bit-tech.net

PC Power & Cooling finally launches new PSUs

Published on 24th May 2010 by Richard Swinburne

PC Power's latest Silencer MKII may now use a bigger 135mm fan, but they still have no modular option.

High-end PSU king PC Power & Cooling - owned by OCZ - has finally announced a new line of PSUs, in the shape of the Silencer MKII. In the process, it's broken the habit of a lifetime, shifting away from the 80mm cooling fan PC Power insisted was optimal for a high-end PSU.

The new model is its first PSU to utilise a larger fan, opting for a 135mm model.

It's no secret out here in Taiwan that OCZ has struggled financially recently, but it just undergone restructuring and secured extra funding. Its renewed interest in PC Power would seem to show that OCZ is broadening its focus and trying to get maximum value out of its brands. While we're happy to see PC Power return, unfortunately, arguably too much old-school influence remains though, as there's still no modular cable option for the new PSUs - the entire range is still captive cable only.

On the plus side, the MKIIs keep the single 12V rail and the premium 950W includes more cables than you'll probably ever need, but will actually require to use all that power.

All the PSUs are rated 80Plus Silver except the 500W alone which is 80Plus Bronze. They also claim "Up to 90% (10dB) Less Noise per Watt". We're wondering whether that actually means it's just lower noise than a-n-other brand, or whether it's actually 10dB during operation?

Since Seasonic hasn't manufactured Silencers for a while (and has been re-using the PC Power PCBs elsewhere), we're wondering who OCZ has hooked up with now to manufacture its parts.

No word yet on a replacement for the TurboCools though, or if PC Power is interested in lower wattage parts for budget builds.

Is this a resurgence of the PC Power brand name with a competitive product? Or is it too little, too late? Let us know your thoughts, in the forums.

32 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

mi1ez 24th May 2010, 14:44

I have no intention of passing comment until we see reliability and voltage testing.

Arj12 24th May 2010, 14:46

Ohhh very nice. PC Power & Cooling PC's are the best! Albeit expensive. I have one running in my pc for years and it is running brilliantly! Silent and all. Now that they have moved from the 80mm fan does this mean the PSU is shorter than the previous PSU's? Only reason I ask was because the gap between the fan and the pcb was all part of the marketing for having a quieter PSU.

Sparrowhawk 24th May 2010, 15:04

I'm interested to see the testing too, mostly because I've lost focus of where the PSU state of the art is. I do sorely need to upgrade my PSU if I'm going to upgrade my other parts, but was holding off as I'd not like to scrap my homemade modular cable setup for a premade one.

rickysio 24th May 2010, 16:07

Now waiting for jonnyguru to have a crack at them, to see if the mighty has fallen, or has returned triumphant.

Zero82z 24th May 2010, 16:48

Quote:

(although we should note PC Power did provide the internals for the previous OCZ branded EliteXStream PSUs, even if the company didn't use its name)

Huh? That's complete nonsense. Where did you hear that? Not only is PCP&C not a PSU manufacturer and has never been, but the EliteXStream line was also manufactured by Impervio, which is an OEM that never had a working relationship with PCP&C.

Quote:

we're wondering who OCZ has hooked up with now to manufacture its parts.

Sirfa/High Power.

Quote:

No word yet on a replacement for the TurboCools though

It's a pretty safe bet there won't be one.

phantombudgie 24th May 2010, 19:41

Quote:

All the PSUs are rated 80Plus Silver except the 500W alone which is 80Plus Bronze. They also claim "Up to 90% (10dB) Less Noise per Watt". We're wondering whether that actually means it's just lower noise than a-n-other brand, or whether it's actually 10dB during operation?

Er, excuse me? You are not seriously expecting a clear, coherent marketing claim?

TomH 24th May 2010, 21:01

It seems like PCP&C have lost their niche edge. What's so special about 80+ Silver hardware now? I'd have preferred to see an entire range of 80+ Gold PSUs that deliver, across the entire range of products, without compromise. They were always expensive, but people paid it for the quality.

The PSU market's a different place now-a-days. There's good quality hardware everywhere! The bar has risen and PCP&C seem to be sat where they were 8 years ago. Not good!

Bindibadgi 25th May 2010, 02:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero82z
Quote:
(although we should note PC Power did provide the internals for the previous OCZ branded EliteXStream PSUs, even if the company didn't use its name)
Huh? That's complete nonsense. Where did you hear that? Not only is PCP&C not a PSU manufacturer and has never been, but the EliteXStream line was also manufactured by Impervio, which is an OEM that never had a working relationship with PCP&C.

OCZ told me straight to my face.

PCPC designed (or OCZ used PCPC dseigns) the internals of the old Elite series.

Zero82z 25th May 2010, 02:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
OCZ told me straight to my face.

PCPC designed (or OCZ used PCPC dseigns) the internals of the old Elite series.

Then they were lying straight to your face. PCP&C has never designed a PSU. They rebrand designs from other OEMs. The Silencer line was manufactured by Seasonic and the Turbo-cool line was manufactured by Win-tact. Like I said before, the EliteXStream line was manufactured by Impervio, an OEM which has never had a relationship with PCP&C. I suspect the OCZ rep was just making things up to try and give you a better impression of the EliteXStream units (which were indeed quite good, although they had a design flaw which led to early failure).

Bindibadgi 25th May 2010, 03:04

It doesnt matter whether they had a relationship or not, OCZ could have given Impervio the specs. May I ask where you are basing your information from?

Zero82z 25th May 2010, 03:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
It doesnt matter whether they had a relationship or not, OCZ could have given Impervio the specs. May I ask where you are basing your information from?

They could have specified some of the components, certainly, but that is a far cry from designing an entire PSU. Unless you're implying that they gave Impervio the design, which is a somewhat absurd notion and is also most certainly not the case.

My information is based on having read many PSU reviews, discussions about various PSUs, different OEMs, the industry, etc. I've done my research. Feel free to post on the forums over at JonnyGURU.com and I'm sure that you'll get replies from a bunch of other people backing up what I have said.

Bindibadgi 25th May 2010, 03:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero82z
They could have specified some of the components, certainly, but that is a far cry from designing an entire PSU. Unless you're implying that they gave Impervio the design, which is a somewhat absurd notion and is also most certainly not the case.

That's somewhat harsh and boarderline flameworthy don't you think?

It's just a discussion, and I'm only going on what I've been told. There's no need to be a dick about it.

Zero82z 25th May 2010, 03:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
That's somewhat harsh and boarderline flameworthy don't you think?

It's just a discussion, and I'm only going on what I've been told. There's no need to be a dick about it.

Sorry, I don't mean to flame you. I was just a little surprised and my comments came out the wrong way. My point is just that PCP&C had nothing to do with the design of the EliteXStream PSUs, and that OCZ rep was either misinformed or was misleading you. It doesn't surprise me, since I've seen similar ridiculous comments coming from OCZ reps elsewhere, but I wouldn't trust anything they say about this sort of thing unless it's backed up both by an actual engineer working for PCP&C or OCZ and by a third-party source who knows what they're talking about.

Bindibadgi 25th May 2010, 03:45

Fair enough.

In my defence the people I know/knew at OCZ were actually always pretty reliable before :o

I dont review PSUs anyway these days, so it's not like I care :P /hugs two X-Series PSUs

Zero82z 25th May 2010, 03:48

It's certainly not your fault that you were misled. I personally just suggest that in the future, you check up on marketing claims like this before you write about them. The PSU market is surprisingly full of misinformation, and PCP&C is especially not new to that (if you aren't aware of the whole thing with their PSU Myths page and its mysterious disappearance right around the initial reveal of the Silencer MKII line, you should check out that story).

Bindibadgi 25th May 2010, 04:19

If you check the waybackmachine that records internet history - according to that the Myths page was pulled a year or two ago (I forget) :? It has quite consistent updates to that point. Unless, the webpage where it was stored changed.

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

I swear I put it in the article :( Oh well.

I'll remove the bit about EliteXStream now..

Zero82z 25th May 2010, 04:48

Well, the 'story' is that the myths page actually contained a lot of false and inaccurate information, about such things as single rails being better than multiple rails, 80mm fans being better than top-mounted 120mm fans in PSUs, and modular cables having a significant detrimental effect on voltage regulation, all of which are completely untrue. As you can see, the Silencer MKII line uses top-mounted 135mm fans, which directly contradicts one of the claims made on the myths page. At the same time they were first revealed to the public (January of this year if I remember correctly), they completely removed the myths page from their website.

In effect, PCP&C made a bunch of false claims, and once they introduced a line of PSUs that directly contradicted one of those claims, instead of correcting the information, they just removed it and pretended that it never existed at all.

logan'srun 25th May 2010, 05:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomH
It seems like PCP&C have lost their niche edge. What's so special about 80+ Silver hardware now? I'd have preferred to see an entire range of 80+ Gold PSUs that deliver, across the entire range of products, without compromise. They were always expensive, but people paid it for the quality.

The PSU market's a different place now-a-days. There's good quality hardware everywhere! The bar has risen and PCP&C seem to be sat where they were 8 years ago. Not good!

+1

Like really, for them to have been a high brand to release only Silver plus feels they don't have their act together anymore.

Zero82z 25th May 2010, 05:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by logan'srun
+1

Like really, for them to have been a high brand to release only Silver plus feels they don't have their act together anymore.

PCP&C hasn't been a top of the line brand for years. The only surprising things with the Silencer MKII line are that they've actually started using 135mm fans, and that they've switched from Seasonic to Sirfa as their OEM (not a positive change).

Bindibadgi 25th May 2010, 05:55

Well, I would be hesitant to say FALSE claims before putting it in context. They were, to some extent applicable when they first invented them several years ago when all the current technology we take for granted was in its infancy. These days, yes, it does not apply and PCPC should be man enough to have admitted it - even in 2008 when we interviewed Doug-D he still stuck to his guns about it, only partially softening to a modular design.

But if I'm still uncertain WHEN exactly the page was pulled: you say January, but I have only found evidence of far further back than that. It's still not good that in 2007/2008/2009 they were pimping those as "how a PSU should be" but you have to admit so many fanboys had lapped it up, they probably felt they had to stick to it. Either way, it's a PR ****up.

EDIT: ACTUALLY. The CTO himself confirmed PCPC worked with OCZ on the design for the EliteXStream 800 and 1000W PSUs:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/psus/2008/05/03/interview-with-pc-powers-doug-dodson/1

So I'm not completely barmy, that's from the horses mouth!

I doubt Doug even gives a **** anymore, he's made his money selling the company and god knows what's happening behind closed doors with OCZ and PCPC. Financially speaking, the things I have heard out here in Taiwan are not too good: they didn't initiate the switch from Seasonic. It wasn't a PCPC decision, Seasonic kicked them out. OCZ burnt too many bridges in Taiwan for not paying bills in terms of memory (ICs, heatspreaders, pcbs) and PSUs (I dont know about NAND), so I wonder if the recent investment can really save them.

Zero82z 25th May 2010, 06:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
Well, I would be hesitant to say FALSE claims before putting it in context. They were, to some extent applicable when they first invented them several years ago when all the current technology we take for granted was in its infancy. These days, yes, it does not apply and PCPC should be man enough to have admitted it - even in 2008 when we interviewed Doug-D he still stuck to his guns about it, only partially softening to a modular design.

The three things I mentioned specifically are patently false. Single-rail PSUs are technically inferior to multi-rail designs for safety reasons (lower OCP set points for multi-rail units prevent shorts leading to melting insulation/fires), larger fans when used with properly-designed PSUs will push more air and provide better cooling than 80mm fans as any PC enthusiast knows, and modular cables introduce so little resistance into the circuit as to be insignificant, especially since PSUs will just compensate for any voltage drop with their voltage regulation circuitry. The only claim that had some merit was the single-rail one, but that's just because earlier PSUs didn't have their rails balanced properly. That hasn't been an issue with quality enthusiast-targeted multi-rail PSUs for years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
But if I'm still uncertain WHEN exactly the page was pulled: you say January, but I have only found evidence of far further back than that. It's still not good that in 2007/2008/2009 they were pimping those as "how a PSU should be" but you have to admit so many fanboys had lapped it up, they probably felt they had to stick to it. Either way, it's a PR ****up.

Like I said, I don't remember exactly when it was pulled, but I can tell you for certain that it happened right when the first Silencer MKII pictures were released. It was still around when the Silencer 910W was put out to market, and that was just last year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
EDIT: ACTUALLY. The CTO himself confirmed PCPC worked with OCZ on the design for the EliteXStream 800 and 1000W PSUs:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/psus/2008/05/03/interview-with-pc-powers-doug-dodson/1

So I'm not completely barmy, that's from the horses mouth!

He said that, but it's not true. The extent of PCP&C's involvement in the design of the EliteXStream line would have been in component selection and perhaps the selection of which platform to use at the most, but as far as the actual design of the PSU, that is completely the work of the OEM that manufactured it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
Financially speaking, the things I have heard out here in Taiwan are not too good: they didn't initiate the switch from Seasonic. It wasn't a PCPC decision, Seasonic kicked them out. OCZ burnt too many bridges in Taiwan for not paying bills in terms of memory (ICs, heatspreaders, pcbs) and PSUs (I dont know about NAND), so I wonder if the recent investment can really save them.

I've heard conflicting things about the motivation behind the OEM switch. Some say that PCP&C's contract expired and OCZ didn't want to continue the partnership with Seasonic, and others say that PCP&C/OCZ screwed Seasonic over and they cut ties. I'm inclined to believe the latter, considering the fact that Silencer-branded PCBs have ended up in Seasonic-made XFX PSUs.

Jipa 25th May 2010, 08:22

I just don't care about non modular PSUs. It's just stupid having all those cables hang around just because the marketing division has decided that having extra connectors will ruin the gaming experience.

rickysio 25th May 2010, 11:48

I actually prefer non modular PSU's, but that's mostly because I'm a cheapskate and tend to ziptie the unused cable neatly.

ZERO <ibis> 25th May 2010, 20:21

I just liked them b/c they always worked great for years on end. I have 5 or so of their psus lying around that date back almost 10 years and they are all running great.

CowBlazed 25th May 2010, 21:55

Yeup, I don't care about modular PSUs. It's never been a problem to have some extra cables in the past, and it'll never be a problem in the future.

Most people who think modular is such a big deal I would assume have not really built systems much, first time builders who buy into the marketing and think its actually hard to tuck a few cables.

SuiSid3l 25th May 2010, 22:59

So basically what your saying is he actually talked to PCP&C's CTO and your calling them both liars based on some forum posts and reviews you've read? Did I miss something?

"My information is based on having read many PSU reviews, discussions about various PSUs, different OEMs, the industry, etc. I've done my research. Feel free to post on the forums over at JonnyGURU.com and I'm sure that you'll get replies from a bunch of other people backing up what I have said.

How does your research trump what they say about their own company?

SuiSid3l 25th May 2010, 23:00

I'm sorry but its completely uncalled for unless you or your sources are prepared to throw out some credentials that would give you any credibility over the tech officer of the company.

Zero82z 26th May 2010, 00:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuiSid3l
So basically what your saying is he actually talked to PCP&C's CTO and your calling them both liars based on some forum posts and reviews you've read? Did I miss something?

No, I'm not calling Rich a liar, since he was just repeating what he was told. I am calling Doug Dodgson a liar, or at least a purveyor of incomplete truths, because what he said was not accurate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuiSid3l
How does your research trump what they say about their own company?

Because they have a history of not telling the truth about their own products. Just because they generally have released quality PSUs doesn't mean they aren't guilty of making false claims. I've already put forward the old PSU Myths page as a perfect example of why you can't trust everything that comes out of PCP&C unless it's been verified by an external source.

Krayzie_B.o.n.e. 27th May 2010, 21:11

Yo Bit-Tech I'm building a Core i7 + DX11 C.rossfire system and I need you to do a PSu vs PSu review so I can buy the best PSu out.

Modular of course as I don't won't 50 million cables strangling my Air set up

tonschk 12th June 2010, 10:49

Modular .. Modular , Modular is a IDIOTIC and[B] STUPID PSU feature [/B],I Swear I will NEVER EVER buy a Modular PSU , I dont need modular PSU

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z58/tonschk/Image0003llllll.jpg

tonschk 12th June 2010, 15:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by CowBlazed
Yeup, I don't care about modular PSUs. It's never been a problem to have some extra cables in the past, and it'll never be a problem in the future.

Most people who think modular is such a big deal I would assume have not really built systems much, first time builders who buy into the marketing and think its actually hard to tuck a few cables.

;) I Totally AGREE ;), Modular PSU feature is a STUPID feature

.

Zero82z 13th June 2010, 00:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonschk
Modular .. Modular , Modular is a IDIOTIC and[B] STUPID PSU feature [/B],I Swear I will NEVER EVER buy a Modular PSU , I dont need modular PSU

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z58/tonschk/Image0003llllll.jpg

Well, modular PSUs happen to be quite useful for those of us with more than three things in our PCs.