The benefits of modular PSU is you get to keep your wiring job. Let' s say you spend a lot of effort to get wiring job the way you like. When the PSU dies you don't have redo the entire wiring job, just unplug the cables from the PSU, grab a new one and that's it.
Except, if my PSU dies on me, I'm unlikely to want to get the exact same PSU again (I suppose I might do it under warranty, though). If I buy a new PSU, most modular cables aren't interchangeable, so you end up rewiring most of the time regardless. The real benefit of modular is that if you only have an HDD, SSD, DVDR, and GPU, you don't have three or five unused cable harnesses cluttering up your case interior. That's good for airflow, ease of access, and appearance.
Exactly. I bought a couple of modular Antec PSUs back in the day. Both were good when they were new, and I even bought a spare cable pack since I needed a couple more Molex connectors for a fileserver one went in.
Both of those power supplies are bad now, and I have a big box of cables I'll never be able to use again.
I am done with modular power supplies. I can tie extraneous cables up and tuck them away somewhere.
I don't understand? You are saying those cables are a waste? How does that compare to when non-modular PSU dies, the only difference being the cables are attached permanently? You can always ebay off your extra cables
Only if you get a compatible cabling kit - sometimes with updates they break that. Other times, after your PSU broke, you might not want to get a new one from the same manufacturer due to the bad experience ;)
The benefits of modular, especially full modular designs, are more than just ease of replacement when it comes to replacing a defective PSU. First, if my PSU were to die, I'm grabbing a spare out of the closet while the unit get's RMA'd, mitigating the need to just leave cables in place for the replacement. Secondly, with some case layouts, removing the PSU can help ease removal and installation of other components, while just leaving the PSU and removing the cables can help in other cases. Mainly, I swap components out in my own system all the time and having a modular PSU means I can add and remove cables as needed. As a bonus, I get better appearance and somewhat better airflow. It just sucks having a bunch of spaghetti wire hanging in the middle of the system like kudzu, even if it can be placed out of the way. That makes a PSU feel extra cheap, and even if the modular benefits were only in my head I would still think it mandatory (speaking only for myself).
I have the OCZ Modxstream Pro 500w, a Sirtec built 80+ standard with purported almost bronze levels of efficiency and good voltage regulation. It's not really indicated in the last paragraph, but the OCZ is semi modular. For the price you can't beat it, but if you have a little more money to spend, the Seasonic X series is cheap right now as well.
I've always wanted to see a power supply review that reports on how well the PSU holds up with *all* of its connectors used. I mean, if a manufacturer includes so many connectors, then they should expect at least one consumer to be using all of them.
I know that the results of such a test would depend heavily on the current drawn at any given time during the test by each component, but I think the sheer spectacle would be interesting nonetheless.
For example, this review could have included an image of the PSU hooked up to a current hungry X58 board, a GTX 580, 3 Blu-ray drives, 3 SATA hard drives, 2 Molex hard drives, a fan controller, and a floppy drive. I think it would make for a great load test, if the review could manage to load all the devices at once, and a nice sanity check of what the PSU is capable of.
Load testing doesn't require all the connectors to be used. That's not how electricity works. All the 5v pins, for example, are connected to each other inside the unit. Pulling 1 amp from one connector and 1 amp from another connector is the same as pulling 2 amps from one connector.
Load is not shared among multiple 12V rails, and a pure load test is not why I'd like to see this. Almost every power supply review is done with a SunMoon power supply tester, and current is current no matter what's pulling it.
The reason I want to see every connector hooked up with the most power hungry components is partially to see if the power supply holds up.
I actually hold a strong belief that people are buying into too much power these days. If there was a review that showed you can stably run a power hungry GPU, motherboard, 3 optical drives, 5 hard drives, a fan controller and a floppy drive with a 550W PSU, people would have a little faith in "low power" PSUs.
Not saying that this guy could power a GTX 580 + everything else, but I see people buying Corsair 850W PSUs to power a system with one Radeon HD 6850. Power supply reviews need to start showing what the limits are for these PSUs.
Long time since last PSU review? It's been only a couple of months, and only a month before that they did one. Anandtech isn't "PSU Review", it's for a bunch of different kinds of electronic hardware, so every other review isn't about power supplies.
Also, most sites like this don't review items unless a manufacturer sends it in to be reviewed. You want to see a PSU reviewed, you might contact the manufacturer and suggest it.
As for doing better, I have to agree, this unit wouldn't be my choice.
One of the big advantages that this PSU has over others in its class is not just that it is modular but that it is also not as deep as its competitors. The Strider Plus is 140mm long while most of the modular competition in the 500-750W range are 160mm long. Why does that matter? Well... many small cases, particularly those of the mini-itx variety, have room for an ATX PSU but not if it is too long.
If you look around at reviews of cases like the Lian Li PC-Q11 or PC-Q08, people have lots of issues with 160mm long PSUs bumping into the front fan (PC-Q11) or the hard drive cage (PC-Q08). Shorter power supplies don't have that problem. Now there are several power supplies out there with fixed wiring that are only 140mm long, but then a person usually has to deal with tucking the cables somewhere. That can be a problem if a person is dealing with a small case. Having the combo of short + modular is a very nice solution for some. In addition, people can even order Silverstone's PP05 short cable kit (usually a $19-26 option depending on who it's purchased from) and cut down on their cable clutter even more.
That said, the true king of short PSUs is Nexus which has the NX-5000 Rev.3 (530W) and NX-6000 Rev.3 (630W) that are only 125mm deep. Those are fixed wire units, though, and they tend to be hard to find in the U.S. and relatively expensive.
I have this powersupply sitting in my CM 690 case and plan to move it next year to the PCQ11 case and PP05 short cable kit. It's a great powersupply for HTPC or Server IMO. It's very efficent below 100watts.
Those complaining about noise, well my unit is pushing 114-120watts and I can only tell if it's on my the blue led fans ; )
Just another standard psu. I would like to see more low wattage (modular) PSU with decent amount of SATA power connectors with decent length and space between connectors. Most layouts know make it impossible to just use 1 cable for: sdd, hdd, optical drive setup. It's silly.
My last build was mostly straightforward but a bit tense because the spec called for a very expensive motherboard and some other bits that made the cost of a mistake far higher than normal. But it was the power deployment that was the real pain. This case put the PSU in the base rather than at top but that only change the location of the hassle of dealing with thick cable bundle.
A modular PSU that let me use only as many cables as needed and didn't end in an inflexible all-in-one bundle could have reduced the hassle that day a fair bit. In the past they were always too high end for the machines I was making but that appears to be changing for the better.
I have this power supply. It's sitting on the shelf where it will likely remain forever. The fan is simply too noisy. I was quite bummed to find that out.
I have a fully cabled PSU in my case and not only is it fully cabled but the cables are long. I have found that this has allowed me to do the cleanest cabling job yet because I can route the cables behind things where as with shorter cables I usually have to make straight runs.
Having the power cable as modular allows people to use their optional short cable set (PP05). That includes a shorter power cable which can be helpful if people are dealing with a small case and want to keep down the clutter.
I might need PS to build Ivy Bridge system next year, and 500 W PS is an overkill. What is that processor power envelope, like 50 W? Add 100 W for discrete videocard, 10 W for HD, and 10 W for MB (I'm generous in the latest two cases here). What is available in 300W range?
...another PSU I will never be able to compare against others.
Seriously, look at all other Anandtech articles. Well written, plenty of comprehensive background to help the reader paint a better picture of the particular device, and plenty of data available to compare anything reviewed against it.
Every single power supply review in recent memory has been absolutely absurd. I'm seriously tired of seeing bland reviews that really tell me nothing every time Anandtech gets a new unit. Why does a site such as this tolerate a clear lack of vision in this section of reviews?
Before I get naysayers saying "well if you're so certain you could write a better one, then do it yourself" - DONE. Done and done. Anything to stem the tide of sub-par PSU reviewing.
I recently got an Antec Basiq BP550 Plus for $60. It is 80 Plus and modular, and is nicely packaged. I don't know if Antec uses cheap components too, but I trust the brand. It seems pretty quiet and there's a three year warranty. It would be a good one to review, Martin, if you have the chance.
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Etern205 - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
The benefits of modular PSU is you get to keep your wiring job.Let' s say you spend a lot of effort to get wiring job the way you like.
When the PSU dies you don't have redo the entire wiring job, just
unplug the cables from the PSU, grab a new one and that's it.
JarredWalton - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
Except, if my PSU dies on me, I'm unlikely to want to get the exact same PSU again (I suppose I might do it under warranty, though). If I buy a new PSU, most modular cables aren't interchangeable, so you end up rewiring most of the time regardless. The real benefit of modular is that if you only have an HDD, SSD, DVDR, and GPU, you don't have three or five unused cable harnesses cluttering up your case interior. That's good for airflow, ease of access, and appearance.cjs150 - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
It rather depends on why it died.I have proved empiracally that PSUs and coffee cups do not mix well together!
In that circumstance I am happy to get a new PSU of exactly the same make.
To be fair I only ever really used a couple of brands of PSU and have found that the modular cables were interchangeable
futurepastnow - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
Exactly. I bought a couple of modular Antec PSUs back in the day. Both were good when they were new, and I even bought a spare cable pack since I needed a couple more Molex connectors for a fileserver one went in.Both of those power supplies are bad now, and I have a big box of cables I'll never be able to use again.
I am done with modular power supplies. I can tie extraneous cables up and tuck them away somewhere.
AnnihilatorX - Sunday, October 16, 2011 - link
I don't understand? You are saying those cables are a waste? How does that compare to when non-modular PSU dies, the only difference being the cables are attached permanently? You can always ebay off your extra cablesRick83 - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
Only if you get a compatible cabling kit - sometimes with updates they break that.Other times, after your PSU broke, you might not want to get a new one from the same manufacturer due to the bad experience ;)
ckryan - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
The benefits of modular, especially full modular designs, are more than just ease of replacement when it comes to replacing a defective PSU. First, if my PSU were to die, I'm grabbing a spare out of the closet while the unit get's RMA'd, mitigating the need to just leave cables in place for the replacement. Secondly, with some case layouts, removing the PSU can help ease removal and installation of other components, while just leaving the PSU and removing the cables can help in other cases. Mainly, I swap components out in my own system all the time and having a modular PSU means I can add and remove cables as needed. As a bonus, I get better appearance and somewhat better airflow. It just sucks having a bunch of spaghetti wire hanging in the middle of the system like kudzu, even if it can be placed out of the way. That makes a PSU feel extra cheap, and even if the modular benefits were only in my head I would still think it mandatory (speaking only for myself).ckryan - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
I have the OCZ Modxstream Pro 500w, a Sirtec built 80+ standard with purported almost bronze levels of efficiency and good voltage regulation. It's not really indicated in the last paragraph, but the OCZ is semi modular. For the price you can't beat it, but if you have a little more money to spend, the Seasonic X series is cheap right now as well.
magnetik - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
I've always wanted to see a power supply review that reports on how well the PSU holds up with *all* of its connectors used. I mean, if a manufacturer includes so many connectors, then they should expect at least one consumer to be using all of them.I know that the results of such a test would depend heavily on the current drawn at any given time during the test by each component, but I think the sheer spectacle would be interesting nonetheless.
For example, this review could have included an image of the PSU hooked up to a current hungry X58 board, a GTX 580, 3 Blu-ray drives, 3 SATA hard drives, 2 Molex hard drives, a fan controller, and a floppy drive. I think it would make for a great load test, if the review could manage to load all the devices at once, and a nice sanity check of what the PSU is capable of.
Care to oblige? : )
abscode - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
Load testing doesn't require all the connectors to be used. That's not how electricity works. All the 5v pins, for example, are connected to each other inside the unit. Pulling 1 amp from one connector and 1 amp from another connector is the same as pulling 2 amps from one connector.magnetik - Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - link
Load is not shared among multiple 12V rails, and a pure load test is not why I'd like to see this. Almost every power supply review is done with a SunMoon power supply tester, and current is current no matter what's pulling it.The reason I want to see every connector hooked up with the most power hungry components is partially to see if the power supply holds up.
I actually hold a strong belief that people are buying into too much power these days. If there was a review that showed you can stably run a power hungry GPU, motherboard, 3 optical drives, 5 hard drives, a fan controller and a floppy drive with a 550W PSU, people would have a little faith in "low power" PSUs.
Not saying that this guy could power a GTX 580 + everything else, but I see people buying Corsair 850W PSUs to power a system with one Radeon HD 6850. Power supply reviews need to start showing what the limits are for these PSUs.
ClagMaster - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
Long time I saw a power supply review at Anandtech.I think I could do better with a Seasonic 520W Bronze power supply.
Although not fully modular for the main power cable, the ipower supplies are very quiet and well made.
Sabresiberian - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
Long time since last PSU review? It's been only a couple of months, and only a month before that they did one. Anandtech isn't "PSU Review", it's for a bunch of different kinds of electronic hardware, so every other review isn't about power supplies.Also, most sites like this don't review items unless a manufacturer sends it in to be reviewed. You want to see a PSU reviewed, you might contact the manufacturer and suggest it.
As for doing better, I have to agree, this unit wouldn't be my choice.
;)
DesertCat - Monday, October 10, 2011 - link
One of the big advantages that this PSU has over others in its class is not just that it is modular but that it is also not as deep as its competitors. The Strider Plus is 140mm long while most of the modular competition in the 500-750W range are 160mm long. Why does that matter? Well... many small cases, particularly those of the mini-itx variety, have room for an ATX PSU but not if it is too long.If you look around at reviews of cases like the Lian Li PC-Q11 or PC-Q08, people have lots of issues with 160mm long PSUs bumping into the front fan (PC-Q11) or the hard drive cage (PC-Q08). Shorter power supplies don't have that problem. Now there are several power supplies out there with fixed wiring that are only 140mm long, but then a person usually has to deal with tucking the cables somewhere. That can be a problem if a person is dealing with a small case. Having the combo of short + modular is a very nice solution for some. In addition, people can even order Silverstone's PP05 short cable kit (usually a $19-26 option depending on who it's purchased from) and cut down on their cable clutter even more.
That said, the true king of short PSUs is Nexus which has the NX-5000 Rev.3 (530W) and NX-6000 Rev.3 (630W) that are only 125mm deep. Those are fixed wire units, though, and they tend to be hard to find in the U.S. and relatively expensive.
sep - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
I have this powersupply sitting in my CM 690 case and plan to move it next year to the PCQ11 case and PP05 short cable kit. It's a great powersupply for HTPC or Server IMO. It's very efficent below 100watts.Those complaining about noise, well my unit is pushing 114-120watts and I can only tell if it's on my the blue led fans ; )
Thanks Anandtech...nice review. -JC
beginner99 - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
Just another standard psu. I would like to see more low wattage (modular) PSU with decent amount of SATA power connectors with decent length and space between connectors. Most layouts know make it impossible to just use 1 cable for: sdd, hdd, optical drive setup. It's silly.epobirs - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
My last build was mostly straightforward but a bit tense because the spec called for a very expensive motherboard and some other bits that made the cost of a mistake far higher than normal. But it was the power deployment that was the real pain. This case put the PSU in the base rather than at top but that only change the location of the hassle of dealing with thick cable bundle.A modular PSU that let me use only as many cables as needed and didn't end in an inflexible all-in-one bundle could have reduced the hassle that day a fair bit. In the past they were always too high end for the machines I was making but that appears to be changing for the better.
flipmode - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
I have this power supply. It's sitting on the shelf where it will likely remain forever. The fan is simply too noisy. I was quite bummed to find that out.I have a fully cabled PSU in my case and not only is it fully cabled but the cables are long. I have found that this has allowed me to do the cleanest cabling job yet because I can route the cables behind things where as with shorter cables I usually have to make straight runs.
Cheers.
marvdmartian - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
Why in the world would the main (24-pin) power cable need to be modular? It's not as though you can get by without it, right?DesertCat - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
Having the power cable as modular allows people to use their optional short cable set (PP05). That includes a shorter power cable which can be helpful if people are dealing with a small case and want to keep down the clutter.TegiriNenashi - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
I might need PS to build Ivy Bridge system next year, and 500 W PS is an overkill. What is that processor power envelope, like 50 W? Add 100 W for discrete videocard, 10 W for HD, and 10 W for MB (I'm generous in the latest two cases here). What is available in 300W range?iamkyle - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
...another PSU I will never be able to compare against others.Seriously, look at all other Anandtech articles. Well written, plenty of comprehensive background to help the reader paint a better picture of the particular device, and plenty of data available to compare anything reviewed against it.
Every single power supply review in recent memory has been absolutely absurd. I'm seriously tired of seeing bland reviews that really tell me nothing every time Anandtech gets a new unit. Why does a site such as this tolerate a clear lack of vision in this section of reviews?
Before I get naysayers saying "well if you're so certain you could write a better one, then do it yourself" - DONE. Done and done. Anything to stem the tide of sub-par PSU reviewing.
AssBall - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
I recently got an Antec Basiq BP550 Plus for $60. It is 80 Plus and modular, and is nicely packaged. I don't know if Antec uses cheap components too, but I trust the brand. It seems pretty quiet and there's a three year warranty. It would be a good one to review, Martin, if you have the chance.Martin Kaffei - Monday, October 17, 2011 - link
I asked for some cheap Antec PSUs, especially Earth Watts.In the end we got a HCP 750W...