That's not very smart or very economical. You must have "consumerism" very bad to toss a perfectly good PSU after three years. So apparently the "Madison Ave" hype worked.Your choice. I'll toss mine within three years. I'd blame consumerism.
I doubt anyone keeps a PSU for 7 yrs
Me too! I have several computers that are pushing 10 years old, with original PSUs. When I buy a PSU, I buy expecting the PSU to last many years through several hardware changes and upgrades.I kept a PSU for over 8 years!
:lol: In days past, as it is today, that has ALWAYS been an invalid test. Always! Weight has absolutely no bearing on the "quality" of a PSU, transformer, heat sink or capacitor. Weights may differ because one has longer wires. Steel case instead of aluminum. Two fans instead of one. More vents. Less vents. Aluminum heatsinks or copper. Two or four rails instead of one. Hard wired or modular. 400W or 750W. None of those variables (and those are just a few) are indications of "quality". Do not judge a PSU by its weight unless your goal is to build the heaviest or lightest PC.In days gone by, the quality of the power supply was judged by its weight too, signifying quality transformer, heat sinks, filtering capacitors, etc., and it still holds true today.
I'll disagree with you on this one, but everyone has their own opinion.:lol: In days past, as it is today, that has ALWAYS been an invalid test. Always! Weight has absolutely no bearing on the "quality" of a PSU, transformer, heat sink or capacitor. Weights may differ because one has longer wires. Steel case instead of aluminum. Two fans instead of one. More vents. Less vents. Aluminum heatsinks or copper. Two or four rails instead of one. Hard wired or modular. 400W or 750W. None of those variables (and those are just a few) are indications of "quality". Do not judge a PSU by its weight unless your goal is to build the heaviest or lightest PC.
Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-a-Power-SupplyDetermine the robustness of the PSU. How well does the PSU handle changes in current? Although not a guarantee, there's a strong correlation between weight and quality: bigger components (ie, capacitors) equate to a more tolerant, reliable PSU. This is one downside to a 120mm fan: while it does provide quieter cooling, the components to be cooled must be more tightly packed. If you don't care about noise, an 80mm cooling fan in the traditional place on the rear of the PSU may offer better value.
Here they talk about• Increase Energy Density (J/cc) by 6X
• Reduced Weight & Volume
• Increased Reliability & Shot Life
• Millisecond Discharge Rates
Do I need to give examples of core technologies of transformers too showing how some use advanced lightweight, extremely robust composite core materials and others use heavy materials, such as iron?Typical applications replace standard military capacitors, or augment batteries and power supplies where size, weight, reliability and quality are important factors of component selection.
Hybrid capacitors provide very high power and energy from devices much smaller and lighter than electrically equivalent tantalum wet, tantalum chip, or aluminum electrolytic capacitors.
So this is telling us if we don't know the efficiency of a PSU, use 82%!!! And they are calling that being pessimistic??? 70% is typical for PSUs, 60% is pessimistic but beyond that, it is saying to take what the review measures, then multiply that by .82. So if the reviewer measure consumption at 300Watts, he wants you to multiply by .82 to get 246W. Then he wants you to use that lower wattage value to choose a PSU. Sound right? Not to me.1. Determine the wattage you need. ...find a review of a similar system that measures power consumption. As that consumption is measured at the wall, multiply by the review system's power supply's efficiency to get the output. (If you don't know, 0.82 will be close or slightly pessimistic.)
Know what that means? I don't either.2. Research which connectors you need. Newer PSUs will often provide both a 24-pin ATX connector that doubles as a 20-pin connector.
That's totally not true.and only high-end PSUs will have one or more 6-pin PCI-E connectors for video cards.
That is total nonsense. While the ATX Form Factor Standard for ATX PSU dictates the length, width, and mounting hole placement, it does not dictate the depth. There is nothing that says a 120mm fan will create a cramped space requiring components to be more tightly packed.4. Determine the robustness of the PSU. This is one downside to a 120mm fan: while it does provide quieter cooling, the components to be cooled must be more tightly packed. If you don't care about noise, an 80mm cooling fan in the traditional place on the rear of the PSU may offer better value.
WRONG!!!! If a PSU is capable of delivering "much more" than rated, then that is in violations of countless laws, regulations and codes.5. Check the number of rails - A good power supply will make that easy by providing rails totalling much more than the total PSU rating.
WRONG!!!! Here's the ATX Form Factor PSU Design Guide - where does it say anything about safety and single rails? The fact of the matter is, a single 12V rail PSU is likely to be much more reliable because, simply, it has much fewer components. The only purpose for multiple rails is (in theory) to isolate circuits so a fried graphic card, for example, does not take out a hard drive. But the fact of the matter is, a well made single rail is able to sense an over current situation just as easily as a multi-rail system, and react accordingly.An even cheaper alternative, which has become quite popular, is to eliminate all of the safety circuitry and produce a "single-rail" power supply that can deliver all of its output on any wire. This is technically in violation of the ATX-power-supply specification
WRONG!!!! A good case will provide cable management opportunities to route used and unused cables where they minimize impacting air flow. And used cables are in the way, regardless if modular or not. And do NOT ignore PC P&C's warning about resistance in connectors. That is a very real problem for any - regardless the quality of the connector. Dirt and moisture can get inside even the best made connectors. Unused connectors are exposed to all kinds of dirt, which can be a factor if the connector is later used. Is the resistance negligible? In most cases, yes. But not all connectors are made equal. Connectors don't always connect securely - either from damage, or user error.6. Get a modular PSU. It will help eliminate extra wires to get in the way of cooling. Ignore the claims by PC Power & Cooling that modular cables create more resistance due to corrosion of contacts. The additional resistance is negligible.
So major lables have poor performance and reliability??? And I note Rosewill is NOT a Newegg house brand as can be seen here.Major labels such as Rosewill (a Newegg.com house brand), offer value, but at the cost of performance and reliability.
I have used all of them, Antec forever, most recently Mushkin and Corsair (not on your list, but an excellent maker), except Xigmatek (assuming I have spelled it right - and it is the same company noted for decent 3rd party coolers).Seasonic, PC Power & Cooling, Corsair, CooolerMaster, Mushkin, Antec, OCZ, ThermalTake, FSP Group, Zalman and Xigmatech are all name brand top quality PSU units.
JonnyGuru:The ripple/noise levels are very disappointing and are at a level that is really unacceptable.
The Xigmatek NRP-PC502 power supply will probably be OK in an office/internet PC but not in a gaming or overclocking rig. There are far better 500W units available in this price bracket.
it fell short of the 80 Plus Bronze mark
HardwareHaven:Performance was nothing really exciting
this will not compete too well when confronted by a good independently regulated unit like perhaps the Corsair VX550
The Bad: short cables hates being crossloaded
The Mediocre: doesn't seem to like full power operation above 40 degrees
From what I am reading, it would not be on my list of recommended brands.we cannot claim that any of the features or performance aspects of the NRP-MC851 were impressive
the acoustics performance leaves something to be desired
if however you are going to be constantly loading the PSU near the 850w limit we recommend you contemplate something else
Yup, absolutely right. And even professional review sites can mess up and in reality, if a professional site gives a rave review, you have to wonder if it is valid. Most, certainly, they try to be unbiased, but we must remember, unless it is Consumer Reports, these review sites are sent the products to review directly from the maker. You can expect some makers will ensure the sample sent has been tested (and maybe tweaked) to give a good performance. That's one reason to look at several sites, and don't rely on just one.Yes I understood, basically there is a chance for error in any source,
That's good. Most of review sites said the fan noise was a problem, louder than competing products - how is yours?Cypress said:I bought a Xigmatek, even though 99% of the time I buy only Seasonic or Enermax. Works fine for 6hr gaming sessions with the system in my specs, so I'd say its pretty good.
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