Today we have looked at four power supplies from some of the best-known manufacturers in the high performance gaming PC marketplace. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, but it's often very hard to choose between one make or another based simply on manufacturers features and specifications. The differences between makes are often so small as to be almost hidden in the mass of data available. I have lost count of the number of forum threads asking for advice in choosing between two very evenly matched PSU's – and often the choice seems to boil down to factors such as what a certain manufacturers RMA process entails rather than an analysis of the units themselves!
The problem is that to really test a PSU takes some very heavy duty equipment (and the budget of... Greece?!) and few independent review sites have access to said equipment. It is therefore with great pleasure that we at Vortez Hardware bring you this round-up of some of the best PSU's currently available, and we hope that it will go some way to assisting users to make a more informed choice.
Overall Results
The Corsair HX850W and the Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold are almost identically matched on all efficiency readings at 115V, but for my money the Corsair just edges it, especially when you take the 230V readings into account. Enermax are a solid third in this league and poor old Antec trails in quite a way behind the others.
Standby Power Draw
Cooler Master clearly wins this one, with Corsair second, Antec third, and Enermax coming in last.
Temperature
Cooler Master takes this round too, but this time with Enermax and Antec sharing second place and Corsair trailing in a long way behind. Perhaps heat is the price you pay for such exceptional efficiency performance? Cooler Master's new heat sink system may just be the difference here.
Inrush Current
In the 'lower is better' stakes Corsair takes this just ahead of Enermax, with both having a good lead over Antec in third and surprisingly another decent gap to Cooler Master in last.
Hold-Up Time
Enermax comes to the fore here, just squeezing out another strong showing from Corsair, then again a decent gap to Antec in third and Cooler Master last but not by much.
Short Circuit Protection
All passed this test except for the Enermax, and although it is undoubtedly due to a minor fault with the review sample on one of the six rails I have no option but to mark it down here.
Overload Protection
All units passed this testing with flying colours.
