What's the score with all the cheapo 80+ PSU's?

[Cus_de_Sparta65]

I have noticed this new phenomenon of cheap 80 plus "certified" PSU's on all the on-line stores like Scan, Ebuyer and DABs but can find no sign of these units on the 80 PLUS website! what gives?

[nvening]

Well it probably means at like 10% load or something lol

Its like when all the PSUs were "500w" but could never manage to actually meet that level consistantly and stably.

I just bought a £30 silverstone though which got a decent review, said it had the quoted 80% efficency up to about 60 or 70 % which is fine for me XD

[Whiternoise]

Well, there's a difference between actually being certified by the 80plus people and being certified that your power supply runs at over 80% efficiency. I haven't seen that many tbh, a quick peruse on Scan and a word search shows that "80plus" gives only one hit - FSP (listed on their site) and the rest are corsair, silverstone and the like which are well respected companies who're also on there.

As said, there is a big difference between them actually stating 80Plus and %80+.

Why? Green sells. Simple as that!

[Blitzen]

MODU82+
Revolution 85%

These spring to mind as correctly stating what they do.

[Cus_de_Sparta65]

Isn't 80 Plus a registered tradmark so how can they be sold as 80 Plus if they do not come up to scratch?

@ Whiternoise - I am certainly not trying to get at Scan, in fact while writing this reply I just received a order from Scan, I love Scan lol. I am just trying to find out if these are to be avoided at all costs or if they have their uses maybe for single GFX card builds.

[scaryjim]

A couple of thoughts:

1) Legal Loophole: While "80 Plus" is trademarked, there's nothing to stop them using 80+, 80%+, >80%, as long as they have some test results to back it up - you don't need to be certified to be 80% efficient, after all.

2) Rebadging: the power supply is a genuine 80 Plus PSU, rebadged by a different vendor. As the PSU meets the standard they can apply the badge, even though it's badged differently.

Having just perused the PSU list at Scan, I can only see a couple with "80 Plus" in their listing, so I suspect the first...

[Sputnik]

I believe that they don't have to be 80+% efficient throughout their entire operating range either, Just at some point of it.
Usually somewhere between medium to full load judging by the ones I looked at on reviews.

If your thinking of buying a PSU go look for reviews with test results.

[Cus_de_Sparta65]

I have my eye on a Coolermater iGreen 600W, it may a discontinued product but still seems a good PSU especially for under £60.

[scaryjim]

I believe that they don't have to be 80+% efficient throughout their entire operating range either

My understanding is that they have to acheive an average of 80% through a set range (20% - 80% of rated power, something like that) - so if a PSU was particularly good between 40% and 60% load it could get away with worse efficiency outside that. But I could be talking utter bull, of course

[Sputnik]

I have my eye on a Coolermater iGreen 600W, it may a discontinued product but still seems a good PSU especially for under £60.

If your not in a hurry, I'd wait until scan has the FSP 700w on special again but, Of course everyone to their own. I think it was £45 last time with a PSU tester.

[peterb]

If your not in a hurry, I'd wait until scan has the FSP 700w on special again but, Of course everyone to their own. I think it was £45 last time with a PSU tester.

Where the term 'PSU tester' is loosely applied! (apart from a go no go that the rails supply a few milliamps of load to light an LED, they perform no meaningful test at all!)

Generally PSUs operate at maximum efficiency at around 80% of rated load, but you need to look at the load curves to determine what that point is. That's why it makes no sense to put a (say) 1000W psu in kit that only draws 200W. (although it is complicated by the fact that the different rails may be loaded up to different percentages of the individual rail rating) Its a complicated business, designing powersupplies - which is another reason why cheap ones tend to be less well designed than more expensive ones - it takes the time to design, test and develop a good PSU.

There is of course branding - as whiternoise says, green sells, and I'm sure that anything branded as "for gaming" automatically gets at least a 10% price hike!

[Sputnik]

Where the term 'PSU tester' is loosely applied! (apart from a go no go that the rails supply a few milliamps of load to light an LED, they perform no meaningful test at all!)

I never said it was good Just that the PSU was bundled with it last time it was on offer!

Generally PSUs operate at maximum efficiency at around 80% of rated load, but you need to look at the load curves to determine what that point is.

Also covered briefly in post #7

There is of course branding - as whiternoise says, green sells, and I'm sure that anything branded as "for gaming" automatically gets at least a 10% price hike!

Green is used to sell everything these days! I'm not saying efficiency is a bad thing but, There are other things to consider when buying products other than having a 'green' label attached.