Question How important is getting a certified PS?

jamesdsimone · Jan 15, 2024

Looking at PS's for some upgrades. Bronze certified PS's add about 20USD to the price of what I am looking at. Do I need to spend the extra money. It is for a budget gaming build.

In2Photos · Jan 16, 2024

Getting a certified PSU doesn't guarantee that the PSU is any good, see the Gigabyte PSU exploding debacle! But chances are a certified PSU is better than one that is not certified. All of the better PSUs are certified. But there are likely some decent PSUs that are not certified and if you feel the $20 savings is worth it just make sure you pick a PSU that is at least rated well by users.

mikeymikec · Jan 16, 2024

+1 In2Photos. It's a low bar but I wouldn't dream of going beneath it. 80+ Bronze is the minimum certification I consider.

ch33zw1z · Jan 16, 2024

don’t skimp on PSU’s

jamesdsimone · Jan 16, 2024

Got this on sale.

https://www.newegg.com/thermaltake-spd-750ah2clb-750-w/p/N82E16817153455?Item=N82E16817153455

BoomerD · Jan 16, 2024

You could have done worse…but you SHOULD have spent a bit more and gotten better than Thermaktake. That brand is generally considered about one step above junk. IMO, even the lowest end units from Corsair, SuperFlower, and Seasonic are better.
Still…it’s not one of the worst.
I don’t understand why people spend good money to build a decent gaming computer then scrimp on what is basically the heart of a computer. PSUs generally aren’t flashy looking full of bright, colorful lights, (I DID say generally…I know some very good ones have their bling) but steady, dependable power that doesn’t waver…is worth 10x the fancy lights. Most GOOD quality PSUs have 7-10 year warranties…or longer.

jamesdsimone · Jan 16, 2024

BoomerD said:
You could have done worse…but you SHOULD have spent a bit more and gotten better than Thermaktake. That brand is generally considered about one step above junk. IMO, even the lowest end units from Corsair, SuperFlower, and Seasonic are better.
Still…it’s not one of the worst.
I don’t understand why people spend good money to build a decent gaming computer then scrimp on what is basically the heart of a computer. PSUs generally aren’t flashy looking full of bright, colorful lights, (I DID say generally…I know some very good ones have their bling) but steady, dependable power that doesn’t waver…is worth 10x the fancy lights. Most GOOD quality PSUs have 7-10 year warranties…or longer.

This is for a super budget Optiplex 9020 upgrade. I have an EVGA in it now but I want to use that in another build.

manly · Jan 17, 2024

None of the PSU brands actually manufactures its products, so saying Brand X sucks is generally not that useful. Certainly there are junk brands* to avoid (if you follow the Cultists Tier list), but for example Thermaltake's Toughpower GF3 is an A Tier PSU. TT has good and bad ones in their portfolio.

It's unclear what is recommended in this situation. Glanced at Newegg/Amazon and the best I saw is Corsair RM750e for $90. But it's easy to fall into the rabbit hole of "it's only $20 more." That's 29% more and perhaps way overkill for a 9 year old Dell pre-built. That PC itself may not even be worth $90 in resale value, so why would you throw "good money after bad?"

Ideally you'd wait around for a sale, but in today's environment that'll get you a better PSU for $80. It wouldn't actually get you anything better for $70 or less. I suppose the best idea would be to buy a good PSU off Craigslist for cheap.**

* Oddly enough, some of the junk brands have high reviews on Amazon. Review manipulation, but at least some consumers have fallen for it too.
** If you're in L.A. I'd sell you a NIB EVGA 550W PSU (bought in 2018). It even has the shrink wrap on it, and it seems unlikely that I'll ever do anything with it.

DCFly · Jan 18, 2024

I would not waste money on a PSU that lacks at least 80 Plus Gold certification, even for a budget build. While the 80 Plus certification has been proven to be a poor standard for rating PSUs, it does seem to symbolize different quality tiers in a brand's catalog. In other words, an 80 Plus Gold PSU is usually going to have higher-quality components inside, even if they are not directly contributing to the 80 Plus rating.

If you are new to the PC building game and don't have time for research, look for something from Corsair in the RM/RMx range or something in the Seasonic Focus range for a budget build.

dlerious · Jan 31, 2024

I go more by the PSU cultists list than 80-plus now. I wouldn't go lower than a C tier PSU. The more I've spent on my computer, the higher up the list I go.

TechTalk · Feb 2, 2024

I'd spend the extra cash to get at least a Bronze-rated PSU if you can. The ratings aren't perfect but tend to mean better quality parts.

You don't want something crapping out and taking other parts with it! Might be worth saving up a bit more for peace of mind, even if it's just a budget build.

lakedude · Feb 3, 2024

I'm surprised no one seems to have mentioned that 80+ is an efficiency rating, not a quality rating.

The better 80+ ratings are especially important for computers that are on 24/7 because less efficient power supplies will waste electricity and turn it into heat (the enemy of electronics).

At the same time if a company has gone to the trouble of making a PS more efficient it is most likely going to be a higher quality unit. So 80+ tiers are an indirect measure of quality.

manly · Feb 4, 2024

Cybenetics testing is considered rigorous and provides a good indicator of quality.

Corsair RM750e is down to $80 at Amazon, which is about as good as it gets for a Tier A unit. You get a 7 year warranty.

Amazon.com

KompuKare · Feb 4, 2024

lakedude said:
I'm surprised no one seems to have mentioned that 80+ is an efficiency rating, not a quality rating.

The better 80+ ratings are especially important for computers that are on 24/7 because less efficient power supplies will waste electricity and turn it into heat (the enemy of electronics).

At the same time if a company has gone to the trouble of making a PS more efficient it is most likely going to be a higher quality unit. So 80+ tiers are an indirect measure of quality.

I'd say that's probably the case of Platinum and Titanium, but generic Bronze, Silver and Gold no longer indicate that much. That is, to reach Platinum or Titanium you have to have a good design and can't totally skimp on parts - although if an OEM really knows their stuff they probably could get good rating and use cheaper parts. At least for more expensive capacitors you also buy longevity (aka being able to work at 105°C or 115°C).

WilliamM2 · Feb 4, 2024

manly said:
Cybenetics testing is considered rigorous and provides a good indicator of quality.

Corsair RM750e is down to $80 at Amazon, which is about as good as it gets for a Tier A unit. You get a 7 year warranty.

Amazon.com

Why would a Tier A unit only have a 7 year warranty? Serious question.

manly · Feb 4, 2024

WilliamM2 said:
Why would a Tier A unit only have a 7 year warranty? Serious question.

Huh? Manufacturers set the warranty length for a variety of reasons; it isn't a direct correlation to quality. For a while, 7 years was considered a fine warranty for a PSU. Now that's 10 years, and IIRC Seasonic has even upped the ante to 12 years. 12 is ridiculous, and I'm not so sure 10 is all that important either. Some people say a PSU should be junked at the 10 year mark.
Honestly, how often does someone avail themselves of a PSU warranty in year 8 through 10? (Probably rarely.)

As for the tiers, these are just educated opinions of quality. And even within a tier, they aren't all identical. The Corsair RMe series has great acoustics, but is considered a step below the RMx or other highest quality PSUs with 10 year warranties. I recently bought the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M even though it didn't have the best of the best reviews; by all accounts it is fairly similar to the RM850e. These both still belong to Tier A.

For the price, the RMe is a really solid choice. Alternately you could get the RM750x for about $120 (current price), but that's 50% more! (You also lose ATX 3.0 features.)

WilliamM2 · Feb 4, 2024

manly said:
Huh? Manufacturers set the warranty length for a variety of reasons; it isn't a direct correlation to quality. For a while, 7 years was considered a fine warranty for a PSU. Now that's 10 years, and IIRC Seasonic has even upped the ante to 12 years. 12 is ridiculous, and I'm not so sure 10 is all that important either. Some people say a PSU should be junked at the 10 year mark.

Just curious, It's been well over a decade since I have had any PSU with a warranty shorter than 10 years.

Corsair offers warranties from 3 to 10 years. Obviously they have more faith in some of their products than others. Same with any other manufacturer.

mindless1 · Feb 5, 2024

It is too complex a subject to address in a few forum topic posts.

PSU tiering, especially by brand, can be useful to give you an idea of what value you're getting per dollar, but then there are often discounts to be had on the internet, so the value segment (per wattage needed) is a moving target.

Today I wouldn't buy anything less than bronze certified, not because it is a guarantee of a certain quality level, but it is at least an indicator that it isn't using an ancient design, and if it is a current generation PSU model, and not at least bronze, then it probably is junk. As someone else already wrote if they are bothering to make it bronze or better, they at least put a little effort into the design while a sub-bronze today, is going to be something that used the cheapest components they could to reach the wattage rating, if it even does.

Even so, I have had PSU with ancient group regulated designs fail in the past, and those that had at least auto-PFC, I repaired them and wouldn't hesitate to reuse for a budget build, or keep as spares if some other PSU fails, though derating their wattage a bit more than I did for their first deployment. That is if the PSU is a reasonable match for the system, occasionally there might be an atypical system with cross-loading issues.

What is usually the biggest drawback to the budget PSU, if it runs the system stably? Lifespan. Lower quality capacitors and sleeve bearing fan, with the former or eventually the latter, causing early demise.

With that in mind, it can make sense to buy a good quality PSU for some old beater OEM or budget gaming system, if the eventual plan is to reuse it for a new build, or just keep using it longer term. I wouldn't even bother building something if I didn't think i'd get more than 5 years out of it, and wouldn't expect a contemporary model sub-bronze PSU to last that long. Granted, a gaming PC is a bit of an exception, but I would still build with a plan to keep the motherboard that long even if the video card and to lesser extent memory and CPU were upgraded later.

Seldom do people regret paying a bit more for a higher quality widget, but that doesn't mean you have to go overboard for top of the line either.

manly · Feb 8, 2024

RM750e for $65 after coupon. This deal won't last long (say an hour or so).

Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold Fully Modular Low-Noise ATX 3.0 Power Supply $65 + Free S/H

Amazon has Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold Fully Modular Low-Noise ATX 3.0 Power Supply (Black) on sale for $84.99 - $20 Off (automatically applied at checkout) = $64.99. Shipping is fr ...

slickdeals.net

lakedude · Feb 8, 2024

manly said:
RM750e for $65 after coupon. This deal won't last long (say an hour or so).

Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold Fully Modular Low-Noise ATX 3.0 Power Supply $65 + Free S/H

Amazon has Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold Fully Modular Low-Noise ATX 3.0 Power Supply (Black) on sale for $84.99 - $20 Off (automatically applied at checkout) = $64.99. Shipping is fr ...

slickdeals.net

Question How important is getting a certified PS?

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