[OLD] PSU Tier List 3.0 (Legacy)

[PianoPlayer88Key]

So where might PSUs like these have been found on a tier list?

And if you were replacing one for a retro system with a new unit with warranty, what tier might comparable PSUs be?

 

[LukeSavenije]

2 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

So where might PSUs like these have been found on a tier list?

And if you were replacing one for a retro system with a new unit with warranty, what tier might comparable PSUs be?

 

is that ocz?

 

i would suggest budget+ personally

[PianoPlayer88Key]

22 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

is that ocz?

 

i would suggest budget+ personally

I didn't know OCZ was around in Feb 1988?

Also wasn't PC Power & Cooling one of the higher quality brands in the 1980s / 1990s?  Or would @jonnyGURU know what PSUs were the high quality ones then?  As in, they would have been Tier S or A+, or if he or the person at Tom's / TPU reviewed them, they wouldn't have had any scoring deductions?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

I didn't know OCZ was around in Feb 1988?

They weren't.

 

It's PC Power and Cooling.  They'v e been around since 1985.  They were once THE ONLY enthusiast PSU around until Antec and Enermax showed up.

 

OCZ didn't buy PC Power and Cooling until much later.  Much, much, much later (2007) and then sold to Firepower Technology in 2014 when Toshiba bought OCZ for the SSD/Indilinx divisions.

 

And yes.... Before OCZ bought them, they were the only company using Tier 1 OEMs.  Even before Antec and Corsair.  Even PCP&C's "low end" were made by tier 3 Seasonic. 

 

Not until OCZ bought them did they start using tier 3 OEM's like High Power and Superflower regularly. 

 

[OrionFOTL]

Yeah, nobody else used Etasis or Zippy so much (except few exceptions like EVGA Classified 1500 SR2). Shame they're hardly on the market anymore. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, OrionFOTL said:

Yeah, nobody else used Etasis or Zippy so much (except few exceptions like EVGA Classified 1500 SR2). Shame they're hardly on the market anymore. 

Dood... The EVGA was so much later than any of the Etasis built SilverStones.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

So since we seem to be briefly on the subject of vintage PSUs, I wonder where these might have ranked when they were new?  (Pics in spoilers.)

 

 

My brother bought this around Q1 1999.

Spoiler

Dat cable management doe  

 

 

This system was bought in Feb 2002, and was the last desktop PC my dad has bought.  (He got 2 laptops since then: a Dell D830 in Aug 2008, and a Dell Inspiron 5770 in Mar 2018.)

Spoiler

In the weeks / days before I bought my 2008 system (with the OCZ PSU), that 2002 system would run for a few minutes, then just shut off.  (I was able to get about a half hour or so of runtime by underclocking the CPU from 1.4 to 1.1 GHz, which enabled me to shop on Newegg for the parts for my system.)

 

 

 

I'm not sure when my brother got this, but based on the presence of SATA, and the possible lack of PCI Express, I'd guess somewhere in the early 2000s.  It could have been after my dad's PC in 2002, I don't recall that one having SATA at all.

Spoiler

I think he may still have this, as well as the Pentium II above.  Might they be safe to power on after all these years?

It's not his current PC though, that one has a 1200W Antec PSU (idk what model), an i7-4770K cooled by idk what AIO, an Asus Maximus VI Hero, and an Asus GTX 1080 Ti (replaced a GTX 780 that died, shortly before miners started spiking GPU prices).

 

 

The OCZ below was purchased in Feb 2008, and was the first PSU I got personally, & first at our house I think that wasn't bundled with a case.  I got the Corsair in Jan 2015, and was a bit pickier on quality than with the OCZ.

Spoiler

The system with the OCZ died around late Q1 2012 I think.  (I had been away for a day or few.)  IIRC, it would power on, but I got no video and it wouldn't finish booting / POSTing.  I think at the time people online told me it might have been the southbridge, or wherever the iGPU was (or something else cause I think I was told that a dGPU wouldn't bring it back, & I had no spare parts).  Could it have been the PSU though?  I still have the PSU (and RAM and HDDs), but not the rest of the system.

As I said, I bought the OCZ in Feb 2008.  A tier list similar to what I consulted put OCZ StealthXStream <700W in Tier 4 if manufactured before Dec 2007, or Tier 2B if Dec 2007 or later.  (I thought I was getting a Tier 2B, but since it was within a couple months, might I have gotten an old-stock Tier 4 unit?

 

 

And while I was writing this I checked the battery level on my phone (knew it was starting to approach getting a wee bit low), and on seeing this, overclocked my legs going for the Anker charger.

 

Spoiler

 

 

My laptop doesn't last very long on battery either.  See video in spoiler - after unplugging when "full" while running Time Spy, it dies in like 30 seconds.  As of now, HWINFO64 shows the battery at 34.5% wear level.

Spoiler

 

 

[reallynotnich]

What's the reason for the EVGA Supernova NEX-G's being so low? (650w)

[seon123]

1 minute ago, reallynotnich said:

What's the reason for the EVGA Supernova NEX-G's being so low? (650w)

They're very poor performing, ancient and group regulated. 

[Princess Luna]

Add to tier A the Zalman-ARX line up.

[LukeSavenije]

35 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

Add to tier A the Zalman-ARX line up.

i see it's a enhance atx-1300

 

do you have any sources on it?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, LukeSavenije said:

i see it's a enhance atx-1300

 

do you have any sources on it?

The ARX is the Acrux series.  Similar to the higher end SilverStone stuff.  So you would cram it in with the already overpopulated Tier A... 

 

Assuming you can actually buy them anywhere.

[Ankerson]

10 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

The ARX is the Acrux series.  Similar to the higher end SilverStone stuff.  So you would cram it in with the already overpopulated Tier A... 

 

Assuming you can actually buy them anywhere.

Jonny,

 

Was in my local Best Buy today looking for DVD's etc and noticed they carry the Corsair RMX 650W, 750W and 850W.

 

They also carry shit too, but at least they have a few good ones.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

Jonny,

 

Was in my local Best Buy today looking for DVD's etc and noticed they carry the Corsair RMX 650W, 750W and 850W.

 

They also carry shit too, but at least they have a few good ones.

Not sure what that has to do with Zalman PSU's availability.

 

[Ankerson]

3 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Not sure what that has to do with Zalman PSU's availability.

 

Nothing, just thought I would mention it.

 

Since it's the 1st time I saw they actually carried some good ones locally.

 

Pretty noteworthy really I think.

 

 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

Nothing, just thought I would mention it.

 

Since it's the 1st time I saw they actually carried some good ones locally.

 

Pretty noteworthy really I think.

 

 

Best Buy always tries to carry both sides of the spectrum for PSUs.  In the past they've carried Thermaltake, Antec, BFG.... as well as their own Dynex and Rocketfish brands.

 

[Ankerson]

7 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Best Buy always tries to carry both sides of the spectrum for PSUs.  In the past they've carried Thermaltake, Antec, BFG.... as well as their own Dynex and Rocketfish brands.

 

 

Around here it's normally pretty bleak as far as PC stuff goes locally. 

 

Been that way for about 15 years now, we used to have a really good computer store until it shut down.

 

I know BB carries a lot of stuff online, always has, it's just locally they have been pretty bare as far as some stuff goes.

 

They actually do have some good quality stuff locally now PC wise.

 

Anyhow, this is OT so that's all.

[ducpham1612]

is sama gold really in the A list cuz in only cost me 40 bucks for a brand new 750watt sama gold armor in my place right now

[LukeSavenije]

5 hours ago, ducpham1612 said:

is sama gold really in the A list cuz in only cost me 40 bucks for a brand new 750watt sama gold armor in my place right now

if it's the armor, yes

[ducpham1612]

1 hour ago, LukeSavenije said:

if it's the armor, yes

just picked it up 40$ for 750w brand new had me doubt but yolo guys

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, ducpham1612 said:

just picked it up 40$ for 750w brand new had me doubt but yolo guys

sounds good to me!

[filippalfi]

@LukeSavenije

 

Gigabyte G750H 80+ gold? 

[Stefan Payne]

42 minutes ago, filippalfi said:

@LukeSavenije

 

Gigabyte G750H 80+ gold? 

IIRC standard CWT GPS base, so IMO B

[filippalfi]

2 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

IIRC standard CWT GPS base, so IMO B

What does this mean? 

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, Stefan Payne said:

IIRC standard CWT GPS base, so IMO B

it's a GPS, just checked

 

so it's the same as the Deepcool DQ-ST, which is a tier B