80 Plus - A flawed system.

[Taja]

Disclaimer: This is not my material, in Just resuming it here because the original is in portuguese. Ronaldo Buassali "rbuass", is a professional overclocker and hardware enthusiast, with partners like Corsair and Galax.

 

Well, this topic is about some important critics about the 80 Plus system. The main points are:

  

-Test samples: there is no oficial Pattern for the tests, meaning there is no guarantee that the manufacturer wont send a good unity for TESTING and then change the project and still use the 80plus sticker. 

 

-Certification expiring: the certification has no expiring. A PSU they tested had a 80 Plus silver from 2009, but nowadays it would not even fit in the 80 Plus White. You can change the PSU all you want and keep the sticker for years and years.

 

-Metodology: the temperature delta is 10°C, which does not makes a lot of sense. Teclab tests the PSUs with 2°C delta, and they dont have the same resources that ecova has. This delta can cause HUGE diferences in the results.

 

-Fiscalization: its easy to find fake 80 Plus out there, and the certification is becoming less and less serious because they dont acknowledge or punish the fake ones.

 

MY OPINION:

Nowadays, 80 Plus means nothing, but big reviewers act like it still does. A PSU with 80 Plus can be CRAP, and i know 80 Plus is a measure of eficiency, not overall quality, but still...

I think only Gold or higher means something (but not every PSU in THIS category), and this is bad. The certification should be an indicative, and not hurt the consumer.

 

They proposed stuff like: renew the certification every x years, test PSUs bought randomly to check for frauds (project changes after the certification), and test with more precision.

 

What you think? You agree/disagree or want to propose other stuff? Do you take the certification seriously, and it is a important factor in your purchases?

 

http://m.tecmundo.com.br/fonte/75317-provando-farsa-80plus-marcas-fonte-video.htm

 

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by Taja
Link added

[Mira Yurizaki]

It would be helpful if

• You linked the original article
• I understand if English may not be your first language, but ah, I'm having a hard time understanding some of your sentences and I'd rather not assume what you really meant.

However, 80PLUS, is still a good thing to have, despite how inflated it may have become. There's a thing in California where health inspectors check out the quality of sanitation and such in restaurants. Almost everyone has the best ranking, or an 'A'. You might think this certification is pointless because everyone has the same grade but in reality, it's so ingrained here that 'A' is the norm that anyone seen with anything else will be avoided, even if the place had minor marks. So the place better get their act together or risk going out of business. And overall from a food and safety point of view, this is a good thing.

[WkdPaul]

Moved to Cases and PSU

[SLAYR]

10 minutes ago, Taja said:

They proposed stuff like: renew the certification every x years, test PSUs bought randomly to check for frauds (project changes after the certification), and test with more precision.

PSUs degrade over time just like anything, cars will get worse gas mileage as they age if you don't take care of them properly.

 

80+ has nothing to do with quality at all, all it means is that it is this efficient. There are some pretty crap 80+ gold psus old there, even that means nothing toward quality. Example.

 

https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16817170033

[Princess Luna]

80 Plus seal is as important as it have always been, now if you make it your single and only criteria for picking a PSU than the issue is with you.

[Taja]

1 hour ago, SLAYR said:

PSUs degrade over time just like anything, cars will get worse gas mileage as they age if you don't take care of them properly.

 

80+ has nothing to do with quality at all, all it means is that it is this efficient. There are some pretty crap 80+ gold psus old there, even that means nothing toward quality. Example.

 

https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16817170033

Sorry, you missunderstood. Not check a old PSU, but a brand New one after years - they change the whole PSU and keep the same name, thats thd problem.

And the problem is a lot of PSUs have the sticker but dont have the eficiency.

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

80 Plus seal is as important as it always have been, now if you make it your single and only criteria for picking a PSU than the issue is with you.

That is not the point. The point is the certification is crap, and it could be more serious and better. And very few People debate about this, and teclab is trying to change that.

[Mira Yurizaki]

But 80PLUS is not supposed to mean "quality". If there really are SKUs that no longer meet their 80 PLUS requirements then sure. But if you're trying to make this thing a rigorous test just so you can be confident that an 80PLUS Platinum or Titanium is the best damn PSU in the world, then no. That's not the point.

[Taja]

12 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

But 80PLUS is not supposed to mean "quality". If there really are SKUs that no longer meet their 80 PLUS requirements then sure. But if you're trying to make this thing a rigorous test just so you can be confident that an 80PLUS Platinum or Titanium is the best damn PSU in the world, then no. That's not the point.

No, that is not the point. I felt I was pretty clear, but ok. The point is: 80 Plus should deliver what they promisse, and no less.

 

And 80 plus Platinum/titanium are good quality "colateraly", because to achieve such good eficiency, you need good components. That was "kinda true" for others 80 plus in the past (they were not MEANT to show overall quality, but were an indicative)

 

Look, the main point teclab has is: nobody criticizes ecova, and they are not HALF as serious as People take them. If one company sold a sticker saying "Tat's gud" for 5 dollars and every manufacturer bought and used it, People would not accept it that easily, as they accept the 80 plus.

 

Making the certification serious is only beneficial for the consumer.