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Corsair shows why budget PSUs aren't so great
Author: Richard SwinburnePublished: 17th July 2008
...BOOOOM HEADSHOT!
Well, no, you're paying for the fact that it won't blow up - that's why we test PSUs to their limits and we never, ever recommend anything other than branded products. Some people don't listen though and Corsair recently took it upon itself to test some of shoddiest looking power supplies we've seen.
Corsair put six budget units to the test at just 75 percent load and came to some explosive results - check the video to see some MOSFET popping action.
Sure, it's a promotional video for Corsair PSUs and they do run them without the cover on so the airflow isn't directed over the heatsinks, but it still goes to show that cheap PSUs would rather explode than integrate essential features like overheat protection.
It certainly is a case of "you get what you pay for", however that statement is somewhere between untrue and ironic since Corsair aggressively undercut most of the PSU market (annoying a lot of other manufacturers) with their own products. Not that we've had a Corsair PSU pop on us mind, however running the HX1000 at 1,200W recently did produce some interesting noises! (The review will arrive soon).
Corsair are understandably not naming names in the video, but if you recognise who's PSUs do go pop - let us know in the forums!
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It's just a good job that most systems don't come close to using what their PSU's are rated to, really.
Corsair Hx620w is teh FTW factory :)
its scary how many people don't do so after spending a load on new hardware while building a new pc, i dont feel sorry for them if there PSU's blow up as they were to narrow minding while buying a Q-tec etc
:)
That said, not all "quality" PSUs are fantastic. Some older Antecs used cheap capacitors which went pop if they were loaded heavily over a year or two. Their newer units, though, OEMed by Seasonic/CWT (as are Corsair's, IIRC) and are much better quality.
Fixed, I'm too used to writing phosphor, sulphur, etc
The majority of the super cheap and blowing up psu's are made by allied (known under many different brandnames and very popular among the big system integrators for record low prices).
Usually they dont blow up just because people think they need a 700W psu for a E4500 2GB ram single hdd and integrated graphics so most people who buy prebuilt pc's never even notice the psu they have is overrated by 400W because there computer wont even use 200W, but if you take a device that can actually draw as much power from a psu as is written on the label then a firework is almost guaranteed.
on top of that, psu's changed in design over the last few years, the majority of the power used to be on the 3,3V and 5V rails, there are still such psu's out there sadly even though those rails are almost worthless these days and the "action" is on the 12V rail(s).
not sure, but it looks too big to me for a psu box, more like the box of a case size, but then I'm going by memory of what I've seen in the video yesterday and cant watch it now thx to work pc blocking it.
great music with that vid
I would have prefered a more scientific test, with various manufacturers, loads and price points. but it was pretty nonetheless in a destructive kind of way, the best kind ;)
upgraded to a laptop myself but the parents still use that rig...
But.... It's an acronym... and neither phosphor, nor sulphur are in the full title...
Eh?
Spotted ;)
Though I think its a bit too big for use as a PSU box, so not sure its a cooler master PSU.
Fortunately it blew when I was there as after a few hours I actually went out and left it running not realizing what could happen if something blew.
My house could have caught fire any number of times I've done 24hr stress tests but until then it never crossed my mind, I always buy good quality kit but a simple slip up can be dangerous, something to consider.
I would love to see the fireworks :D
edit: That video was brilliant and the music was so fitting
It's really not worth risking your home/business by buying shoddy electrical equipment, especially PSU's. They're one of the most likely things to die out of all electrical equipment based on my experience. CRT monitors are also prone to exploding.
Fair enough... Awkward Americans..
These supplies are designed with a certain amount of diversity in mind - as has already been alluded to, much of the load is now moving from the 12V to 5V rails. In each test there, transistors in the same area failed. If they put all 300 plus watts of load on one rail, they deserved to have it fail. Per rail maximums will be printed on the side of the box.
I presume they didn't make this mistake, but they should say so.
I've been lucky none have sploded tho :D
But I think because they load it with 1000Watts hardware ( 3X GTX280 etc.. ) hehhehehe that budget work with crap computers better than fine
thanks for the link BT. Keep it flowing with new information
The video said the load they put on them. they did not put a 1000W load on them. They were all 75% of their rating.
I have a 430W Enermax that has served me well for almost 3 years. It currently has a C2D E6800 @2.3ghz, 4GB of DDR2 800, a Radeon 3870, 2 HDs, and 2 DVD drives. Never had an issue.
Yes, that's a chassis box, not a PSU box (we use some CM cases for show PCs and so forth). We're certainly not trying to suggest that the PSU is made by CM! The PSU in that vid is a cheap (but not unbranded) PSU that cost about $25 from Newegg.
All six PSUs were the same model, and all six popped in a similar way. We actually tested another three prior to this (all with the case lids on too) and they also all popped in less than 2 mins at 75% load, so that's nine in total. That's why we thought about doing the video
Sure, this is marketing, and a bit of fun, but with a serious message too.
It stands for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor, it tells you what the guts of it are made from and how it works. Its basically the big transistors attached to the heatsinks and they do get hot if you thrash them (hence the heatsinks) and the video show what happens if you thrash them too much.
I still think large electrolytic capacitors are more spectacular when they explode - don't try this one at home kids as some of them have some pretty nasty ingredients and you definitely don't want to inhale the fumes given off when they vapourise their contents. Just take my word for it - although I suppose some smart a£$⬠will have a video on Youtube as they seem to have just about everything on there.
Excellent.
How was the load distributed between the various outputs?
the psu that came with my cheapo hp computer is only 300 watts, and i kind of want to upgrade my graphics card. i looked on tigerdirect to upgrade my psu, and the budget ones are the only ones i could afford. i steered clear, though, because all the reviews said that they overheated. this just confirms my suspicions of budget/off brand psu's.
it isnt shindlers list mate, who cares?
A rail is a seperate voltage outlet, ie. you have a 12v rail where all the 12v (yellow wires) come from, a 5v rail, etc.
Modular just means the you can swap out certain cables to keep the mess down in a case and to improve airflow, they normally have connectors that click into the psu, instead of having a big bunch of wires zip tied to the top of your case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152032
Price is actually only $20.49+$11 S/H. Matter of fact I have a Raidmax PSU that came with the Ninja case- rated at 450 that had rail distribution good enough for Pentium 3 (3v and 5v heavy), and my Barton was heating it up tremendously. I know the system sucks probably less than 250W at load, and it was obvious it was really inefficient, but it had 24 pin connector...funny that it got replaced by 450VX. I also have 620HX and really love that beast. Corsair has won me as a lifetime customer.
Right.. Okay, thanks.
But, why would I want twin rails? Like two 12v rails?
This article did make me a little paranoid, so I did a little online research about the particular PSU that I replaced my stock PSU with. While I did not buy a cheap model, I wanted to make sure that it delivered the promised specs. According to http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/556 it performed as advertised and was tested beyond its advertised limit to 770W. The article does consider it overpriced, but that is usually the case when buying hardware from big retail stores.
All that said, next time I decide to upgrade a PSU, I will do a better job at researching the models available. In this case, I overpaid, but at least I got what was promised on the box.
the only PSU I've had that has failed at all was my HX620, when I was using it for load testing systems. (keep in mind it was at or very slightly over rated capacity)
it was still under warranty though and I had a new one in less than a week, so I can't complain ;)
That was done (i believe) to comply with some EU standard or other about not having more than 120VA (20A @12V) through a user accessible cable. Most PSUs have a single 12V regulator and then have 1/2/3 sets of over current cut-offs for the rails (unless this has changed recently). There is no real practical difference.
I believe that the six PSUs mentioned in the video were tested at 12V = 18A, 3.3V = 20A and 5V = 10A (332W). Three prior to this also failed at 12V = 21A, 3.3V = 10A, 5V = 10A (with case lid on).
the Hx620w under cuts all modular 600w with its performance and price
iv got a little Q-tec at my feet right now says on the side 500W, but even i know thats a joke. it used as a test PSU, i.e for testing fans after rewiring. i wont power any hardware off it though as i dont think the power is clean enough, or another way to put it, stable enough.
This whole debacle should not have been posted on the front page, it isnt showing any statistics that dont appear to have a bias to them. And thats horrible...
Power supplies may not be sexy like a graphics card, but they're damn important.
I won the 750w Corsair power supply in the Bit-Tech reader survey but haven't put it in my setup as my current 530w Hiper Type-R is doing sterling work and i figured if it aint broke....
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e314/Nexxo00/DSC_0501Medium.jpg
No problem! I'll just give you my address... ;)
Anyway, I cannot agree more on this video, being from Corsair or not! My last rig before this one I had a cheap generic PSU, I thought "It has enough wattage so: who cares?" After not even a month the thing catched fire! Note: It burned, not a bit of smoke, but flames! It took the whole computer including the case with it. Really scared the **** out of me. Too bad I hadn't a camera around.
Plus I'd have sex with my current 450W Corsair PSU if I could.
My psu's never last more then a year, because I want the newer better fancier more efficient one thats reviewed here.