UNDERSTANDING PSU TIERS (UPDATED LIST)

The Power supply is a standout amongst the essential components in a PC. It controls up to the entire framework and without a PSU a PC is deficient. There have been numerous talks throughout the years with respect to which power supply to use on your PC. Individuals have a wrong view of spending less on a power supply and more on different parts. This can demonstrate deadly for your system and this is the thing that we will examine in this post. It is also recommended to use a PSU for some android tv boxes like the Nvidia Shield or the SkyStream

Power Supply Units are rated trough many metrics like components, stability, efficiency, and safety etc. Based on these metrics, A PSU is rated as Standard, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum or Titanium.

This is called the color coding for PSU’s. Here is a chart which makes understanding color-coding easy.

But besides these, people also choose based on the tier list. There are tiers from 1 – 7 best to worst respectively. PSU’s with best overall performance com in tier 1 and so on.

Tier list is based on main factors, which are

• Stability:

  If a PSU is stable, it won’t shut down or lower its capacity under stable temperature.

• Safety:
  

  A good PSU will have good safety mechanisms like OVP and UVP etc. All your PC components are kept safe.

• Efficiency:
  

  Efficient PSU means less electric consumption and fewer e-bills.

• Components:
  

  Good quality will always give you more time and the best product for the bucks you have spent.

So, based on these 4 things we have 7 tiers of PSU’s. Starting with Tier 1 which also is the list of best power supply unit 2018.

Tier 1 – Best

• Aerocool – Project 7
• Antec – High Current Pro, High Current Platinum
• beQuiet! – Dark Power Pro P10, Dark Power Pro 11, Straight Power 11
• Bitfenix – Whisper
• Cooler Master – V-series (modular, not to be confused with the VSM), MasterWatt Maker
• EVGA – G2, G3, P2, PS, T2, 1000G1, 850W and above GS
• FSP – Aurum PT
• LEPA – G1600
• XFX – Pro Gold, Pro Black, XTS
• NZXT Hale90V2
• Riotoro – Enigma
• Seasonic – X, Platinum, Snow Silent, all Fanless units, Prime, Focus Plus Gold/Platinum
• Sentey – Platinum Power, Golden Steel Power
• Corsair – AX, AXi, HXi, RMi, RMx, SF, Vengeance, grey-label HX (2017), 2017 TXM greater than 650W
• Enermax – Platimax, Platimax Digifanless
• Silverstone – Nightjar
• Super Flower – Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium, Leadex II
• Thermaltake – 1250D-T RGB, Toughpower Grand/RGB 1200W

Tier 2

• Antec – EDGE, TruePower Classic
• Azza – Platinum
• Cooler Master – VSM-series (semi-modular)
• Rosewill – Quark, Fortress, Capstone
• Seasonic – S12G, G-series/SSRM, M12II 750W/850W
• Sentey – Solid Power SS
• Super Flower – Golden Green, Leadex Silver
• Corsair – Most RM variants, HX (old), 550W/650W 2017 TXM
• Enermax – Digifanless, RG, GX
• EVGA – GQ, B2, 550W and 650W GS
• NZXT – Hale82 N higher-wattage versions
• Thermaltake – Toughpower Grand/RGB, Toughpower Grand Platinum, Toughpower DPS Platinum
• XFX –  Pro XXX, XTR, TS Gold
• Fractal Design – Edison M, Tesla R2 650W/1000W, Newton R3
• FSP – Hydro G, Dagger SFX
• Gigabyte – XP1200M
• Kolink – Continuum

Tier 3

• Antec – Neo ECO
• beQuiet! – Straight Power E10, Pure Power 10***
• Bitfenix – Fury
• Corsair – 2017 “Grey unit” CXM***, CSM, some RM variants, 2017 CX – 450W CX have one PCIe connection
• Cougar – GX-S
• Deepcool – DQ-ST
• Enermax –  Enermax Revolution SFX 650W***
• EVGA –  BQ 750W and up Riotoro – Onyx
• Rosewill – Lightning, Silent Night, Tachyon, Photon
• Silverstone – Gold Evolution, Strider Gold, SX650/700/800 SFX, Strider Titanium
• Super Flower – Platinum King
• Thermaltake – DPS Gold/RGB, London, BlueEvo 2.0, Smart Pro RGB, Smart series >= 750W
• Fractal Design – Tesla R2, Integra M
• FSP – Hydro X, Aurum CM, Aurum Pro
• Lian Li – SFX-L
• LEPA – G600
• NZXT – Hale82 N lower-wattage units
• OCZ – ZX
• PC Power & Cooling – Silencer Mk III, Turbo Cool Super Flower – Platinum King
• Thermaltake – DPS Gold/RGB, London, BlueEvo 2.0, Smart Pro RGB, Smart series >= 750W
• Fractal Design – Tesla R2, Integra M
• FSP – Hydro X, Aurum CM, Aurum Pro
• Vivo – 24K 650W
• XFX – Core > 650W, ProSeries Bronze >650W, TS Bronze
• Zalman – EBT

Tier 4

• Antec – EarthWatts/EA Green, Earthwatts Platinum, High Current Gamer
• beQuiet! – Power Zone, Pure Power L9, Straight Power E9, Pure Power L8
• Cougar – LX
• Enermax – Revolution X’t
• EVGA – BQ under 750W, NEX Gold
• Corsair – Old CXM “Green unit” variants, Rev. 3 “Green unit” variants, GS-series
• Cooler Master – GM, GX Storm
• Fractal Design – Tesla R2 500W Seasonic – SS, SSP, S12II/M12II, ECO 430W
• Silverstone – Strider Plus, Gold SFX
• Thermaltake – Toughpower Gold, Paris
• Inwin – Classic Series
• Rosewill – Capstone G

Tier 5

• Corsair – Rev. 2 CX “Green unit” variants, VS “grey units”
• Enermax – NaXn 82+
• Rosewill – Glacier
• Silverstone – Bronze SFX
• EVGA – 450B/500B/600B/700B, NEX-B, B3
• OCZ – ZT, ModXStream
• XFX – XT
• Antec – Basiq VP-F, Basiq BP

Tier 6

• Antec – Basiq VP
• Bitfenix – BPA
• Cooler Master – B2
• Thermaltake – LitePower, ToughPower, Smart series < 750W
• Zalman – GS/GT
• Fractal Design – Integra R2 FSP – Raider Silver Rosewill – Hive, ARC (M)
• Silverstone – Strider Essential
• Corsair – VS “orange units”
• EVGA – 430W/500W/600W 80 PLUS units
• NZXT – Hale82 V2
• OCZ – Fatal1ty

Tier 7 – Worst

• Thermaltake – TR2
• Cooler Master – Elite series
• FSP – Hexa
• EVGA – 400W non-80 PLUS certified