Who's Who In Power Supplies, 2013: Brands Vs. Manufacturers

Obligatory Conclusion

We want to stress two things in particular:

A PSU is not necessarily bad because it is cheap. But the lower the price, the more you'll likely have to skimp on safety and performance features. A high-quality PSU contains more expensive components. If you buy cheap, you might have to buy twice--or more.

A PSU is not automatically inferior because it was made by a contractor with which you aren't familiar. These companies make all kinds of products, from luxury brands to pure garbage. Again, it's a question of hitting different production targets. Is the product built for quality or aggressive cost reduction? The responsibility always lies with the buyer to recognize and reject products that are obviously unsuitable.

In the light of the previously presented tables of manufacturers, some quality issues, such as those seen with Be Quiet's P6 series, present an additional aspect to consider. We can also see that companies like Super Flower are often underestimated because they are not seen and accepted as the large manufacturer, which in fact they are.

We thank our readers again for their help.  We will continue to collect new results and regularly update the lists. They are, after all, a rough guide to what goes on behind the scenes in the power supply industry.

  • rolli59
    Great article!
    Reply
  • Darkerson
    I really wish I would have had something like this years ago, but either way this was a great treasure trove of useful info. Thanks!
    Reply
  • _Pez_
    Now i'm afraid of every PSU out there... :X .. awesome work now I'll be more careful when selecting a PSU I will check everything in that moment like some sort of paranoia. ja ja LOL !
    Reply
  • chefboyeb
    I have a Rosewill 950-DB and it's been working excellently for over a year now... How safe am I?
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    Channel well is pretty good.You have great PSUs from them for both Antec and Corsair.
    Reply
  • shades_aus
    That explains why my ANTEC power supplies have died. Although some were made by Seasonic, they were NOT designed by Seasonic.
    Reply
  • PreferLinux
    As you were told with the last one, chokes do not mean passive PFC. They will be present in the filters (all of them, including input) of any PSU.
    Reply
  • The Greater Good
    Ummm, Seasonic does make their own PSUs.
    Reply
  • avatar_raq
    "For those companies that don't manufacture their own products, such as HEC and Seasonic"

    Huh? Since when Seasonic is not the maker of their products?
    Nice article and much needed. Thanks
    Reply
  • PreferLinux
    shades_ausThat explains why my ANTEC power supplies have died. Although some were made by Seasonic, they were NOT designed by Seasonic.The ones in question were probably older ones with cheap caps that failed. And probably made by one of the lesser companies there too.
    Reply