the product fails consistently it says something about Kingwin. Thats the way it works.

Fixed that for you. A single unit failing is statistically insignificant, it says nothing, zip, none, zero, nil about the product (i.e. a particular PSU model, not a single unit), even less about the company itself.

 

[pauldun170]

Fixed that for you. A single unit failing is statistically insignificant, it says nothing, zip, none, zero, nil about the product (i.e. a particular PSU model, not a single unit), even less about the company itself.

You have anger issues or something?

See a counselor or something.
Your digging way to much into my posts

 

[lehtv]

What, anger? I don't understand what you're talking about. I'm just having a normal discussion . Maybe you just don't like it if someone disagrees with you.

 

[stargazr]

You have anger issues or something?

See a counselor or something.
Your digging way to much into my posts

No you're way off base with this guy.

I can see you getting a bad attitude about a company after two bad ones. But that's just not enough of a test group to come to the conclusion that they have an inferior product.