[OLD] PSU Tier List 3.0 (Legacy)

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, filippalfi said:

What does this mean? 

the oem power supply

 

CWT makes a lot of Corsair psu's for example

[Stefan Payne]

1 minute ago, filippalfi said:

What does this mean? 

Its the same/similar to this (though Caps Different):

[filippalfi]

1 minute ago, Stefan Payne said:

Its the same/similar to this (though Caps Different):

Oh, cool. Upgraded to this Gigabyte unit from FSP Hyper 700 because of black cables, fan getting loud for some reason etc, hopefully its decent enough upgrade. Its powering a stock 4790k and watercooled 1070 Ti. 

[Stefan Payne]

2 minutes ago, filippalfi said:

Oh, cool. Upgraded to this Gigabyte unit from FSP Hyper 700 because of black cables, fan getting loud for some reason etc, hopefully its decent enough upgrade. Its powering a stock 4790k and watercooled 1070 Ti. 

Well, entry level Gold...

You could have done better but in general its OK, not amazing. But also way way better than your old FSP Hyper.

My experience with that unit is that it has a shitty (Hong Hua) Fan and strong electronics noise at high loads.

[LukeSavenije]

2 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Well, entry level Gold...

You could have done better but in general its OK, not amazing. But also way way better than your old FSP Hyper.

My experience with that unit is that it has a shitty (Hong Hua) Fan and strong electronics noise at high loads.

yeah... thermaltake has really good, okay and really bad psu's

 

that's why i still say NEVER JUDGE ON BRAND

[filippalfi]

3 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Well, entry level Gold...

You could have done better but in general its OK, not amazing. 

My experience with that unit is that it has a shitty (Hong Hua) Fan and strong electronics noise at high loads.

Hmmm, those were the issues on FSP unit, Gigabyte one is dead silent, i had to look if the fan is even spinning.  I mean, i paid 40ish bucks for it, found the Sama Armor 650 Gold for the same price but it was sold when i called for it, this G750H was second best thing i found for the money (i was buying used) 

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, filippalfi said:

Hmmm, those were the issues on FSP unit, Gigabyte one is dead silent, i had to look if the fan is even spinning.  I mean, i paid 40ish bucks for it, found the Sama Armor 650 Gold for the same price but it was sold when i called for it, this G750H was second best thing i found for the money. 

i mean, it's nothing special, but still really good

 

some already look up when i tell them i use a cxm, so yeah...

[filippalfi]

2 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

i mean, it's nothing special, but still really good

 

some already look up when i tell them i use a cxm, so yeah...

I think G750H will be fine for my needs. There is one more question i have tho. Is it safe to excessively bend PCIe cables? Im having issues with closing my glass panel now. Card in question is 1070 Ti Armor and the PCB is really tall on those, and im scared to bend those cables even more so i can close my case, if i try to force it, whole motherboard gets flexed. 

[MadmanRB]

My only issue with the revised list is damn the units above tier C are pricey as all heck!

Looks like according to this the best you can get on the cheap is EVGA's 650 GQ

Dang!

 

I mean i understand the need for this list to tell people about the quality of PSU's but can we have a more balanced list that doesnt rely on arbitrary factors like fan noise?

[Settlerteo]

2 minutes ago, MadmanRB said:

My only issue with the revised list is damn the units above tier C are pricey as all heck!

Looks like according to this the best you can get on the cheap is EVGA's 650 GQ

Dang!

 

I mean i understand the need for this list to tell people about the quality of PSU's but can we have a more balanced list that doesnt rely on arbitrary factors like fan noise?

You re exaggerating here. There are a lot non expensive units even in S tier. After all it's the core component of a computer. You re not purchasing a smartphone battery.

[LukeSavenije]

4 minutes ago, MadmanRB said:

above tier C are pricey as all heck!

then i have different pricing here...

 

4 minutes ago, MadmanRB said:

mean i understand the need for this list to tell people about the quality of PSU's but can we have a more balanced list that doesnt rely on arbitrary factors like fan noise?

fan noise isn't considered, except extreme ones like with some chieftechs for example. so this list actually is purely on quality

[MadmanRB]

I was just double checking, it just seems this list is shorter than the older one.

I guess it will grow as new units are added though?

[Stefan Payne]

1 minute ago, MadmanRB said:

My only issue with the revised list is damn the units above tier C are pricey as all heck!

Yeah, you get what you paid for.

Can't really do good PSU for cheap...

 

Well, at least electrically that's theoretically possible -> Xilence Performance X

1 minute ago, MadmanRB said:

Looks like according to this the best you can get on the cheap is EVGA's 650 GQ

Dang!

There are other options like be quiet Pure Power, Bitfenix Formula, Xilence Performance X.

If available, those should be preferred over the EVGA.

1 minute ago, MadmanRB said:

I mean i understand the need for this list to tell people about the quality of PSU's but can we have a more balanced list that doesnt rely on arbitrary factors like fan noise?

What do you sugest?!

That we put garbage units without working protection in Tier S because it has a fancy name/box and Wapanese Caps made in China?!

Or put PSU with shitty, simple Sleeve Bearing Fans into Tier S because we like the Manufacturer?!

 

So if you have something to say, pls say it but do NOT accuse someone of something without any evidence or facts that prove your point!

[LukeSavenije]

7 minutes ago, MadmanRB said:

I was just double checking, it just seems this list is shorter than the older one.

I guess it will grow as new units are added though?

that's because we removed the units that are EOL

[MadmanRB]

7 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Yeah, you get what you paid for.

Can't really do good PSU for cheap...

 

Well, at least electrically that's theoretically possible -> Xilence Performance X

There are other options like be quiet Pure Power, Bitfenix Formula, Xilence Performance X.

If available, those should be preferred over the EVGA.

What do you sugest?!

That we put garbage units without working protection in Tier S because it has a fancy name/box and Wapanese Caps made in China?!

Or put PSU with shitty, simple Sleeve Bearing Fans into Tier S because we like the Manufacturer?!

 

So if you have something to say, pls say it but do NOT accuse someone of something without any evidence or facts that prove your point!

No no dont misread me, I just saw some of the pricing here and thought that some of the units were a little too high for names like "budget" or "mid range" on them.

And yeah i consider fan noise a bit on the arbitrary side, while yes the capacitors are a huge reasonable thing to base things off of and quality control is a huge concern the little things like fan noise and RGB are not high on my list of priorities when seeking out a product especially a PSU.

So if i read that a PSU has great capacitors but has bad fan noise i may favour that over a unit with bad capacitors with a great fan.

Something to weigh in there, I do my own research on these PSU's based on user feedback as well as their place on the PSU tier list.

[seon123]

4 minutes ago, MadmanRB said:

I do my own research on these PSU's based on user feedback

That's not research. That's wasting your time. If you want to do research about a PSU, check actual reviews that are made by qualified people with proper testing equipment. Which as a minimum is a load tester and an oscilloscope. If someone "reviewing" a PSU uses it to power a PC, you know they don't know shit. 

[MadmanRB]

4 minutes ago, seon123 said:

That's not research. That's wasting your time. If you want to do research about a PSU, check actual reviews that are made by qualified people with proper testing equipment. Which as a minimum is a load tester and an oscilloscope. If someone "reviewing" a PSU uses it to power a PC, you know they don't know shit. 

Actually sometimes user reviews are helpful, and yes i do read actual reviews from the professionals too.

But I do like the personal approach, user reviews can be helpful if you look in the right places.

Some users actually take more time in experiencing a product, sure yes there is a huge influx of nonsense like "IT SUX! BUY (insert other brand here) INSTEAD!" but i pay more attention to me more detailed reviews.

[Ankerson]

26 minutes ago, seon123 said:

That's not research. That's wasting your time. If you want to do research about a PSU, check actual reviews that are made by qualified people with proper testing equipment. Which as a minimum is a load tester and an oscilloscope. If someone "reviewing" a PSU uses it to power a PC, you know they don't know shit. 

 

Exactly correct, user reviews don't really mean anything 99.9% of the time and are completely irrelevant. 

 

Most people don't know the difference between a PSU and DVD drive.

 

Professional reviews with complete tear downs and analysis are the best.

 

Anything other than the above is just an unboxing, and totally useless.

 

 

[MadmanRB]

14 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

 

Exactly correct, user reviews don't really mean anything 99.9% of the time and are completely irrelevant. 

 

Most people don't know the difference between a PSU and DVD drive.

 

Professional reviews with complete tear downs and analysis are the best.

 

Anything other than the above is just an unboxing, and totally useless.

 

 

Yeah but sometimes user reviews are the only thing you have.

After all the pros cant cover everything and blind spots happen.

And again sometimes user reviews can be good, i have seen some well detailed and documented user reviews in my time.

Hell i compiled one or two as well, noting my experience with something over the course of its lifetime.

Yes these are not professionals but if they report a so called "good" product has some drawbacks and or potential defects I do look at what happened.

[Ankerson]

17 minutes ago, MadmanRB said:

Yeah but sometimes user reviews are the only thing you have.

After all the pros cant cover everything and blind spots happen.

And again sometimes user reviews can be good, i have seen some well detailed and documented user reviews in my time.

Hell i compiled one or two as well, noting my experience with something over the course of its lifetime.

Yes these are not professionals but if they report a so called "good" product has some drawbacks and or potential defects I do look at what happened.

 

Those are still unboxings so they are useless.

 

No more useful than some user posting on Amazon and saying it's great or it sucks.

[MadmanRB]

Just now, Ankerson said:

 

Those are still unboxings so they are useless.

Seriously are all user reviews just unboxings to you?

[Ankerson]

Just now, MadmanRB said:

Seriously are all user reviews just unboxings to you?

 

Yep, every one of them.

[OrionFOTL]

19 minutes ago, MadmanRB said:

After all the pros cant cover everything and blind spots happen.

Hmm. What useful things can a user tell you about a PSU's quality that a reviewer may forget?

 

19 minutes ago, MadmanRB said:

Yeah but sometimes user reviews are the only thing you have.

I think if all you have is user reviews, then you don't have reviews at all.

User reviews can't tell you anything about the most important factors of a PSU, which are power quality (that encompasses load regulation, voltage regulation, ripple, transient response, crossload performance, and a multitude of metrics expensive and difficult to measure) and components durability (which requires opening it and knowledge to evaluate if they're good).

 

User reviews will only tell you if the cables look nice, if it has lots of connectors, or if it's subjectively loud or quiet to the user's ears, which is altogether as useful as reviewing a graphics card's appearance, noise and power consumption, without writing a single word about FPS or performance.

 

Would you buy a graphics card based on a user reviewing it as "looks good, works, has lots of memory, is quiet to me" without knowing how fast it is in games? If not, then you wouldn't rate a PSU based on user review which only says "is quiet to me, has nice braided cables, good case finish" that says nothing about output power quality.

[MadmanRB]

Just now, Ankerson said:

 

Yep, every one of them.

Bloody hell man.

Seriously, thats just plain wrong.

Not to mention a very dumb and uninformed point of view

[Ankerson]

Just now, MadmanRB said:

Bloody hell man.

Seriously, thats just plain wrong.

Not to mention a very dumb and uninformed point of view

 

Nope, not wrong at all.

 

If they don't have the equipment and knowledge to properly test and evaluate the PSU then it's a useless unboxing and irrelevant.