PC Power & Cooling - Visiting a Legend
by Christoph Katzer on January 23, 2009 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
From Humble Beginnings to Huge Success
Before success comes hard work. That holds true for every company earning money today. Doug was the driving power behind PC Power & Cooling over the years, and their success came with a lot of hard work and some good ideas. We got some old pictures that show some of the history behind the company.
Here's a picture of Doug Dodson in 1992 at his Comdex booth in Las Vegas. Note how large the power supply is in the chassis. Also notable are the freebies under his left hand. Those are actually the same caps they are still using on some power supplies today.
Here's another booth at a convention with Doug showing what he has to offer. Notice the poster of a cooler on the right side of the wall. That was one of the first CPU coolers available at a time when all CPUs were passively cooled.
Which company claims to have had the first 120mm fan in a power supply? This photo shows PC Power & Cooling already had such a fan in 1986. Note the name of the power supply: Silencer. Can you imagine this name is already 22 years old? Today, the Silencer series - including the 750 Quad - is still one of the best power supplies available.
Here's the first Turbo Cool power supply from the successful series. This power supply made PC Power & Cooling what it is today. When other companies had bad ventilation and only one small fan, PC Power decided to use two fans that blew fresh air onto the components. Since the 5V rail fed most of the components back then, it was rated at a then massive 20A. In contrast, the 12V rail only supplied up to 8A. Another advantage PC Power had over the competition was the angled fans; the competition blew air straight at the components while PC Power angled the fans to improve airflow. There was simply no competition for these power supplies, which is where the company started its huge success.
The difference between the two power supplies in the above gallery is easy to see. While other manufacturers used very simple designs with few components, PC Power provided more - and better - components. Innovations such as these helped pave the way for modern power supplies.
That wraps up our visit with PC Power & Cooling in San Diego. Thanks to Doug and James for their time, as well as a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
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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..