Power Supply Manufacturer TOP 10

[Serado]

I have been doing a lot of power supply research lately and I came upon this little opinion piece on the nvidia forums.

It is written by NV4TEHWIN and be found in its entirety here:

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion...php?t4146.html

I found its content interesting and worth sharing. Please feel free to chip in your own opinions.


Power Supply Manufacturer TOP 10 (or TOP 5)

Here's something you might not know. Most companies that sell power supplies don't actually make them. They slap a sticker on someone elses unit and sell it as their own (commonly referred to as "rebadged"). While many of them have their own features added to try and niche out a spot in a crowded market, this usually doesn't hurt it's performance and might even improve it functionally, not just add shiny eye candy. Many though, it's just eye candy. And many do absolutely nothing... they just slap a sticker on the side.

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#1a
Topower
(some TTGI - Super-Flower, OCZ, EPower/Tagan, RaidMax, Vantec, ACI)

#1b
FSP - Fortron Source Power
(Fortron, Sparkle, Cooler Master*, Zalman, Aopen)

#1c
CWT - Channel Well Technology
(Antec, Lead Power, Enermax, Xclio, Turbolink)

While these top three encompass more than the re-badges I've named, you can usually bet on a solid performer if you pick one of them. It's highly debatable which are better than others, of course. But all in all, everyone has had pretty good experiences. Not suprisingly, they are priced accordingly. None of them in the 400W range are going to be under $50. If your power supply is one of the above, chances are you can trust both the unit itself and it's claims on wattage per line.


#2a
Sea Sonic

#2b
Wintech
(Ultra X-finity)

#2c
Acbel Polytech
(Stateside, just the Cooler Master True Power)

Same with these, a bit more esoteric. If you can afford a Sea Sonic these have the best efficiency of any consumer switching PSU for computers. You'll pay for it up front, but your electric bill will be less in the long run.


#3a
Sirtec
(Chieftec, Enlight, ThermalTake, High Power)

#3b
HEC - HeroIchi Electronic Co.
(HEC, CompuCase)

#3c
AMS - American Media Systems
(Mercury)

Here you start finding dissention in the owners. Some claim it's the best in the world, some wouldn't let their dog run Windows 3.11 on one. Some of them have great reputations (TT & HEC) but the problem is a "squeaky wheel" one - it's hard to know just how good/bad things are when only people with problems post.


#4a
Youngyear
(Aspire, Logisys, MGE, Ultra X-Connect, Rosewill)

#4b
ATNG
(Coolink, CoolMax, Rosewill, StarTech)

Now we're into budget territory. Maybe it's just a quality control issue; some people love them but most hate them, and from bad personal experiences. I personally wouldn't touch them. They should work, but no one will be suprised if it smokes itself and takes your motherboard with it. They rarely come close to what their ratings state, very poorly constructed. (but usually colors or chrome and UV sleeved and colored Molex's and LED fans!) These for the most part are toys, although you might get lucky. Not all of them are, but it does take more effort in sifting through them than it's worth.


#5
CRAP!
(L&C, Deer, Allied, Eagle, CodeGen/Foxconn, EverPower, Maxpower)

If you believe one of these things will power your computer, I have a 7-band underdash amplifier/equalizer that's 250W+250W that I'll sell you for $5. You'll love it. Really, if you have one of these supplies, don't mention it to us. Just silently toss it out and buy one in the #1 category.

--=--=--=--=--=--

[CrowdAds]

[izibo]

I have a sparkle... I love it.

[FightingChance]

Good writeup, I like seeing the rebadges listed.

[SlowJoeBlow]

You can also check the Underwriter Labs database to see who manufactured your PS by getting the UL number here

and input the UL file number in this database (ex..E131875)

UL Online Certifications Directory

[fvbounty]

I wonder why PC Power and Cooling wasn't mentioned, has far as I know they are always highly rated....

[CanterwoodBoy]

My Thermaltake was manufactured by CWT, so you should really check who is the manufacturer of the PSU by using Underwriter Labs' database, rather then relying on the trademark.

[Serado]

I found this to be really humorous.

A friend of mine and I used to argue over and over which company made the better PSUs. I would say Antec and he would say Enermax.

Ha! Turns out we both were right!


Serado

[SpeedDMN]

Originally Posted by fvbounty

I wonder why PC Power and Cooling wasn't mentioned, has far as I know they are always highly rated....

I wondered that myself. Maybe it was just a list of
the diversified manufacturers. So far as I know PCP&C only makes PSU's and only makes them for themselves. Should have been NO#1 of course

[specmike]

I hear that recently PC P&C is no longer made in-house. They have another doing the manufacturing.

One other thing we need to clarify is rebadging vs a company doing the manufacturing. It's 2 VERY different things. If you open some of these up (Antec vs Enermax for example) they have different guts determined by the designer, not the manufacturer. This is not simple rebadging.

[SpeedDMN]

Originally Posted by specmike

I hear that recently PC P&C is no longer made in-house. They another doing the manufacturing.

Huh I hadn't heard that. Would be too bad if true. The company's personal attention to just one product was one of the things I liked about them.

[traveler]

Originally Posted by SpeedDMN

I wondered that myself. Maybe it was just a list of
the diversified manufacturers. So far as I know PCP&C only makes PSU's and only makes them for themselves. Should have been NO#1 of course

And another one here who wonders why PCP&C was not mentiuond in the Number One ranks.



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[SubZero]

Nice linky!!

[Serado]

This very recent article on power supplies further explains some of the rebadging and marketing behind all of this.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/370

It kind of clarify/complements all of the above. After all, there can never be too much information for us, no?



Serado

[traveler]

More !!!!!!! More information !!!!!!!



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[Serado]

For people with OEM power supply needs(i.e HP, Dell, Gateway,etc) I have found this site that caters to those needs:

http://www.power-on.com/index.html

If you look around you can find both the models AND the original supplier name in some cases. It also gives out a comprehensive breakdown of the power connectors on those units. It always handy to have around...just in case.


Just trying to empower people.

Serado