PC Power & Cooling - Visiting a Legend
by Christoph Katzer on January 23, 2009 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Inside PC Power & Cooling
PC Power showed us their facility, which contains of a huge R&D center, an area where they customize power supplies, an RMA area where power supplies are also refurbished, and the warehouse. Several electricians in the RMA area are testing power supplies that came back for whatever reason. The larger area is being used to customize power supplies. PC Power & Cooling allows end-users to get additional cable harnesses or connectors, and if you choose this option it will be done by hand in this area for each customer. You may recall our review of the Turbo Cool 860 that came with six PCI-E connectors and extra SATA connectors. That wasn't something PC Power did specifically for AnandTech; it's a service they offer to any customer (for a price). PC Power has many commercial customers and most of them require customization, which is done here as well.
A small room contains another Chroma 8000 ATE together with a small thermal chamber. PC Power is using this Chroma to perform the R&D work and tests on upcoming power supplies. We saw quite a few power supplies from different vendors that made their way down here for evaluation. We tested a few power supplies along with the new UPC PC Power showed in Las Vegas. Pictured above is the sine wave on the scope from when we were testing the UPC waveforms.
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erple2 - Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - link
I thought that the 120mm fans in a PSU were better for airflow too. However, I then read http://www.pcpower.com/technology/myths/#m6">http://www.pcpower.com/technology/myths/#m6 and thought about it a bit. Granted, their justification is certainly pushing their product over competing solutions, but their methodology makes more sense to me. Proper airflow and cooling is dictated by design, not the use of a 120mm fan.I don't know about you, but my 750 silencer uses an 80mm fan, and I have never heard it before. My system isn't particularly heavy-duty, but it draws about 325W at what I consider full tilt:
E6750
Geforce 8800 GTX
P35
2x harddrives
2x DVD drives
4x2 gig RAM
I'm not sure what you are basing your 120/140mm fan bias on (experience or just what "feels right"). Curiously, Anandtech recommends the 750 over other 120/140mm designs for heavier duty builds. There has to be SOMETHING to the 80mm fan speed "issue".
rgidsatech - Monday, January 26, 2009 - link
I've have been buying supplies from PC Power & Cooling back when "286" was the hot CPU. The power supplies were expensive, but worth it. We built PC's for industrial control systems, and back then used DOS, PC-MOS, and MDOS, with the latest 286's. 512k or 640k of ram and 40MEG HD's !! Last month we got a call from a company for service, and found one of these MDOS systems (with 2meg ram) still running. The problem was actually no space on the drive, caused by so many bad sectors, but it still worked! The PC Power and cooling supply was still working, even the fan worked. I wanted to keep it as a museum piece, but they wanted it back!OddJensen - Monday, January 26, 2009 - link
PCP&C have excellent supplies, but I guess as long as you have good OEMS and tell them to do it right, any brand can be good. PCP&C have good competition from others these days. Also, I disagree with their views on modular cabling and such.Beenthere - Sunday, January 25, 2009 - link
I've used quite a few PSUs over the past 20 years. PCPCs stuff is the best performing and most reliable PSUs I've ever seen, used or tested.Kudos to PCPC for sticking to quality when most companies are only interested in the highest profit and volume products they can peddle to naive consumers.
mindless1 - Sunday, January 25, 2009 - link
"They were building power supplies when most of today's enthusiasts weren't even born."I doubt most of today's enthusiasts are under 24 yo, particularly those who know much about PSU. Maybe video card enthusiasts.
Beno - Saturday, January 24, 2009 - link
their PSUs are top quality. but to kill my curiosity, how come their power supplies are only 80plus certified? i mean you see other manufacturers have 80plus bronze and silver certifications which means 85+ efficiency, i felt that pc power is mediocre comparing to the other PSU companies.JEDIYoda - Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - link
There is more to a PSU than being 80+ certified!Just because a PSU is 80+ or more certified does not mean you have a quality PSU in anyway shape or form!
It also does not mean in a year you won`t be sending the PSU back....
Peace!!
OCZJess - Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - link
Hi Beno,First I wanted to identify myself as a employee of OCZ (PC Power). I will help kill your curiosity :P
Currently all available PC Power units were submitted to 80plus before the graduated rating system came about, when they only had a 'pass/fail' system. We haven't felt the need to resubmit the units for re-certification, but a quick google search will show you that numerous 3rd party reviews have found units, such as the Silencer 750, to go as high as 87%!
In addition, I'd like to add that these units were designed over 3 years ago when nobody was even thinking about efficiency...except, well, PC Power & Cooling :) And they still remain leaders of the pack.
sonci - Saturday, January 24, 2009 - link
Hem, when I see these old PSU, it seems that has been a downgrade to our days, I`m not speaking about efficiency, but build quality.Pure shiny inox, not crapy recycle carbon, I wonder what would have been the price of these beasts..
sonci - Saturday, January 24, 2009 - link
Its a bit alike with audio equipment, you cant find a new ampl to match an old Marantz or Rotel..