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Added BFG MX-550 & MX-680 - review data here

 

Still need to go through and check for anything that might now be unavailable. Should get to it in the next couple of days.

 

It wasn't tested at 230VAC in that review! :blink:

 

Cheers

 

Paul

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Ah yes, I had meant to add a note about that for our European members, thanks for reminding me. :)

 

 

While the power supplies on this list have been shown to perform up to certain standards in testing, it is worth noting that most will not have been tested at 230VAC.

Most power supply reviews (or at least the ones used as sources for this list) are based in the USA, with its standard 120V 60Hz mains.

 

As you may know, the standard voltage in European countries tends to be between 220V and 240V (230V 50Hz in the UK for example).

Feeding a PSU with a different input voltage will have certain effects on its performance.

While efficiency values will have a tendency to improve with the higher voltage, power factor can be negatively impacted and potentially certain aspects of output quality as well.

So your mileage may vary basically.

 

Unfortunately, until all review sites begin including 230VAC testing (or similar.. OCC tests at both 110VAC and 230VAC) it makes things difficult.

I could leave any PSUs not tested in this manner off the list completely, but that way we'd end up with a pretty short list (with some no doubt excellent performers left out in the cold).

 

So for now I am simply going to add note and make it clear that those of us living outside of the US may experience slightly differing performance than testing has shown.

Hopefully these differences will not be large enough to turn a very good PSU into one I wouldn't recommend, but it ultimately can't be ruled out completely.

Edited by jammin

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Removed Enermax Galaxy 850W and 1000W - Previous generation lineup, since replaced with the Revolution85+. You can still buy them, but would opt for something more recent unless you can pick them up for a considerable discount.

 

Removed Etasis ET750 and ET850 - Questionable availability. Review dates all a long time ago.

 

Removed FSP Green Series - Potentially still a decent low cost option, but the market has moved on since their addition to the list.

 

Removed OCZ ProXStream 1000W - Questionable availability. No longer listed on OCZ's site.

 

Removed Thermaltake Toughpower 550W - No longer available.

 

Removed Zippy (all) - Likely hard to get hold of in retail channels. More relevant when server class PSUs defined a huge jump in quality.

 

 

Cull over. :)

 

note: Have some reservations about some of the Thermaltake PSUs on the list. The Toughpower line appears to have been extensively revised without any real name changes. I'd like to see some updated testing on a lot of the models. They will stay for now.

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Thank you. :)

 

I'm sure there are still improvements I could make and I'm always welcoming of suggestions.

 

One thing that irks me a little is that it is often that only one PSU in a series will get reviewed by the sites that I use for source material, meaning I can't really add the others.

I'm sure there are plenty more recent PSUs that I would like to see on it, but adding them would be based on expectations rather than actual testing. :(

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Jammin, I was thinking this exact same thing. Sometimes, an entire series is great, other times, a few are good, while others drop the ball. Sometimes lower wattage counterparts of a series are just the same unit with limits set at different numbers.

 

For me, I have started trying to get a number of units in an entire series, just to have a feel for the line. I just started doing this last week, so I don't know how successful this will be, but if it works I would love to see it happen more often. The problem is tho, it would start getting expensive on the part of companies to send out so many samples, especially it is three or four units going to any single site.

 

Its a real problem when recommending a units.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey, great job on providing so much useful info! Is there a reason that the ABS Tagan series of power supplies aren't included. I wanted to know because I have an 1100W and very expensive one which is supposed to be over 80% efficient and modular. I'm installing it in my new rig. What do you think?

 

Thanks

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As with some of the units absent from the list, it could very well be the lack of thorough evidence in the case of some of the Tagan models.

Which is the exact model you have?

 

As far as I know, Tagan still use Topower as their manufacturer, and while they can produce some good units they don't appear to be as consistent as some OEMs.

I would suspect that it is by no means a bad PSU and you'll probably get along with it just fine. :)

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