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So what's the current king of PSUs?

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SolidxSnake

SolidxSnake

Member
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Joined
Dec 26, 2004
As many know, I've been outta the hardware loop for quite a while now...

I've been seeing lots of talk about PSUs from...Corsair, Silverstone, Mushkin, OCZ (though I remember them being in the game a while back), and even... ThermalTake!

I'm wondering what is still up there in regards to quality and performance. I know FSP was way up there for bang for the buck, you couldn't beat them as far as quality was concerned (unless Zippy or PCP&C were of mention)... They still regarded as a good brand to trust?

Simple questions, really.
 
FSP is still the best bang for your buck psu manufacturer, and they also make power supplies for other companies like OCZ. the "king of PSUs" would probably be PCP&C; you really do pay the price premium though. last but not least, Corsairs are currently the most recommended PSUs here on OCF
 
shirker said:
FSP is still the best bang for your buck psu manufacturer, and they also make power supplies for other companies like OCZ. the "king of PSUs" would probably be PCP&C; you really do pay the price premium though. last but not least, Corsairs are currently the most recommended PSUs here on OCF
Click to expand...


Yeah, I knew lots of those other companies just rebadged OEM PSUs that other companies made.

That's why I was a bit worried on what my next choice for a PSU would be, I saw many suggestions of brands I had never heard of. When I used to know a thing or two about power supplies, the recommendation threads were all "BLUE STORM FTW!" :D
 
FSP still offers decent bang for buck, but imho there are better PSUs available at nearly every price point.

Under $100 the Antec Earthwatts, Enhance 5140/5150GH, and Corsair 520W (only under $100 when on sale) are all good choices

The Corsair 520 and 620 are both highly recommended because they have great performance, are nearly silent, modular, and have pretty decent build quality for not that much more than $100.

Silverstone doesn't make their own PSUs, but sources them from various OEMs, but in general their lineup is excellent. The Zeus 560 is legendary with some of the best build quality you'll see in a consumer supply, and their Olympia and Decathlon series are solid performers.

Mushkin isn't too good, I believe their PSUs are made by Topower/Tagan which hasn't been doing too well.

OCZ's Gameextreme and Modxtream PSUs are mostly sourced from FSP, but the newer FSP designs have a lot of ripple, and aren't really recommended.

Thermaltake actually has some great PSUs out right now which are manufactured by CWT but with good capacitors unlike the old Antecs that CWT made. The TT 1200W psu is one of the best performers on the market as far as power output and efficiency are concerned.

One player you might cringe at since you've been out of it is Ultra, their X3 (and XFinity/XPro) products are made by Andyson and offer great performance for their price with good build quality.
 
funnyperson1 said:
FSP still offers decent bang for buck, but imho there are better PSUs available at nearly every price point.

Under $100 the Antec Earthwatts, Enhance 5140/5150GH, and Corsair 520W (only under $100 when on sale) are all good choices

The Corsair 520 and 620 are both highly recommended because they have great performance, are nearly silent, modular, and have pretty decent build quality for not that much more than $100.

Silverstone doesn't make their own PSUs, but sources them from various OEMs, but in general their lineup is excellent. The Zeus 560 is legendary with some of the best build quality you'll see in a consumer supply, and their Olympia and Decathlon series are solid performers.

Mushkin isn't too good, I believe their PSUs are made by Topower/Tagan which hasn't been doing too well.

OCZ's Gameextreme and Modxtream PSUs are mostly sourced from FSP, but the newer FSP designs have a lot of ripple, and aren't really recommended.

Thermaltake actually has some great PSUs out right now which are manufactured by CWT but with good capacitors unlike the old Antecs that CWT made. The TT 1200W psu is one of the best performers on the market as far as power output and efficiency are concerned.

One player you might cringe at since you've been out of it is Ultra, their X3 (and XFinity/XPro) products are made by Andyson and offer great performance for their price with good build quality.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I kinda ran around in circles in my seat at Ultra, hehehe.

I've been hearing good things about the thermaltake PSUs, actually... I read earlier today basically exactly what you had to say about them.

Guess I gotta do quite a bit of research. In my next PC, I'm hoping to get a quiet setup, that goes doubly for the PSU. My current PSU in my rig (FSP530-60GNA) is crazy loud, got a high-pitched whine to it. I run the fans off of my Sunbeam Rheo.

I just put together a rig for my friend with an FSP FX600-GLN, and I was amazed at how silent it was. I couldn't hear his computer at all (stock Conroe cooling with ASC, and this power supply, and an 8800). His rig is stable (though that kinda goes without saying, a stock conroe and 8800 definitely don't pull near 600w, or 500w for that matter). I was hoping I could get a PSU that was so quiet but still a very well performer.

So you say the Corsairs are up there? Has modular technology gotten better? I remember back when, people were very skeptical of using modular PSU's for various reasons. I wasn't one of them, but I was never really interested in modular PSUs. I could manage with standard ones.
 
Really, there are several rankings as far as the "king of psu's" is concerned.

There's the "best bang for the buck" king, then there's the "i can only spend this much" king, etc.

Impo PCP&C is still top dog, and yes you do pay premium. I had a Sparkle 550 Sli that lasted 2+ years with my current system. I then purchased a Silverstone Zeus 560w. Unfortunately tho the Zeus powered Dominick's rig under phase without issues, it wasn't enough for mine and was underpowering my rig :( . I went ahead and purchased a PCP&C Silencer 610w. Not 1 single issue and I'm glad i made the investment.

So it really depends on what you consider the "King of psu's" versus cost.
 
  • Corsair/Seasonic: good value for money, efficient, quiet (ugh!) and regulate well enough.
  • Mushkin/Topower: Crap.
  • Ultra X-Pro/X3: Good value for money, tight regulation, fairly efficient.
  • FSP/OCZ: Good value for money, may not be under ATX specs when at 75% of rated capacity.
  • FSP/OCZ/3Y: Built like a tank, expensive, excellent regulation almost no ripple.
  • FSP/Zalman: Same platform as the GameXtreams without the ripple issues.
  • Silverstone OP650: Solid build, excellent regulation and almost no ripple. Decent Value for money.
  • Zippy: My personal favorite. Super-ultra-expensive, not very efficient, built like no other, ultra-tight regulation.
  • Turbocool: Comparable to Zippy in terms of build quality but priced a lot higher.
  • Silverstone Zeus: Etasis made, regulates just as good as Zippy (group regulated design as opposed to indy on most high wattage EMACS') excellent value for money.
  • (All units discussed are < 750W)
It really depends on your budget and availability.
 
Last edited:
If you really want to see how current PSUs stack up read the PSU review archives at jonnyguru.com and hardocp, they have the best PSU reviewing methodologies right now with legitimate load testers, ripple measurements, and analysis of internal component selection.
 
Hey_Its_Cole said:
I would stick with Etasis made power supplies or Zippy, I have all ways thought PCP&C is over rated.
Click to expand...

Over-priced? Yes. Over-rated, perhaps no.:)
 
Wow, great thread. I can't believe no one has mentioned Seasonic though! I love my Seasonic S12 600W... Its *very* quiet and stable! heres a good review of this PSU and some good info in general about the operation of Power Supplies (how to calculate Power Factor, etc) Linky. Yea, the Zippys and PCP&C look like they're nice PSU's no doubt, but I really like my Seasonic :D

-Dave
 
Last edited:
splat said:
i think OK Wolf still ranks Zippy as his best psu available.
Click to expand...

In terms of reliability and build quality, yes. But there's a reason I picked the 1200W CWT in my sig, and that reason is it's very close to the same build quality with a whole lot less noise ;)

Same PSU as the Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W BTW. There's nothing out right now I would trade it for.
 
SuperDave1685 said:
Wow, great thread. I can't believe no one has mentioned Seasonic though! I love my Seasonic S12 600W... Its *very* quiet and stable! heres a good review of this PSU and some good info in general about the operation of Power Supplies (how to calculate Power Factor, etc) Linky. Yea, the Zippys and PCP&C look like they're nice PSU's no doubt, but I really like my Seasonic :D

-Dave
Click to expand...
I also love my Seasonic S12 600w. It's pretty much perfect for me, as far as I can tell.
 
The king used to be the Powerstream 520. Today, the king is the Corsair 520. However, there are a lot more quality PSUs out on the market today than in the days of the Powerstream.
 
Nice thread, very informative about the caps and stuff on the psu


btw: Just got the Antec Earthwatt 500. Performs great so far. Powering: C2D E6550, 2x1gb DDR800, 8600GT, 500gb Seagate hd, and a dvd burner. Very silent, infact, the fan you can hear is from the 8600gt. Having it dual prime95 stable at 9 hours so far.
 
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