Official XS Power Supply Ranking Phase I

[jonnyGURU]

I aint disagreeing with ya, but given the prices of Be-Quiet PSUs...i`d hope for them to be more than "local" Very similar to Tagan...accessories, packaging, external design (cant comment on internal) etc

Well... that's not necessarily a good thing. Tagan is made by Topower. Topower makes a lot of different quality PSU's for a lot of different companies. It might look like a Topower and have some of the Topower "signature" features like the sleeving, filters on the PCI-e's, finish, fan, etc. but if it's one of their lower end models, then it's a horrible performer and certainly not worth mentioning.

[jonnyGURU]

You have "Mushkin Enhanced" in Tier 1.

IMHO, I don't think any Topower built product should be in Tier 1 (but that's me and you can feel free to ignore that comment.) But even the Mushkin line (to Mushkin's own admission) has different quality levels. The XP series is supposedly good stuff (I haven't tested one myself) but the new, "low end" HP series is horrible (I have an HP-550 I'm reviewing and it's as bad as the Topower built BFG 650W I did... maybe worse) and personally I don't think it even belongs in Tier 4.

You need to break that down by series. I'd hate for someone to see Mushin in Tier 1, only have a $100 budget, run out and buy an HP series model and have it blow up on them.

[jonnyGURU]

I know you haven't had a chance to go through the list I gave you, but maybe we can address some of the obvious here....

Why would Silencers > 610 be Tier 1 and < 610 be Tier 2?

And why would a Neo HE be tier one and in the same category as other Antec's? CWT built Antecs have known issues and poor efficiency. A Neo HE is built by Seasonic, use better components and better efficiency.

Two different tiers IMHO.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

sorry to say, but this list is being based on brand power, not componet quality.

[perkam]

sorry to say, but this list is being based on brand power, not componet quality.

I'll have all the feedback on Phase II saved in a word file to convert this list to Phase III...but I can't do that before updating the "What To Buy" guides first.

Perkam

[[XC] leviathan18]

I know you haven't had a chance to go through the list I gave you, but maybe we can address some of the obvious here....

Why would Silencers > 610 be Tier 1 and < 610 be Tier 2?

And why would a Neo HE be tier one and in the same category as other Antec's? CWT built Antecs have known issues and poor efficiency. A Neo HE is built by Seasonic, use better components and better efficiency.

Two different tiers IMHO.

i said the same to perk i think all the silencer should be tier 1 but you are the expert so recomend :P: (as you know a lot of this the new silencer are made by seasonic or are pcpnc designs? )

[perkam]

i said the same to perk i think all the silencer should be tier 1 but you are the expert so recomend :P: (as you know a lot of this the new silencer are made by seasonic or are pcpnc designs? )

Aren't the new Silencers 610 and onwards made by a different company ? ... not to mention...the old silencers are just that...they're old.

Perkam

[jonnyGURU]

Some of the "old" Silencers are made by Seasonic as well. For a Silencer to be made by Sparkle, you'd have to go back a few years.

Maybe say, "Seasonic built Silencers: Tier 1"

"FSP/SPI built Silencers: Tier 2."

or whatever....

[FLMJIGGY]

Kinda off topic, hey Jonny what happened to your list on ur blog?

[Praxis1452]

think he said that it wasn't worth it because generalizing may mislead people especially by brand.

[FLMJIGGY]

Ahhh, ok.

The cool thing was knowing the makers of psu, b4 getting rebranded, and a general guideline of top power co's.

[perkam]

Corsair HX Added to Tier 1.

Perkam

[Praxis1452]

I'd say wherever seasonic is supposed to go so tier 2.

[jonnyGURU]

Tier 1.5?

[perkam]

Tier 1.5?

I know i know...every time i look at the guide, the need for Tier 1.5 becomes apparent.

Perkam

[Praxis1452]

I know i know...every time i look at the guide, the need for Tier 1.5 becomes apparent.

Perkam

haha perkam we agree

[Nazu]

Mushkin in Tier One Brand? Check this and think about it. Quote's from SPCR review:

"EFFICIENCY was poor for a high end power supply. At 50% load (325W) it reached just 74.7%..."

"The noise emitted by the unit upon turn on at any load was 35~36 dBA@1m. This is unacceptably loud by SPCR standards, and it would be plainly audible in most enviroments, be it home or office. The quality of the noise was not pleasant, either, but at this high a level, it's a moot point..."

Mushkin should have think twice when putting this psu on the market. Meaning it's utter crap.

[perkam]

The only reason the mushkin would be in Tier 2 would be the herrendous price. Cheapest its available is $180...and you can buy Silverstone 750W Quad Rail with 900W Max output for $173 at Directron.

After that, the PCP&C 750W with 60+A on single 12v rail is $199. Frankly there's actually no power supply worth buying over that unless its a zippy/emac.

Perkam

[Nazu]

The only reason the mushkin would be in Tier 2 would be the herrendous price. Cheapest its available is $180...and you can buy Silverstone 750W Quad Rail with 900W Max output for $173 at Directron.

After that, the PCP&C 750W with 60+A on single 12v rail is $199. Frankly there's actually no power supply worth buying over that unless its a zippy/emac.

Perkam

That didn't really answer to my question Could you point out some good things in Mushkin psu' other than they look ok, are modular? I think Antec Neo HE psu's should be in tier one cos they are very silent and have great effiency and are modular, also price is very competitive. Only minus is that 550w is max wattage but that can pretty much power anything.

[jonnyGURU]

I wouldn't say the Neo HE is tier one, but I do agree that the Neo HE should be ABOVE Mushkin for the reasons specified. The only good thing about the Mushkin XP series is that it's modular and has a lot of power.

The Mushkin HP series should be on the lowest tier. It's udder crap.

[Praxis1452]

neoHE should be in 1.5 I think.

Would a list of oem's in order be easier than tiers? It'd be more accurate that way. Or a list of best to worst and then seperate those into tiers?

[w00t!w00t!]

shuttle doesn't deserve to be that low shuttle makes very good psu's for the size they are give them some sort of respect.

[jonnyGURU]

neoHE should be in 1.5 I think.

LOL!

[nyinge]

Many thanks for the great list of psu's. I'd be clueless in deciding for a psu for my new system, otherwise. Also, people won't be making a mistake like me in the future by buying an Ultra X-Connect ... Are they really that bad? lol

Edit: Nevermind, I just found this post. XS is simply awesome.

[Praxis1452]

LOL!

what? With antec moving to seasonic, seasonic would be around 1.5 so the neoHE should be around there. Maybe tier 2 if you say so. However you could atleast explain.

I really hate people who leave with one word posts. If you think I'm stupid for saying it then fricking explain. Otherwise it's quite useless.

I would also like to comment on your grading system. I'm in a better mood and can think lol.

The NeoHE if you add it up got a 8.05
The ST56ZF got a 7.91

my main complaint are that you don't exactly have a rubric. You list the factors that affect performance. However you should also create a point spread and rubric for each one for best accuracy. Lets say out of the 10 points you can give in performance 1 goes to active pfc. 2 goes to efficiency. 3 goes to how much the rails may drop. 2 to the o-scope. 2 more to however you like. or something of this nature. Then you can create a rubric that say goes it gets .5 subtracted from the o-scope if the rails fluctuate more than X or however you determine it. You should do this for all of your main grading points. It may take time to create but once created you can create a more accurate picture along with a more objective grading system.

Personally since you mentioned objectivity you should let the results speak for themselves. The whole grading section should be left out of the review and a seperate section be devoted to what you think of the psu's.