PSU Good/Bad List

ceewi1

ceewi1

VIP Member
First off I'll say that I'm a little sceptical about the whole idea of a good/bad list, but I've been asked for something like this on many occasions. This is not intended to be exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination, I am not trying to assign each company to a category, nor to say that people should restrict their choices to a PSU in the Good list, nor to imply that all PSUs in the Good list are of equal quality.

What I am saying is that if you purchase and use a PSU from the good list, you'll probably be getting a high quality, long lasting, realistically rated unit. If you purchase and use a PSU from the Bad list you'll probably be headed for trouble.

As always, any additions are welcome.

So, by popular request:
Good:
Acbel Polytec
Akasa
Antec
Astec
Asus
Channelwell
Coolermaster (N.B. eXtremePower 600W & 650W are substantially overrated).
Corsair
Delta
Enermax
Enhance
Etasis
FSP
Gigabyte
Impervio
Lite-On
Masscool
OCZ
PC Power and Cooling
Seasonic
Seventeam
Silverstone
Sparkle
Thermaltake Toughpowers
Ultra
Wintact
Wintec
XClio
Zalman
Zippy

Bad:
Achieve
Allied
Apevia/Aspire
Austin
Can Power
Chiefmax
Codegen
Colors It
Deer
Diablotek
Dynapower
Hairong
Hyena
JPAC
L&C
Leadman
Linkworld
Logisys
MSI
PowerTek
PowerUp (Not to be confused with Power Up)
Powmax
Powork
Raidmax units included with cases
Real Power Enterprise
Rhycom
Sunbeam
Turbolink
YE
Youngyear

The PSU rebranding guide may also be a helpful resource here - if the company that sells the PSU isn't on this list, maybe the OEM is.
 
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hpi

hpi

banned
Finally someone made this list.

Thanks for this, should save alot of people trouble which is always a good thing ;)
 
O

oscaryu1

VIP Member
Wheres Lead Power?

Chiefmax - ?!?!?! I thought those were terrific! I had an 450W @ 28 amps! has worked perfectly for 2+ year!
 
Geoff

Geoff

VIP Member
Thats completely untrue, are you trying to tell me that the 350W Powmax PSU that came with my $15 case isnt top of the line????
 
leSHok

leSHok

New Member
I have an Orion PSU I bought off tigerdirect and I run my computer weeks at a time because I go back forth between houses. I think that deserves a spot on the good list :) (for now at least)
 
X

XanderCage

New Member
it's not about weeks, it's about months, maybe even years, with ability for support and some sort of warranty, that's what i think sirs.
 
ETSA

ETSA

New Member
Quite a few in the good lis,t I recommend...



people stay away from..



But it is not my list.
 
ceewi1

ceewi1

VIP Member
theresthatguy said:
Is Topower a good brand?
Click to expand...
A bit of a mixed bag. Some good units, some poor ones. None I'd strongly recommend TBH.

Quite a few in the good lis,t I recommend...
people stay away from..
But it is not my list.
Click to expand...
Any specifics? I'm quite willing to make changes, and I think that the forum would benefit from discussion and scrutiny.

I have an Orion PSU I bought off tigerdirect and I run my computer weeks at a time because I go back forth between houses. I think that deserves a spot on the good list (for now at least)
Click to expand...
The HEC Orion units are discussed a little here: http://www.computerforum.com/73603-very-best-power-supply-money.html. Even if yours is just labelled Orion, it's still the same unit. Unfortunately there aren't any professional reviews I've seen available on those units, and without thorough testing I'm not inclined to include them on a "Known Good" list.
 
Burgerbob

Burgerbob

Active Member
Coolmax isnt on either list, but is on the rebranding list. ? i have one, and it is nothing special, but gets the job done and hasnt done anything bad yet.
 
ThatGuy16

ThatGuy16

VIP Member
Logisys sucks, i got one for tempory use and it works fine but... it feels realy cheap, the power cord gets fairly hot, and a molex wire come about cut in two lol. So its just a backup one now since i got my OCZ :D
 
J

Jon Boy

New Member
Kimpro is not on the list. I just bought a PSU from them but I have a feeling it wont be very good as it was fairly cheap. Any additions to this?
 
ceewi1

ceewi1

VIP Member
I've never heard of Kimpro before, and their website isn't very informative. Is there a UL number on the label?

As for Coolmax, I wouldn't really include them on either list. Models vary a fair bit in quality, but overall are 'mediocre'.
 
J

Jon Boy

New Member
I have googled all numbers on the case and it returns nothing, the PSU is not on their site. Its a cheap chinese make that I think I wasted my money on, and from what other people in anouther post have said is it is absalutely crap. 750Watt PSU only has 24A on 12v rail but then +5v has 60A lol. I guess people should avoid this.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
I came across four Coolmax about a year ago, CP-500T 500 watts for 39 bucks a piece. Put them in medium builds, been out there a year a havent had any come back yet. So I guess there so so. Never heard of Kimpro either?
 
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mep916

mep916

Administrator
Staff member
This thread, the "PSU Rebranding Guide," and the "Power Recommendations by Video Card" article have been extremely helpful. Thanks, ceewi1. :D
 
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