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This is why you check the brand name AND model for a power supply
Rosewill got its start in life as New Egg's house brand for various computer products. They've had some nice power supplies, and I've recommended their Capstone in particular on a number of occasions. If you look around, you can find many favorable reviews of Rosewill's Lightning, Tachyon, Quark, Silent Night, and Capstone power supplies, all of which are rebadged versions of Super Flower's higher end products.
Prices on the Capstone aren't too bad, but the others can be quite expensive. You can also find Rosewill's ARC, Stallion, Glacier, Hive, Valens, and Photon power supplies at more budget-friendly prices. Reviews of them are far harder to come by, though. Presumably Rosewill sends out review units of their higher end power supplies, but not so much the low end. Perhaps the hope is that someone will see a favorable review of, say, a Rosewill Tachyon power supply, conclude that Rosewill power supplies are good, and then buy the cheap Stallion or ARC power supply over a cheap competitor.
So are the cheaper Rosewill power supplies also good? Hard OCP had a review today of the 700 W version of the Valens, which is 80 PLUS Gold certified. That's not really the low end, but it's also not one that Rosewill sends out review samples of. So it is good?
http://hardocp.com/article/2016/05/05/rosewill_valens700_700w_power_supply_review/8#.Vyuuio1vJ10
Nope. 75 mV of ripple on the +3.3 V rail is just brutal. Anything over 50 mV is out of spec, and that far out of spec is how you kill hardware. It also ran out of spec at 80% of the nominal wattage, though then it was at least closer.
I never recommended a Valens to anyone, as Rosewill's reluctance to send them out for reviews made me suspicious. And while Rosewill was the vendor that got caught, they're hardly the only one to send out flagship models for copious reviews while trying to prevent lower end models from being reviewed at all. Corsair has been playing that game for some years now, too, with ever decreasing quality in their lower end models.
If a power supply vendor has a really great flagship model and also some cheap junk at the low end, that's not a problem if you buy the flagship model. But you can't assume that just because some of their power supplies are good, so are the rest of them. Seasonic is the only power supply vendor that I'd trust from the brand name alone that the power supply will be of decent or better quality and stay well within spec.
Still, the situation on power supplies is a lot better than it was a decade ago. Then, there were only a handful of good models, and they cost a fortune. Today, there are a lot of 80 PLUS Gold or better power supplies that are built from high-quality components and will keep voltages and ripple well within specifications, and most gamers can get one of them with all of the wattage they'll need for well under $100. Power supplies don't scale with Moore's Law, but that doesn't mean they haven't gotten better.
But even as there are a lot of good models on the market, there are still a lot of bad models. So check the brand name and also the model and look for reviews from reputable sites to make sure you're getting a good product. Or just ask for help here. But don't buy something random just because it was cheap.
Prices on the Capstone aren't too bad, but the others can be quite expensive. You can also find Rosewill's ARC, Stallion, Glacier, Hive, Valens, and Photon power supplies at more budget-friendly prices. Reviews of them are far harder to come by, though. Presumably Rosewill sends out review units of their higher end power supplies, but not so much the low end. Perhaps the hope is that someone will see a favorable review of, say, a Rosewill Tachyon power supply, conclude that Rosewill power supplies are good, and then buy the cheap Stallion or ARC power supply over a cheap competitor.
So are the cheaper Rosewill power supplies also good? Hard OCP had a review today of the 700 W version of the Valens, which is 80 PLUS Gold certified. That's not really the low end, but it's also not one that Rosewill sends out review samples of. So it is good?
http://hardocp.com/article/2016/05/05/rosewill_valens700_700w_power_supply_review/8#.Vyuuio1vJ10
Nope. 75 mV of ripple on the +3.3 V rail is just brutal. Anything over 50 mV is out of spec, and that far out of spec is how you kill hardware. It also ran out of spec at 80% of the nominal wattage, though then it was at least closer.
I never recommended a Valens to anyone, as Rosewill's reluctance to send them out for reviews made me suspicious. And while Rosewill was the vendor that got caught, they're hardly the only one to send out flagship models for copious reviews while trying to prevent lower end models from being reviewed at all. Corsair has been playing that game for some years now, too, with ever decreasing quality in their lower end models.
If a power supply vendor has a really great flagship model and also some cheap junk at the low end, that's not a problem if you buy the flagship model. But you can't assume that just because some of their power supplies are good, so are the rest of them. Seasonic is the only power supply vendor that I'd trust from the brand name alone that the power supply will be of decent or better quality and stay well within spec.
Still, the situation on power supplies is a lot better than it was a decade ago. Then, there were only a handful of good models, and they cost a fortune. Today, there are a lot of 80 PLUS Gold or better power supplies that are built from high-quality components and will keep voltages and ripple well within specifications, and most gamers can get one of them with all of the wattage they'll need for well under $100. Power supplies don't scale with Moore's Law, but that doesn't mean they haven't gotten better.
But even as there are a lot of good models on the market, there are still a lot of bad models. So check the brand name and also the model and look for reviews from reputable sites to make sure you're getting a good product. Or just ask for help here. But don't buy something random just because it was cheap.
Comments
I have it narrowed down to 3 options.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151118&ignorebbr=1&_ga=1.76893777.550652855.1462489011
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438055
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104200&cm_re=FSP_Group_Hydro_G_Series_HG650_650W-_-17-104-200-_-Product
Which one is better quality with lasting power?
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
Good PSU usually weight a lot but not all heavy PSUs are good just like all mackerel swim in the sea but not all the fish in the sea are in fact mackerel.
The other issue we see a lot of PSU are people not fully understanding the power your system requires, that unless you are going tri/quad GPUs buying 1000 psu is pointless, fact is i run my machine on a 650 and its duel gpu.
http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator is a decent PSU site for determing what power you will require (there are others around ofc) but too many times people think they need far more than they normally do.
In fact a 500w is generally enough for a standard gaming pc.
This post is all my opinion, but I welcome debate on anything i have put, however, personal slander / name calling belongs in game
where of course you're welcome to call me names im often found lounging about in EvE online.
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Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
I had two Rosewills of the same model, in different PCs, crap-out on me. The first died within 24hrs and the second 18 months later. I replaced the second with an EVGA PSU and it's still going.
I won't be buying another Rosewill for a while.
I've got a feevah, and the only prescription... is more cowbell.
How can someone be forced to decide between spending $150 on a power supply and only getting a $300 video card vs spending $100 on a power supply and getting the $350 video card they want?
If $50 is too much extra to spend on something (you don't have the extra money) then it sounds like there should be other priorities before buying a computer upgrade?
I realize people are tight on money, have families to support, can't find high paying jobs, etc. In those cases, buying a gaming machine should be very low on your list of priorities. I guess to each their own, but it's almost like shooting yourself in the foot to waste time and money on something that isn't exactly what you're looking for simply because you're impatient.
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https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Seasonic is the only PSU manufacturer that I can blanket recommend pretty much any model from. Corsair used to be that way too, but their lower end stuff has slipped.
Currently using an Ultra 1100watt , which has run like dream.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4267989
then that's exactly the sort of power supply that people ought to stay away from. An "1100 W" power supply rated at only 840 W on the +12 V rail doesn't exactly scream high quality.
Most likely, you're only pulling 200 W or so from an "1100 W" power supply, which is low enough that it's not causing trouble for you. But that's really not the recommended way to do things.
So half information isn't all information, and understanding electronics help's me choose my components.
If a power supply is rated as "peak" power and not "continuous" power, that's a pretty sure sign that it's a piece of junk. A good quality 650 W power supply will be able to handle it if you draw 650 W from it for hours on end. I'm not saying it's a good idea to draw the full rated wattage; you do want to leave some leeway, as power draw bounces around a lot. But trying to inflate the wattage ratings with talk of "peak" versus "continuous" power is the sort of thing that a reputable vendor just wouldn't do.
Been working for a few years now.
If your computer won't turn on, or it shuts down randomly, or the PSU explodes and catches on fire - that's a pretty clear case of a PSU problem. Those are very rare.
More often, PSU problems show up as BSODs, lockups, and failing hardware. You'd not guess it's actually the PSU causing the problem, at least not until after several hundred dollars in replacement hardware. This is much more common than it should be, unfortunately.