Seasonic's new G-series PSU is rated gold in more ways than one

Subject: Cases and Cooling | January 14, 2013 - 03:26 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: PSU, 80 Plus Gold, Seasonic G-Series, G-550

Seasonic's G-550W provides a bit more than just 550W and a 45A 12V line, modular cabling and an 80 PLUS Gold rating are also included in the $85 price tag.  Those features do not in themselves guarantee that this PSU is worth picking up which is why [H]ard|OCP strapped it into their torture chamber to test the quality of power you can expect from the PSU.  The news is good for Seasonic's G Series, once the power was shut off and the testing completed this PSU walked away with an Editor's Choice Gold Award as [H] felt that not only does this PSU deliver everything they expected it to, in some cases it was "fighting above its weight".

"The Seasonic G Series PSU is here for review in its 550 watt capacity and it looks to be a return to basics for the company with this being basically a "no-frills" unit that has been released without much fanfare. But the basics for Seasonic usually outline what you truly need in a PSU; reliable clean power with a low sound profile."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• Cougar GX-S 500 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Rosewill Tachyon 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum @ Tweaktown
• Zalman ZM1250 Platinum 1250W 80 PLUS Platinum @ Tweaktown
• Cougar PowerX 550 Watt PSU Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• Corsair HX650 Gold Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• FSP Aurum 92+ PT-650M 650W 80 PLUS Platinum @ Tweaktown
• AeroCool GT-1050SG 1050W @ Kitguru
• SilverStone Strider Gold 650 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets

FSP's new Raider series of PSUs

Subject: Cases and Cooling | January 7, 2013 - 04:52 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: PSU, FSP RAIDER, 750w

FSP has been making PSUs for a long time now, usually providing decent quality components that might not stand out against other companies flagship models but that do a decent job for what they are needed for.  That is repeated in the Raider series as they chose a non-modular design and only four 6+2pin PCIe connectors though it does have an 80 PLUS Bronze rating, both of those choices helped keep the price down as it is currently $80 on NewEgg.  Price is not everything as [H]ard|OCP proved when they put this PSU through their torture tests and watched it provide voltages well out of specifications as well as offering poor support.

"With single GPU and CPU enthusiast desktop computer systems coming down in power, mid-level power supplies are once again becoming the sweet spot. FSP claims its new RAIDER series PSU is the "best choice in performance." We put its RAIDER 750 watt unit to the test to see if it is the best choice for you."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750 @ Guru of 3D
• Cougar GX-S 500 Watt Power Supply Review @ Pro-Clockers
• Thermaltake Toughpower Grand Platinum 700W Power Supply Review @ Legit Reviews
• Rosewill SilentNight 500 W @ techPowerUp
• Seasonic X Series 750 W @ techPowerUp
• Corsair AX760 760W 80 PLUS Platinum @ Tweaktown
• Corsair AX860 Modular Power Supply Review @ Legit Reviews
• Cooler Master Silencio 650 @ DVHardware
• Small Form Factor (SFX) PSU review: power supplies for small PCs @ Hardware.info

Rosewill Announces 1600W Hercules PSU

Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 3, 2012 - 08:56 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: rosewill, PSU, power supply, 80 PLUS Silver, 1600w

Rosewill recently took the wraps off of a monster of a power supply that is rated to deliver 1600W of power. The Hercules 1600W PSU is an 80+ Silver design that will provide efficient power for quad CrossFire X or Nvidia SLI multi-GPU setups. It measures 5.9” x 3.4” x 9.5” and should fit within most full ATX cases without issue.

Other features include sleeved cabling and a 135mm “silent” fan that has an automatically adjusting RPM setting as well as a Turbo button that will spin the fan up to its maximum speed.

Where the PSU really stands out though is in the sheer wattage and number of PCI-E power cables. It features two 12 volt rails at 110A and 50A each. Rosewill has divided the rails such that 12V1 handles all of the PCI-E power connectors (up to 1320W) and the 12V2 rail rated at a maximum of 600W and is used for all the other 12V connections.

The included power cables are as follows:

• 16 x 6+2 pin PCI-E
• 16 x SATA power
• 6 x 4 pin molex
• 2 x 4 pin floppy power
• 1 x 8 pin EPS
• 1 x 4+4 pin EPS
• 1 x 24 pin ATX

Needless to say, it has an impressive number of power cables. You might have a hard time finding enough graphics cards to use even half of the PCI-E power cables, for example. Fortunately, it has a semi-modular design (the ATX and CPU power cables are non-removable) so that you will not have to find enough room to hide all of the excess cables in the 5.25” bays (heh).

The 1600W Hercules power supply is available now with a price of $399 USD. While it will be overkill for most computers, it is impressive nonetheless and would be well suited to powering a rig with dual Powercolor Devil 13 7990 GPUs.

Nine Middle Weight PSUs battle it out

Subject: Cases and Cooling | November 21, 2012 - 04:18 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: PSU, modular psu, corsair, Chieftek, cooler master, zalman

The 600-700W range is very popular with enthusiasts who either have a pair of fairly powerful GPUs or a single top of the line GPU, as they don't quite need a kilowatt class PSU.  X-bit Labs put together a roundup which features 9 PSUs from Corsair, Chieftek, Cooler Master and Zalman some modular and some with permanently connected wiring.  It was the Corsair TX650 which received the Recommended Buy award though Cooler Master came close to winning as well.  Some of the other models fared poorly thanks to the lack of proper voltage regulation or in one case fan regulation.  Check out the full review here.

"We would like to talk about nine power supply units from the most popular 600-700 W wattage range, which represent six different series of devices from four manufacturers: Chieftec, Cooler Master, Corsair and Zalman."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• In Win Commander III 600 W @ techPowerUp
• Corsair Professional Series AX760 and AX860 @ Kitguru
• Silverstone Zeus 1350 W @ techPowerUp
• Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W 80 PLUS Platinum @ Tweaktown
• Seasonic Platinum Series Fanless 520 W @ techPowerUp
• Silverstone Strider Gold ST55F-G Power Supply Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• BeQuiet Straight Power 580w @ XSReviews

Seasonic's new X-1250 provides pure power satisfaction

Subject: Cases and Cooling | November 13, 2012 - 03:11 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: PSU, kilowatt, seasonic, X-1250, modular psu

Seasonic's new X-1250 PSU can provide 1250W of power, just as the name suggests, with up to 104 amps to the 12V rail which should provide enough power for even the most power hungry GPUs.  Instead of going with a single rail design Seasonic chose to provide 4 rails so you should ensure to know which plugs you are using.  It passed all of [H]ard|OCP's torture tests with flying colours, making it one of the better kilowatt ckas PSUs they have had the pleasure of testing and when you consider the price, with or without the rebate, it is a perfect choice for users building a system with multiple GPUs.

"Seasonic makes some of the best enthusiast computer power supplies in the world. It has long produced some of the cleanest power producing PSUs along with being some of the quietest on the market. The new fully modular X-1250 sports many enthusiast features and touts gold level efficiency. Is this new X-1250 worthy?"

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W @ Kitguru
• Corsair AX860i 860 W @ techPowerUp
• Seasonic Platinum Fanless 520W @ Kitguru
• Rosewill SilentNight 500 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Corsair AX860i @ Guru of 3D
• Kingwin Power Force 850 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Corsair AX1200i @ X-bit Labs
• Corsair AX760i 760 W @ techPowerUp
• Corsair AX860i 860W 80 PLUS Platinum @ Tweaktown
• Seasonic X-460 80Plus Gold Silent Powersupply Review @ PCSTATS
• Corsair Professional Series AX760i and AX860i @ Kitguru
• Xigmatek Centauro 600W Power Supply Unit Review @ NikKTech
• Corsair AX760i Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Seasonic Platinum Fanless 520 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Cooler Master Silent Pro Platinum 1000W Power Supply Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• Corsair AX860i Digital Power Supply Review @ HardwareHeaven
• SilverStone ST45SF-G Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Power Supply Units with 800-860 W Capacity: 4 Models Reviewed @ X-bit Labs
• Silverstone SFX Series ST45SF-G 450 W @ techPowerUp
• PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk III 1200W Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• Antec High Current Pro 1000W Platinum PSU Review @ Legit Reviews
• Seasonic X-Series 660W @ Kitguru
• Vantec Power Gem 3500 Battery Bank @ Hi Tech Legion

Corsair AXi/AX PSU Refresh: AX860, AX860i, AX760, AX760i

Subject: General Tech, Cases and Cooling | November 6, 2012 - 08:00 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: PSU, corsair, 80 Plus Platinum PSU

It has not been too long since Lee Garbutt reviewed Corsair’s AX1200i Power Supply. Corsair used that product to introduce their Corsair Link Dashboard to the monitoring of Power Supply performance. Lee was very impressed with the supply and gave it a Gold Award.

Some of us are not looking to power a microwave inside our PCs. Corsair has thusly brought that feature to lower wattage PSUs with their new AX860i and AX760i. These PSUs achieve 80 PLUS Platinum certification along with the Digital Signal Processor connection to monitor. If you would rather have $30 USD instead of monitoring capabilities: each model number without the i contains the same 80 PLUS Platinum certification just without the monitoring capabilities. As an added bonus the Corsair power supplies should be very silent. The 860W power supply will shut down its fan to 0 RPM until it reaches a 60% load while the 760W will operate without fans until a 70% load.

These PSUs will be available in November and are priced: $249.99 USD for the AX860i vs. $219.99 USD for the AX860. The AX760i will be available for $229.99 USD vs. $199.99 for the AX760. Again, the i denotes the ability to be monitored by Corsair’s Link Dashboard software.

Press blast after the break!

The second coming of the AX1200, now with software controls

Subject: Cases and Cooling | October 24, 2012 - 05:11 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: PSU, modular psu, kilowatt, Digital Power Supply, Corsair Link, corsair, ax1200i, 80 Plus Platinum

Corsair's new AX1200i PSU is 80 Plus Platinum rated and sports Link monitoring and control software as you might remember from Lee's review.  On the off chance that you would like a second opinion about the PSU, [H]ard|OCP recently published their own review.  Just like Lee they were impressed with the voltage regulation, efficiency, and DC Output quality though they were less impressed with the noise they saw during their Transient Load Test.  They also questioned the use of the Link tweaking software and while the final verdict was positive in some ways they didn't feel this PSU was as true successor to the stellar AX1200 released almost two years ago.

"Corsair has a refresh today that talks to its high end line of high power PSUs. The AX1200i comes in touting "platinum" efficiency and "an unprecedented level of monitoring and performance customization." How does the AX1200i perform out-of-the-box and does it actually bring value at its huge price?"

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• Super Flower Golden Green 350W PSU @ Silent PC Review
• PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 500W Power Supply Review @ Pro-Clockers
• CoolerMaster Silent Pro M2 720W PSU @ Silent PC Review
• Enermax Platimax 600W @ Silent PC Review
• bequiet! Dark Power Pro 10 550W Power Supply @ Silent PC Review
• Seasonic G360 PSU: High efficiency & performance, low price @ Silent PC Review
• Akasa Venom Power 850 W @ techPowerUp
• LEPA B800-MAS 800W Power Supply Unit Review @ NikKTech
• PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 1200-Watt 80 PLUS Platinum @ Tweaktown
• Rosewill Capstone 750W Power Supply Review @ Legit Reviews
• Lepa G1000-MA 1000-Watt 80 PLUS Gold @ Tweaktown
• Enermax MAXREVO 1500 W @ techPowerUp
• FSP Raider 750-Watt 80 PLUS Bronze @ Tweaktown
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 1500W PSU Review @ Legit Reviews
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 1500W @ TechPowerUp

Enermax hits 1350W and gets rated Platinum as well

Subject: Cases and Cooling | September 28, 2012 - 02:30 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: PSU, modular psu, enermax, 80 Plus Platinum, kilowatt, Platimax 1350W

If the 1500W EVGA SuperNova PSU that Lee recently reviewed was a little too much for you then how about the Platimax 1350W from Enermax?  It sports six 12V rails, two at 20A and the remaining at 30A, a mere eight 6+2 pin PCIe power connectors and 14 SATA power connectors. This PSU is the highest rated 80 Plus Platinum PSU [H]ard|OCP has seen, as well as the highest from Enermax and they were not disappointed.  While it shared its design with the MaxRevo 1500W which left [H] a little disappointed, the Enermax implementation was superior and this PSU walked away with an Editor's Choice.

"Enermax is a long standing quality desktop PSU company. It not only specifies and designs power supplies it is one of the few companies that actually build enthusiast PSUs. Enermax today moves it 1350 watt giant into "Platinum" efficiency territory with the new Platimax 1350W."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• Enermax MaxREVO 1500-watt 80 PLUS Gold @ Tweaktown
• EVGA SuperNOVA NEX1500 Classified PSU @ Guru 3D
• PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mark III 1200w 80+ Platinum @ Funky Kit
• Coolermaster M2 1500W 80Plus Silver Modular Power Supply @ TechwareLabs
• Corsair Professional Series HX850 Power Supply Review @ Legit Reviews
• In-Win GreenMe 750-watt 80 PLUS Bronze @ Tweaktown
• Antec High Current Pro 750 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Cougar GX800 800-watt 80 PLUS Gold @ Tweaktown
• In Win GreenMe 650 W @ techPowerUp
• FSP AURUM Xilenser 500-watt 80 PLUS Gold @ Tweaktown
• Spire BlackDragon 400 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secret
• Seasonic G Series 360W @ KitGuru
• Rosewill Fortress Platinum 450W @ AnandTech
• Seasonic G Series 550W @ Kitguru