Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850w - Why is this a bad PSU

[Mister Woof]

I've heard several comments in various threads about how this is a bad PSU.

 

I bought two of these, one end of 2017 and one end of 2018, after reading this glowing review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2017/09/18/seasonic-focus-plus-850-gold-power-supply/

 

Can anyone explain to me why this is a bad PSU?

[BobVonBob]

Maybe someone had a bad experience with it? It's a perfectly fine PSU, better than most at the very least.

[DailyProcrastinator]

It is not a bad PSU at all, one of the better ones on the market. It is a Tier 2 PSU.

 

 

[Mister Woof]

I think I found it in another thread.

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/249838/seasonic-focus-plus-psus-encounter-gpu-compatibility-issues

 

Apparently something with GPUs and cable shielding...I am running an overclocked Vega 64. The PSU is made in 2017, and the GPU was purchased this year (Sapphire reference) and I don't know when it was manufactured.

 

I haven't encountered any issues, I guess. So that's good? 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Plutosaurus said:

I haven't encountered any issues, I guess. So that's good? 

Yep.  Don't worry about it.

 

[Rexper]

8 hours ago, JM21 said:

It is not a bad PSU at all, one of the better ones on the market. It is a Tier 2 PSU.

 

 

Sorry, that doesn't explain anything to OP, nor is it reliable.

 

8 hours ago, Plutosaurus said:

Can anyone explain to me why this is a bad PSU?

It was noted the Focus series had compatibility issues - black screens, reboots - with particular GPUs such as the Vega and GTX 970 Strix.

 

If you aren't experiencing these problems, you're fine. If you do, contact support@seasonic.com and they would gladly help you out.

[DailyProcrastinator]

56 minutes ago, Rexper said:

Sorry, that doesn't explain anything to OP, nor is it reliable.

 

1. Yes, it directly answers his initial question.

2. Yes, it is reliable.

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, JM21 said:

1. Yes, it directly answers his initial question.

2. Yes, it is reliable.

No.  No it doesn't.  The tier list is a subjective list assembled by enthusiasts.  The Focus has known issues.  The OP isn't experiencing those issues, so he's fine.

 

But if someone WAS having issues, would you still point to the tier list and say, "well you shouldn't be having issues because it's a tier 2 PSU"???

[DailyProcrastinator]

7 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

No.  No it doesn't.  The tier list is a subjective list assembled by enthusiasts.  The Focus has known issues.  The OP isn't experiencing those issues, so he's fine.

 

But if someone WAS having issues, would you still point to the tier list and say, "well you shouldn't be having issues because it's a tier 2 PSU"???

No, I wouldn't justify the tier list as a reason why someone could or could not have an issue with a PSU, but the OP asked if it was a bad PSU, without mention of an issue. To which I brought up that it is not a bad PSU, which is not an incorrect statement. 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, JM21 said:

No, I wouldn't justify the tier list as a reason why someone could or could not have an issue with a PSU, but the OP asked if it was a bad PSU, without mention of an issue. To which I brought up that it is not a bad PSU, which is not an incorrect statement. 

I would say, if my PSU kept shutting down whenever I tried to run a game, that would constitute a "bad PSU". 

 

[ESPImperium]

Ive got the 1000w variant, and have found out tonight after some testing tonight, and after being bought in August last year, 8 months ago, it's gone.

 

The thing has burnt out nothing coming on the PCIe rails, its almost as if the thing can't handle really high wattage needs like mine with this spec:

 

EVGA X299 Micro 2
Intel i9 9900X
EVGA 280 CLC Cooler
Seasonic 1000w Focus Gold PSU
G.SKILL F4-3200C16Q-32GTZR Trident Z RGB Series 32 GB (8 GB x 4) DDR4
Samsung 970EVO M.2
Samsung 850 Pro 512GB SSD
Seagate ST4000DM006 Barracuda Pro - 4 TB
WD 2 TB Performance Hard Drive
X2 Western Digital (WD) 2.5" Scorpio Black Mobile Laptop Hard Drive- PC, Mac, PS3, and PS4 (750GB)
Silverstone M.2 Card, with Crucial CT500P1SSD8 P1 500 GB
Silverstone USB 3.0 Card with USB C
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB GDDR5 (STRIX-GTX1070-8G-GAMING)
Phanteks ph-es314etg GS PC Casing
Phanteks ph-pwhub 01 PC Casing
Various Corsair 120mm and 140mm ML Fans

 

And after some investigation, it seems that there has been some of the Focus Plus range have been hit and miss in terms of getting a good one and a poor one going on reviews on many different websites.

 

Im going to RMA mine tomorrow, and buy a Prime 1300w Gold as they seem to be less problematic.

[comicsansms]

2 hours ago, ESPImperium said:

Ive got the 1000w variant, and have found out tonight after some testing tonight, and after being bought in August last year, 8 months ago, it's gone.

 

The thing has burnt out nothing coming on the PCIe rails, its almost as if the thing can't handle really high wattage needs like mine with this spec:

 

EVGA X299 Micro 2
Intel i9 9900X
EVGA 280 CLC Cooler
Seasonic 1000w Focus Gold PSU
G.SKILL F4-3200C16Q-32GTZR Trident Z RGB Series 32 GB (8 GB x 4) DDR4
Samsung 970EVO M.2
Samsung 850 Pro 512GB SSD
Seagate ST4000DM006 Barracuda Pro - 4 TB
WD 2 TB Performance Hard Drive
X2 Western Digital (WD) 2.5" Scorpio Black Mobile Laptop Hard Drive- PC, Mac, PS3, and PS4 (750GB)
Silverstone M.2 Card, with Crucial CT500P1SSD8 P1 500 GB
Silverstone USB 3.0 Card with USB C
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB GDDR5 (STRIX-GTX1070-8G-GAMING)
Phanteks ph-es314etg GS PC Casing
Phanteks ph-pwhub 01 PC Casing
Various Corsair 120mm and 140mm ML Fans

 

And after some investigation, it seems that there has been some of the Focus Plus range have been hit and miss in terms of getting a good one and a poor one going on reviews on many different websites.

 

Im going to RMA mine tomorrow, and buy a Prime 1300w Gold as they seem to be less problematic.

I'm struggling to see why you would need a 650W PSU, let alone 1kW or 1.3kW.

[seon123]

13 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

I'm struggling to see why you would need a 650W PSU, let alone 1kW or 1.3kW.

The 9900X (not to be confused with the 9900K) is a 10 core. It can draw quite a bit of power when overclocked. 

[Mister Woof]

Even my 8700k already pulls peak almost 140w

[ESPImperium]

Update on my RMA, my 1000w was defective. They are sending me a new one.

 

However, i have bought a Seasonic PRIME 1300W Gold.

 

My new Focus 1000w will probably go towards a ITX/6600K Testbed i want to get up and running with my old ITX System. Just need to get an open bench table for it!

[GoldenLag]

the FOcus Gold plus series had a overpower protection issue with high power GPUs. this got fixed about 8-10 months ago

[Mister Woof]

On 3/3/2019 at 4:03 PM, jonnyGURU said:

Yep.  Don't worry about it.

 

Sorry to bring this up from the grave but I saw this thread pop up

 

Which basically says that my psu is trash.

 

I'm considering RTX 3080 - think I will be okay, or are they right?

 

Going on 3rd year with a high-powered GPU on it without any problems.

 

Thanks

[Ankerson]

6 hours ago, Mister Woof said:

Going on 3rd year with a high-powered GPU on it without any problems.

 

You will be fine.

[Diegoahq]

On 9/16/2020 at 4:56 AM, Mister Woof said:

Sorry to bring this up from the grave but I saw this thread pop up

 

Which basically says that my psu is trash.

 

I'm considering RTX 3080 - think I will be okay, or are they right?

 

Going on 3rd year with a high-powered GPU on it without any problems.

 

Thanks

How that worked out ? I have the gm-750 focus gold and my rtx 3080 is arriving on 3 days.

Also the post you linked says something about all the problems being fixed. Sorry if this is confusing or hard to read, english is not my language. 

[Mister Woof]

4 hours ago, Diegoahq said:

How that worked out ? I have the gm-750 focus gold and my rtx 3080 is arriving on 3 days.

Also the post you linked says something about all the problems being fixed. Sorry if this is confusing or hard to read, english is not my language. 

it hasn't, no 3080 lol

[Diegoahq]

2 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

it hasn't, no 3080 lol

Oh, mine is arriving in 2-3 days