400W to 600W PSU's reviews

[Behemot]

After some time, I've looked to 500W PSU's section in one of the best on-line shop here in Czech Republic and almost couldn't believe my eyes; at least 15 new models there. The old ones I thought were relatively good (like Seasonic SS-500ET-F3, which I still use and have recaped after half a year of using; beside capacitors it was good one with not so bad semiconductors) have new revisions, usually 80+ Bronze but are so cheap that they are almost in category "better not buy" now.

I am surprised here is almost nothing about such important components PSU's are. Latest reviews I found by quick search are usually more than 2 years old. I think the reason is that not many people out there really understand this problematic. If there are some, it's not worth to test the PSU's for them. So ff you've seen some good articles about those new Power Supplies below (by good I mean they opened it, checked capacitors, semiconductors etc, measured noise using oscilloscope and effectivity with not so cheap wattmeter), please feel free to post it here. Better the 500W ones but I think most of lines have 400W to 600W models with just a tiny differencies.

In the end of searching, I'd like to make a short list of which PSU's are the cheapest ones which won't blow up your computer, than which are like "mainstream" and on top the best for some thinkable amount of money. For example some Thermaltake, OCZ and others can be just Enermax or Seasonic with better cooling and lower price, what is I would like to discover as well.

So which PSU's I would personally like to know more about (latest revisions on market if possible):
Seasonic SS-500ET-F3 500W Bronze OEM
Seasonic S12II-500 500W Bronze
Seasonic S12-550 550W ENERGY+
OCZ StealthXStream 500W
OCZ Fatal1ty 550W
OCZ ModXStream 500W
OCZ Z Series Silver 550W
Fortron FSP500-60EPN 500W 85PLUS Bronze
Fortron Blue Storm Pro 500W
Fortron Black Power 550W
Fortron Everest 80+ 500W
Fortron FSP550-80GLC(PFC) 550W
Thermaltake PurePower RX W0142RE 500W
Thermaltake TR2 Power W0101RE 550W
Thermaltake TR2 QFan W0194RE 500W
Thermaltake ToughPower QFan W0151R 500W
Thermaltake Dualpower 520W W0107 (this one maybe not necessarily, too pricey)
Nexus RX-5300 530W
Nexus NX-8050 500W
Cooler Master Real Power 520W
Chieftec APS-500S 500W
Chieftec GPS-500AB-A 500W (550AB-A 550W)
Chieftec APS-550C 550W
Silentmaxx EcoSilent 550W

I've also seen some LC Power pricier than Seasonic's OEM. Do they no longer burn your balls out (together with whole house)?
__________
Actuall 500 W PSU list (from the worst to the best):

4. Artic Cooling Fusion 550R 550W
3. Corsair Power Supply VX550 550W
2. Enermax ECO80+ 500W (recap recommended)
1. Enermax PRO82+ 525W
__________
Reviews found: (by noise I mean voltage noise or ripple, not acoustic noise)
http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling...oc.aspx?i=3516 the efficiency measurement is a bit strange I'd say; the worst PSU's has the best efficiency?; also the ripple is too smal, they probably use only passive load, thus making the noise of most PSU's in this test very bad under real conditions
Arctic Cooling Fusion 550R - great efficiency; bad caps, making high 100% load 12V noise, probably together with low quality semiconductors (for that price, it can't use some good )
Akasa Green Power AK-PT050FG, BFG LS-550 - similar design, great efficiency; BFG has far more worse noise (Teapo are that bad or it has worse semiconductors as well); BFG is noisy, too
Cooler Master RS-500-AMBA-D3 - great efficiency; again similar design, slightly better ripple, terrible capacitance on input (only 90 uF, don't want to see it after 100ms outage), I won't buy it till I have caps for changing on input; hot
Corsair CMPSU-520HX - great efficiency; Seasonic PCB, Hitachi cap on input, probably bad semiconductors makes the noise peaks which not-so-high capacity input Nippon Chemi-cons just can't flatten
Enermax Liberty Eco ELT500AWT-ECO - looks like using excellent semiconductors, but combined with bad caps; I would personally recap, but even without that it's good PSU, just a bit hotter one (on the other hand, it's more silent though)
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP - bad caps, small heatsinks, great ripple - probably excellent quality semiconductors (not generating much heat), but is more noisy
Sunbeam Tuniq Potency POT550 - same design, looks like using much worse semiconductors; not so silent
Seasonic M12II SS-500GM, Seasonic S12II SS-500GB - good caps, but the noise makes me feel Seasonic uses bad semiconductors in lowend to mainstream PSU's it makes; both are not much silent
Tagan SuperRock TG500-U33II - similar to Akasa Green Power AK-PT050FG and BFG LS-550, noise could be better; hot
Tagan PipeRock BZ500 - bad caps, hot
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/882/
Zalman ZM500-RS - bad caps resulting in terrible ripple at 100% load; 80.8-85.6 % efficiency (115 V), breaks specifications during overloading
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/798
StealthXStream 500 W - good semiconductors, bad caps, but still excellent 12V noise; 79.4-83.4 % efficiency (115 V), 500W maximal output (nothing more)
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/779/
BFG LS-550 (550 W) - bad output caps, good semiconductors, good noise; 80.3-85.7 % efficiency (115 V), 625W total maximum output
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/548/
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/732
BFG LS-450 (450 W) - downgraded version of LS-550, same pluses, same minuses; 84.4-89.8 % efficiency (115 V) is just excellent, 539 W total maximum output; recommended; just hope capacitors wouldn't up too soon (recap recommended)
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/548
SilverStone Strider ST50F (500 W) - bad caps, good semiconductors, good ripple, 80.6-86.5 % efficiency (115 V), 599 W total maximum output
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/673/
Zalman ZM460B-APS (460 W) - identical to SilverStone Strider ST50F bad caps, good semiconductors, very good ripple, 80.5-85.6 % efficiency (115 V), 531 W total maximum output
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/782/
ASUS P-50GA (500 W) - bad output caps, slightly worse semiconductors (and with lower wattage gap) mainly for 3,3V and 5V rails; just 75.5-81 % efficiency (115 V), 687 W total maximum output
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/728
Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus (500 W) RS-500-PCAR-A3 - bad caps, not so good semiconductors, both resulting in so high noise it doesn't pass specs in higher load; 73.7-81.3 % efficiency (115 V); never ever buy this one
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/688
Enermax Liberty ECO (500 W) ELT500AWT-ECO - bad output caps, good semiconductors, nice concept; 80.5-84.7 % efficiency (115 V), 572 W total maximum output, recommended
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/731
Akasa Paxpower (500 W) AK-P050FG7 - bad caps, good semiconductors, good noise; 76.2-81 % efficiency (115 V), 624 W total maximum output
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/730/
Thermaltake Litepower (450 W) W0293RU - FSP PCB, bad caps, overspec'd semiconductors, good ripple; 82.5-85.3 % efficiency (115 V), 543 W maximum total output
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/713/
Arctic Cooling Fusion 550RF (500 W) - Seasonic PCB, thin wires, bad output caps, good noise; 83.2-89.8 % efficiency (115 V), 545 W maximum total output; recommended after recap and wires change
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/727/
Seventeam ST-550P-AM (550 W) - good caps, good semiconductors (with some little inductances on electrodes ), nice ripple; 79.8-83 % efficiency (115 V), 671 W maximum total output; recommended
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/657/
Seventeam ST-550P-AG (550 W) - older than ST-550P-AM, some bad output caps, good semiconductors (somewhat less inductances), worse ripple; 76.6-82.9 % efficiency (115 V), 630 W maximum total output
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/540/
Corsair VX450W (450 W) - Seasonic PCB, high quality capacitors, good noise levels, 84.3-88.1 % efficiency (115 V), 572 W maximum total output; recommended
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/526/
Antec EarthWatts 500 (500 W) - same Seasonic PCB as Corsair VX450W and Arctic Cooling Fusion 550RF, bad output caps, 90mm fan; excellent ripple (but how long with OST caps?), 79.8-84.8 % efficiency (115 V), 577 W total maximum output
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/668/
Huntkey Green Star 550 W (LW-6550SG) - very bad, underestimated components, bad caps; never ever buy this one

[Hondacity]

from the listed... the st nightjar 400 will beat all of them ripple/noise/efficiency

i exagged but from the list..i still prefer the st nightjar...

hardwaresecrets got a review....of this psu

[zanzabar]

the nexus and coolermaster ones will kill your computer, they are like rosewill or raidmax or ultra (non x3) u should remove those.

for the cheapest the ocz modX, i use them for people and myself and have never had a problem with voltage or ripple, the best of those if would guess is the seasonic

[Frag Maniac]

I've heard people claim the Cooler Master PSUs have gotten much better in the last few years, but after reading about the disasters they used to make, I am very skeptical of that brand.

[KB24LA]

i've got OCZ Fatal1ty 550W and pretty happy with that

[Hondacity]

the nexus and coolermaster ones will kill your computer, they are like rosewill or raidmax or ultra (non x3) u should remove those.

for the cheapest the ocz modX, i use them for people and myself and have never had a problem with voltage or ripple, the best of those if would guess is the seasonic

nexus rx series are actually very good. hardwaresecrets have reviews on them

[zanzabar]

nexus rx series are actually very good. hardwaresecrets have reviews on them

thats not one of the list though its only the higher watt that are good, and its priced the same as better units

[Hondacity]

thats not one of the list though its only the higher watt that are good, and its priced the same as better units

they're expensive...they're targeted towards the quiet pc market...

did/do a little research...

nexus power supplies have been reviewed at alot of sites...

tomshardware
spcr
jonnyguru
hardwarecanucks

the old nexus were good quality fsp units..the new ones are atng...i doubt the rx5300 is bad from their line...

here are their latest power supplies..

http://www.nexustek.nl/NXS-silentpowersupplies.htm

the new rx series are atng...but these are the newer atng's...and based from hardwaresecrets review...and some, these are quite good.

if they were free....id get them for their silence...
these power supplies most probably better than these listed below

fortron
chieftec
silentmax
some coolermaster
some ocz

the nexus and coolermaster ones will kill your computer, they are like rosewill or raidmax or ultra

rosewill never used fsp
raidmax never used fsp

where have you seen a pc being killed by a nexus power supply?

[vengance_01]

Corsair or Antec is all I will ever buy now.

[Humminn55]

I'm just wondering how you came up with the "bad caps" designation on several of your listed power supplies.

Take the BFG LS-450. You suggest recapping the "bad caps" found inside the unit. Care to list the bad caps? Certainly not the Chemi-Con caps.....maybe you meant the few Teapo caps found inside? If that's the case, I suggest you reevaluate your definition of what a "bad cap" is then. Teapo certainly isn't Chemi-Con or Rubycon quality, but it certainly isn't considered a "bad cap" by any stretch of the imagination. If that was the case, boatloads of PC Power and Cooling Turbo Cools have loads of "bad caps" soldered inside them as Win-Tact uses them almost exclusively in Turbo Cool builds for PCP&C, and I don't think anyone considers a Turbo Cool as being a power supply needing recapping.

As for bad transistors, the fact is most are just great......transistors are hard to screw up. The essential problem is not the quality but underspec'ing the size of them used in budget power supplies, leading to them becoming overloaded. When one attempts to make a $50 power supply, one tends to cut designs to the bone, leading to spec'ing components that are "just good enough" instead of being more than what's needed.

Again, what information are you basing all your determinations upon what is a "bad cap" and "bad semiconductors"?

[Behemot]

Teapo, CapXon and OST could be better caps between bad caps, but that changes nothing on the fact they're bad. I base my information on my own experiences and on experiences of tens or hundreds of people on BadCaps and similar forums. As for transistors, cheaper ones make own noise and also have terrible ripple when running on higher temperatures. There is example of 250W Fortron with piece of metal instead of heatsink making the transistors hot and killing HDD's due to high ripple.

Yes it's known fact that most electronics out there have bad caps. It usually does not make problems for sime time (at least up to time warranty), but there are examples like failing caps in Antec PSU' afer weeks (!!). Beside that Antec are good PSU's. People who changed the caps for good ones run them fine, Antec now uses few japaneese caps in every PSU after this incidents.

Anway, I am working on database of real manufacturers of rebranded PSU's with links to reviews and anything…something is already in, look at http://www.hw-world.7u.cz/index.php?...d=83&Itemid=83 it's czech but you'll understand the important. The Stejná deska jako v means Similar PCB as in

[jonnyGURU]

Teapo caps are not "bad caps". They got a bad rap because of some bad mobo caps some years ago.... and those caps were BAD, but for PSU caps they've been trusted by companies like Enhance, Seasonic, PC Power, Wintech, etc. for YEARS. In fact, I dare say that Teapo is about the best cap you're going to find coming out of Taiwan, second only to caps coming out of Japan.

[Behemot]

Isn't the problem that you only had in your hands brand new products? New Teapo, CapXon and OST aren't really bad, that's time and heat what makes them fail. But I stand by my words, they're bad. I've seen lot of these caps after long time and bulged. What's worse, they do not bulge no more, they just dry out. On the other hand I've never seen cap known as good to be bad in any way even after 15 years of use.

How can you call caps which won't survive more than usually few tens of hours on maximum temperatures they have on label not bad? High-quality caps live much longer than their paper life time with almost the same specs as brand new. So I'll believe you maby after three years from know when I'll see that no Teapo capacitors made after lets say 2008 failed.

Btw I'd say Samxon are hudred times better than Teapo, equal to known good brands (Chemi-Con, Sanyo, Panasonic, Rubycon, Nichicon, Elna, maybe Matshua and Hitachi).