PSU Tier List [OLD]

[STRMfrmXMN]

Credit to @Starelementpokeand @Energycore for helping out with this long-awaited refresh of the old PSU tier list by Aniallation (who previously went several months without logging in), leaving the old list in need of help. This is simply an update of the list that was flawed in creation by the PCMR subreddit and in dire need of a refresh.

 

This list is subject to change as new PSUs come out on a regular basis and standards may change or issues with units on the list may develop. A list of PSUs awaiting a tier on this list is at the bottom.

 

Tier 1 - Best

• Aerocool - Project 7
• Antec - High Current Pro, High Current Platinum
• be Quiet! - Dark Power Pro P10, Dark Power Pro 11, Straight Power 11
• Bitfenix - Whisper
• Cooler Master - V-series (modular, not to be confused with the VSM), MasterWatt Maker
• Corsair - AX, AXi, HXi, RMi, RMx, SF, grey-label HX (2017), 2017 TXM greater than 650W
• Enermax - Platimax, Platimax Digifanless
• EVGA - G2, P2, PS, T2, 1000G1, 850W and above GS
• FSP - Aurum PT
• Gigabyte -  Aorus AP850GM
• LEPA - G1600
• NZXT Hale90V2
• Seasonic - X, Platinum, Snow Silent, all Fanless units, Prime (all series)
• Sentey - Platinum Power, Golden Steel Power
• Silverstone - Nightjar
• Super Flower - Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium, Leadex II
• Thermaltake - 1250D-T RGB, Toughpower Grand/RGB 1200W
• XFX - Pro Gold, Pro Black, XTS

Tier 2

• Antec - EDGE, TruePower Classic, EarthWatts Gold Pro
• Azza - Platinum
• be Quiet! - Pure Power 10 400W or greater
• Bitfenix - Formula Gold
• Cooler Master - VSM-series (semi-modular)
• Corsair - Most RM variants, HX (old), 550W/650W 2017 TXM, Vengeance
• Enermax - Digifanless, RG, GX
• EVGA - GQ, B2, 550W and 650W GS, GD, G3, G1+ (not to be confused with the G1)
• Fractal Design - Edison M, Tesla R2 650W/1000W, Newton R3
• FSP - Hydro G, Dagger SFX
• Gigabyte - XP1200M
• Kolink - Continuum
• NZXT - Hale82 N higher-wattage versions
• Riotoro - Enigma
• Rosewill - Quark, Fortress, Capstone
• Seasonic - S12G, G-series/SSRM, M12II 750W/850W, Focus Plus Gold/Platinum, Focus Gold
• Sentey - Solid Power SS
• Silverstone - Strider Platinum
• Super Flower - Golden Green, Leadex Silver
• Thermaltake - Toughpower Grand/RGB, Toughpower Grand Platinum, Toughpower DPS Platinum
• XFX -  Pro XXX, XTR, TS Gold

Tier 3

• Antec - Neo ECO II
• be Quiet! - Straight Power E10
• Bitfenix - Fury 
• Cooler Master - MasterWatt
• Corsair - 2017 "Grey unit" CXM***, CSM, some RM variants, 2017 CX - 450W CX have one PCIe connection
• Cougar - GX-S
• Deepcool - DQ-ST
• Enermax -  Enermax Revolution SFX 650W***
• EVGA -  BQ 750W and up
• Fractal Design - Tesla R2, Integra M
• FSP - Hydro X, Aurum CM, Aurum Pro
• Lian Li - SFX-L
• LEPA - G600
• NZXT - Hale82 N lower-wattage units
• OCZ - ZX
• PC Power & Cooling - Silencer Mk III, Turbo Cool
• Riotoro - Onyx
• Rosewill - Lightning, Silent Night, Tachyon, Photon
• Silverstone - Gold Evolution, Strider Gold, SX650/700/800 SFX, Strider Titanium
• Super Flower - Platinum King
• Thermaltake - DPS Gold/RGB, London, BlueEvo 2.0, Smart Pro RGB, Smart series >= 750W
• Vivo - 24K 650W
• XFX - Core > 650W, ProSeries Bronze >650W
• Zalman - EBT

Tier 4

• Antec - EarthWatts/EA Green, Earthwatts Platinum, High Current Gamer, Neo Eco 
• be Quiet! - Power Zone, Pure Power L9, Straight Power E9, Pure Power L8
• Corsair - Old CXM "Green unit" variants, Rev. 3 "Green unit" variants, GS-series
• Cooler Master - GM, GX Storm, MWE
• Cougar - LX
• Enermax - Revolution X't
• EVGA - BQ under 750W, NEX Gold, B3
• Fractal Design - Tesla R2 500W
• Inwin - Classic Series
• PowerSpec - PSX GFM
• Rosewill - Capstone G
• Seasonic - SS, SSP, S12II/M12II, ECO 430W
• Silverstone - Strider Plus, Gold SFX
• Thermaltake - Toughpower Gold, Paris
• XFX - TS Bronze

Tier 5

• Antec - Basiq VP-F, Basiq BP
• be Quiet! - Pure Power 10 under 400W.
• Corsair - Rev. 2 CX "Green unit" variants, VS "grey units"
• Enermax - NaXn 82+
• EVGA - 450B/500B/600B/700B, NEX-B
• OCZ - ZT, ModXStream
• Rosewill - Glacier
• Silverstone - Bronze SFX
• XFX - XT

Tier 6

• Antec - Basiq VP
• Bitfenix - BPA
• Cooler Master - B2
• Corsair - VS "orange units"
• EVGA - 430W/500W/600W 80 PLUS units
• FSP - Raider Silver
• Fractal Design - Integra R2
• LEPA - MX-F1
• NZXT - Hale82 V2
• OCZ - Fatal1ty
• Rosewill - Hive, ARC (M)
• Silverstone - Strider Essential
• Thermaltake - LitePower, ToughPower, Smart series < 750W
• Zalman - GS/GT

Tier 7 - Worst

• Cooler Master - Elite series
• EVGA - 400W non-80 PLUS certified
• FSP - Hexa
• Thermaltake - TR2
• These are all crap

 

Currently awaiting more info

Spoiler

Seasonic budget units that were promised ages ago

EVGA will eventually release a BS-series, right?

 

Some things on this list may not be perfect. Let me know if you believe a PSU is undeserving of its spot on here and provide links to back up your claim and it may be moved. 

 

Some helpful links:

 

How Many Watts Do I Need? - How much power will you need for your system? This guide helps you get a PSU that has more than adequate wattage for you.

80 PLUS Efficiency and What It Really Means - general guide to 80 PLUS efficiency and what it entails. Currently pinned on the Cases & Power Supplies subforum.

 

 

Ask any questions below! 

 

How do you even grade these things? ***

Spoiler

Quality and electrical performance. Value means nothing. No brand biases. Features don't matter.

 

Any unit with a sleeve-bearing fan will be deemed no better than Tier 3. Sleeve-bearing fans tend to fail rather quickly when placed in the horizontal mounting position which is what most systems require (the picture used is a PSU mounted in a Fractal Design Define S which uses a traditional mounting system). This is why excellent units like the Enermax SFX unit are placed in tier 3 despite being very good - the fan design holds it back. If mounted in a position like in this Corsair Air 240 then a sleeve-bearing fan should last a very long time.

PSUs that have been bumped down to tier 3 that would belong in a higher tier if not for their sleeve-bearing fans are marked with yellow asterisks

Quote

Corsair -  "Grey unit" CXM***

Any group-regulated unit will be placed no higher than Tier 4 due to the dated design of them. This includes Seasonic's S12/M12/M12II, for example. This does not include the S12G.

But I don't like Tier Lists!!!!111!!!!

Spoiler

Well I've got news for you! Plenty of people don't like them, but yet this list has helped thousands choose a power supply in an effort to avoid a housefire or awful purchase decision! Since most people do not frequent JonnyGuru forums, do not know what topology means, what ripple is, OEMs, what a primary or secondary is and most don't even realize how much power their components actually consume, this list is quite helpful to those who want peace of mind knowing their selection is not terrible, whether it's better or worse than another unit, and whether they should pull the trigger on a unit they're buying. So, as a snob, you are free to dislike this list all you like and comment on it, but understand that most people do not know as much as you and would rather have a cookie-cutter platform to observe rather than spend hours Googling mysterious and unapproachable things like "Double-forward" or "Schottky barrier rectifier" that, in the end, haven't helped them make a purchasing decision.

 

[themaniac]

followed, now i got an updated list for my sig

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Great Job, thanks for the refreshed list! 

 

But one question, what's the difference between the ToughPower Gold in Tier 4 and Tier 5? 

[glitchmaster0001]

i have an antec EA green 650w and i got that from pulling it out of a old computer off my schools edump. and it being going strong for a year now. i have no idea how long it has been in the previous pc but im assuming at least 8 years 

[desertcomputer]

Great work .. is that black background part of formatting? it kinda annoying. 

[STRMfrmXMN]

Just now, glitchmaster0001 said:

i have an antec EA green 650w and i got that from pulling it out of a old computer off my schools edump. and it being going strong for a year now. i have no idea how long it has been in the previous pc but im assuming at least 8 years 

They're not bad units by any stretch, you just gotta put them in the right system.

 

1 minute ago, Pohernori said:

Great Job, thanks for the refreshed list! 

 

But one question, what's the difference between the ToughPower Gold in Tier 4 and Tier 5? 

Build quality is a tad iffy between various units but I'll have to adjust things

[Energycore]

2 minutes ago, Pohernori said:

Great Job, thanks for the refreshed list! 

 

But one question, what's the difference between the ToughPower Gold in Tier 4 and Tier 5? 

Likely a typo, It's Tier 4

 

1 minute ago, MrUnknownEMC said:

Great work .. is that black background part of formatting? it kinda annoying. 

Interesting, it doesn't show on dark theme. Stripping formatting should fix

[STRMfrmXMN]

Just now, Energycore said:

Likely a typo, It's Tier 4

 

Interesting, it doesn't show on dark theme. Stripping formatting should fix

Can't strip formatting sadly due to design. Will try to figure out how to make it work. 

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Just now, STRMfrmXMN said:

They're not bad units by any stretch, you just gotta put them in the right system.

 

Build quality is a tad iffy between various units but I'll have to adjust things

 

Ah, then that might need some specifying to avoid confusion 

[desertcomputer]

Just now, Energycore said:

Likely a typo, It's Tier 4

 

Interesting, it doesn't show on dark theme. Stripping formatting should fix

 

1 minute ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Can't strip formatting sadly due to design. Will try to figure out how to make it work. 

This is what everyone experience? 

[Dresta]

Nice!

[themctipers]

Tier 4 psu good?

[STRMfrmXMN]

5 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Azza should be added to a high tier since they are just Superflower PSUs in the sense of XFX being Seasonic.

 

4 minutes ago, MrUnknownEMC said:

 

This is what everyone experience? 

Fixed

1 minute ago, Dresta said:

Nice!

Thanks!

Just now, themctipers said:

Tier 4 psu good?

It depends on your system.

[themaniac]

1 minute ago, themctipers said:

Tier 4 psu good?

imo tier 3 and up are good for almost any system, tier for for probably no more than 400-500w

[Dresta]

1 minute ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

 

Fixed

Thanks!

It depends on your system.

Commitment is on point! bravo @STRMfrmXMN @Energycore and @Starelementpoke

[STRMfrmXMN]

8 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Azza should be added to a high tier since they are just Superflower PSUs in the sense of XFX being Seasonic.

I'll look into it, but yeah, lots of good Azza units too

[Energycore]

I want to preface by saying that any PSU in Tier 6 and above is unlikely to kill your components (this changes for regions that have unstable electrical systems like crappy transformers / lots of undealt with lightning).

 

But as the PSU's tier gets worse, its build quality and thus its ability to last a long time not just through normal usage but through hard resets, being moved around a lot for say a LAN box, and other harshnesses will decrease, and so will its electrical stability which will result in slightly less system stability as the Tiers decrease.

 

I will recommend a Tier 3 or better PSU for anyone whe can afford it and plans to do gaming, and at least T5 for gamers on a budget. Tier 6 is relegated for light usage desktops such as HTPCs (although if you care about silence you shouldn't get a crappy PSU as they tend to be noisy AF).

 

Tier 7 PSUs I would avoid like the plague.

Just now, Dresta said:

Commitment is on point! bravo

Appreciate it!

[themctipers]

12 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

 

Fixed

Thanks!

It depends on your system.

P8Z77-V LE

i7 3770k (no overclocking)

R9 380

 

and 3 drives 2 ssds and 7 usb devices

[STRMfrmXMN]

Just now, themctipers said:

P8Z77-V LE

i7 3770k (no overclocking)

R9 380

 

and 3 drives 2 ssds and 7 usb devices

Eh, will probably survive, would probably upgrade with next CPU/GPU upgrade.

[themctipers]

1 minute ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Eh, will probably survive, would probably upgrade with next CPU/GPU upgrade.

Yup! $20 CAD when I got it  

[alexhelvetica]

Good job. Where is the XFX XT on the list? How does that stack up against the similarly priced PSUs like the Corsair CX and EVGA B?

[STRMfrmXMN]

Just now, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Good job. Where is the XFX XT on the list? How does that stack up against the similarly priced PSUs like the Corsair CX and EVGA B?

Thanks! Probably tier 4 but it may be 5, I'll look into it.

[AresKrieger]

Still not touching the cx greens with a 10 foot pole, and consider them lower but whatever the list needed updating for sure.

[Energycore]

Just now, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Good job. Where is the XFX XT on the list? How does that stack up against the similarly priced PSUs like the Corsair CX and EVGA B?

Must have been swallowed whole by a Kraken, because it's Tier 5

[Energycore]

4 minutes ago, AresKrieger said:

Still not touching the cx greens with a 10 foot pole, and consider them lower but whatever the list need updating for sure.

They're not as bad as they ended up looking and variations apply on the revision (most units sellable today are a T4 rev, older units may be T5) but they got shit tons of bad PR because of a really low rated temperature maximum (30C or  86F, some places go higher in summer ffs) and OTP kicking in on people trying to put high-end gaming rigs on one of these.