Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsEfficency = Cooler Build, but DON'T enable Eco Mode
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2018
Bought this to replace a 12 year old, failing 650W power supply.
The symptoms that gave it away were:
- Random shutdowns when launching graphically (or computationally) intensive games
- Required shutting off power switch on back of power supply to reset it
PROS:
- 80+ Platinum
- Fully modular (Mobo, CPU, 2x VGA, 3x SATA, 1 Peripheral)
- All cables are labeled at the terminals
- All cables fully braided (black)
- Includes bag for storing unused parts
- Includes self-tester (closed motherboard jumper)
- 10 Year Warranty
CONS:
- ECO mode not designed for gaming (where you have sharp increases and decreases in power need repeatedly) -- see below!
- Included Mobo cable is a bit shorter than I would like to have seen
I had noticed a decent amount of heat coming from my computer for the last 2 years and I attributed that to the powerful graphics card installed around then. I now believe it was due to the ineffiency of my old power supply. As the poor thing aged, it just became horribly ineffective turning electricty into heat rather than power... because...
This new, 80+ Platinum supply simply runs my computer A LOT COOLER (and it's the only recently thing changed). In fact, my computer fans are blowing out cold air (instead of warm) which is cooling the whole room down.
It's a hard call, but I feel it's worth the $20 cost increase over the very comparable EVGA G3 Gold 650W (which is an outstanding power supply in it's own right -- If you can't afford this one, get the G3).
The only drawback is the Eco mode... in theory this should mean less overall power use and a quieter build. In reality, it works great until you need the extra juice. This power supply just can't make the switches fast enough all the time. So on Eco mode, you are going to get occasional shutdowns... This is a one-star deduction only because YOU DON'T NEED ECO MODE! This supply is so efficient and the fan profile so well done that it's still very quiet in regular mode. There is maybe a few decible difference. So just leave that OFF and you'll be fine.
