EVGA W1 500W... Oops!

[ashiekh]

The EVGA W1 sure looks like HEC

[-The_Mask-]

That's because it's HEC, did you saw the video?

[Jon Gerow]

So this isn't just a standard platform that EVGA put their name on?

There rarely is such a thing. You start with a platform, then everything else after that is "a la carte". That's why it pisses me off when people say, "Oh.. RMx is CWT GPU. This other brand PSU also uses CWT GPU. Therefore it must be the same. But it costs $5 less. So I will get the other brand."

The EVGA W1 sure looks like HEC

Yes. It is. Point?

Given the lack of engineers and a bit of background knowledge in how these things go, the conversation most likely went like this:

EVGA - "We need a 500w unit that can be sold for $xx USD"
OEM - "We have this, here are our documents on the product, here's where you can trim cost."
EVGA - "Trim all the costs so we actually make some margin on this."
OEM - "Okay."

Pretty much this.

[Jon Gerow]

In diodes as the temperature rises the voltage drops on them decrease so less energy gets wasted. That said, you need to be extra sure before you install a diode like this, even in a low to mid-capacity platform. In some other PSUs that the manufacturer wanted to achieve this, they installed two diodes to half the Amperage, bolted together (without a heatsink in between).

In general, you need to ask for a full thermal analysis in every stage of manufacturing, but such an analysis lasts long (it can run for 40h straight) and you have to trust the manufacturer's results, too. And you pay extra of course unless you ask kindly Moreover, you have to have people able to interpret the results! Because getting a thermal analysis without any knowledge on tolerances etc. is meaningless.

Since I doubt many of the results provided by factories, I will invest in a high-end Keysight DAQ to conduct them on my own in some selected samples.

This.

I don't trust factory results either. I use PAL for acoustics, Allion for ATE and thermals, Cybenetics, of course, as well as in-house equipment when we have enough warm bodies to execute the testing.

I have to pay for every unit that goes to third party for testing. I also have to pay for the testing. I seriously doubt many other companies do this.

Me, I see it as an "investment". If I pay a shit load of money up front to reduce failure rate from 5% to .01%, even on a cheap PSU like a VS, then I'll make my money back in a heart beat.

[Philipus II]

Corsair has the economies of scale to invest big when required and the knowledge/crew to make the call when it's worth it. I worked as PSU PM for 5 years before i left the industry november last year. I always admired Corsairs way of project management and due diligence. EVGA however was good by pure chance. In the beginning they teamed up with Super Flower which gave them good products and they were willing to sell these for the margins they knew from graphics card business. Ever since they lost Super Flower as their main vendor products are somewhere between mediocre and crappy. EVGA BT 450W (made by RSY, but project management handled by SF) was roughly same cost but much better quality.

[Orion]

That's why it pisses me off when people say, "Oh.. RMx is CWT GPU. This other brand PSU also uses CWT GPU.

I know this is just an example, but people who say that need to be told they're wrong right from the start, since RMx isn't even CWT GPU in the first place. Oddly enough, I saw many people do that on Linustechtips forums. I thought it's easy to notice how those two units are not the same PSU by just a cursory glance at the internals, with how different the primary side and how completely different the secondary side is - especially how one of them uses a 12V daughterboard and the other has 12V under the PCB, how different the DC-DC board and its placement is, and so on. I was under impression it doesn't even take too much technical knowledge to notice they're not the same thing at all, as in simple shape recognition skills would be enough, but apparently not.
But I digress, it's not such a srs bsns.

[Orion]

EVGA however was good by pure chance. In the beginning they teamed up with Super Flower which gave them good products

Before going with Super Flower for the G2 series, they also already had some popularity gained with the SuperNOVA G 650W and 750W 80+ Gold PSUs, made from FSP Aurum - their very poor performance couldn't be seen by a typical consumer and they were mainly being bought for their low cost and 80+ Gold certificate, which made everyone think they're better than they actually were.

[Philipus II]

Hmmmm, sales volume for EVGA G was rather low. I guess monthly sales peak of EVGA G2 750W easily exceeded total sales volume of G 750W during all it's market lifetime.

[Jon Gerow]

Hmmmm, sales volume for EVGA G was rather low. I guess monthly sales peak of EVGA G2 750W easily exceeded total sales volume of G 750W during all it's market lifetime.

I agree. EVGA PSUs were never "popular" until the G2 came out and were sold below cost.

The original SuperNOVA G was only really purchased by EVGA fan boys.

[RyzenMaster]

I tried zooming in on the photos from the review but couldn't see the markings on the PCIe cables, but I doubt EVGA bothered to change them since that review was published, so they probably have been that size for awhile, which is pretty great /s

https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2014/...ower-supply/2/