[revlimiter]

This modular 850W power supply is selling for $119.99 on NCIX right now
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...r&promoid=1312

I am looking for a really well built future proof PSU that will last me a while and 850W should be more than enough wattage..

But is Cougar a good brand? It's still a relatively new brand I believe.. however, the quality looks pretty top notch..

What are your thoughts?

 

[Phaedrus2129]

Cougar is a brand name owned and built by HEC, who have been around for 20+ years.

I think the SX series is mid-range to mediocre. The S series is pretty good though.

 

[revlimiter]

Ahh, OK.. Would the "SX" refer to silver? "S" as gold?

I see bronze, silver and gold with PSUs.. is there a standard they must follow to meet these requirements? Or is it just the manufacturers way of sorting them by grade with no real significance?

 

[GlockZoR IV]

Its an efficeincy chart IIRC.

 

[Phaedrus2129]

Quote:

Originally Posted by revlimiter Ahh, OK.. Would the "SX" refer to silver? "S" as gold? I see bronze, silver and gold with PSUs.. is there a standard they must follow to meet these requirements? Or is it just the manufacturers way of sorting them by grade with no real significance?

Has to do with efficiency.

More modern designs with better designed controllers are more efficient, so they waste less power. Ecos Consulting tests power supplies and awards 80PLUS certifications to those that can meet certain efficiency levels at certain load %s -- (20%, 50%, 100% load).

80PLUS Standard - 80%, 80%, 80%
80PLUS Bronze - 83%, 85%, 83%
80PLUS Silver - 85%, 87%, 85%
80PLUS Gold - 87%, 90%, 87%
80PLUS Platinum - 90%, 92%, 89%

But keep in mind that a more modern design can still be cheaped out on, and there are other things like voltage regulation and ripple suppression that matter a lot.

Also, companies can lie and cheat. Usually a real retail example of a PSU will have efficiency .5%-1.5% lower than the sample Ecos gets. And sometimes a company pulls an actual bait and switch, like Raidmax who with their 850AE and 1000AE "80PLUS Gold" PSUs, sent a completely different power supply to Ecos than they sell to consumers. The real AE units would only meet 80PLUS Standard if sent to Ecos.

 

[PapaSmurf]

And there are some companies putting the 80+ seal on their packaging and advertising for PSU's that were never even sent to Eco for testing and wouldn't have passed if they did.