Power Supplies Linux Reviews & Articles

There have been 42 Linux hardware reviews and benchmark articles on Phoronix for power supplies. Separately, check out our news section for related product news.

It's been a while since last checking out any SilverStone power supplies, but the company recently introduced the ET750-HG "Essential Gold" series power supply and sent over one for our thoughts. The SilverStone ET750-HG ends up being an efficient, well-built power supply while not costing too much.

For those in need of a high performance power supply that's small, completely modular, and very reliable, the SilverStone ST75F-GS if the Strider Gold S Series is worth a gander.

As a bit more shopping advice this weekend for Linux users besides my low-cost mini-ITX Linux system build are a few words about the power supplies I've been buying recently for the new test farm. I'm up to about six of the Corsair CX430 low-cost power supplies and so far they're working well in all of the test systems.

Most often when mentioning SilverStone at Phoronix, it is about one of their phenomenally designed cases like the Temjin TJ10, Fortress FT02, or most recently the Fortress FT03. Enclosures and other peripherals aren't our primary focus at Phoronix for being a Linux-focused hardware outfit, but it's always interesting seeing as what SilverStone comes up with in their new designs. Even though their products have been reviewed at Phoronix for the past six years, their new products always manage to push the envelope further. When it's not a SilverStone enclosure, it's usually a power supply, and that's what we're looking at today; up on the review block is a SilverStone Strider Gold 750W.

While we haven't looked at many power supplies lately at Phoronix since it's not exactly an area that has any relation to Linux hardware support, every once in a while we do review them when an interesting review unit comes along. Case in point, what we are reviewing today is the SilverStone Strider Essential 500W. The SilverStone SST-ST50F-ES is a 500 Watt power supply that offers a single 34 Amp +12V rail, a near-silent 120mm fan, ATX 12V 2.3 support, and is backed by Active PFC, but this power supply goes for an incredibly low price.

Last month we looked at the OCZ Fatal1ty 700W which performed very well and was another nice power supply from OCZ Technology, the company that also owns PC Power & Cooling. Another one of their power supplies to have been introduced in the past few months is the ModXStream-Pro 600W. Unlike the Fatal1ty series, the ModXStream Pro series has modular cables and a few other differences, while still being 80+ Certified, NVIDIA SLI Certified, and is backed by OCZ's excellent PowerSwap warranty. In this review we are testing out the OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W for ourselves.

SilverStone Technology is especially well regarded for their unique computer cases from their micro-ATX Sugo series to their HTPC-oriented Lascala line-up to their flagship Temjin series. SilverStone though does not only pride itself upon designing some of the best (also the most expensive) cases on the market, but they have several lines of performance-oriented power supplies. We have looked at SilverStone's Strider, Decathlon, Zeus, and Olympia lines before, but never had we looked at a SilverStone NightJar power supply. The NightJar series is SilverStone's line-up of fan-less power supplies. While there may be no fans so that the power supply can operate silently, the NightJar power supplies are far from being low-end.

It has been a number of months since last looking at an OCZ power supply, but OCZ Technology recently announced a new high-performance power supply that piqued our interest. The Fatal1ty Series 700W power supply is OCZ's latest high-performance power supply that is approved by NVIDIA for SLI usage, 80 Plus Certified, is backed by a five-year warranty, and it uses a single 56 Amp +12V rail. OCZ's power supplies have impressed us before -- especially with all of the talent they acquired from PC Power & Cooling -- but how does this latest creation stack up? We have run it through its paces on Ubuntu Linux and are pleased with the results.

Over the years we have looked at several power supplies from SilverStone through their Strider, Element, and Zeus series. All of these power supplies have generally performed very well and a number of them are still running strong within our test labs. SilverStone though has greater competition these days from companies like OCZ / PC Power & Cooling and Corsair. However, one of their newer power supply series at SilverStone is the Decathlon, which looks to appease users by offering a high-performance single +12V rail, support for up to six PCI Express power connectors, Active PFC, and a 100% modular cable design. In this review we are looking at the SilverStone Decathlon 800W power supply.

While OCZ Technology is known for their memory products, over the past few years they have developed a strong family of power supplies -- most notably with their PowerStream, ProXStream, and GameXStream series. With their acquisition of PC Power & Cooling in 2007 it affirmed their position as a leader in this market and with the combination of the engineering talent from OCZ and PC Power & Cooling they are now able to deliver even more competitive and high-end products. One of the most recent power supplies to have been introduced under the OCZ brand is the EliteXStream 800W. The OCZ EliteXStream 800W is ATX12V v2.2 compliant, greater than 80% efficiency, single +12V rail, active PFC, and is backed by a five-year warranty. Today we are reviewing this product.

Back in 2005 we had looked at the Hiper Type-R Modular 580W power supply. This was a unique power supply that had a modular cable design and had performed very well. Even the Type-R's packaging was unique, with the power supply arriving in a plastic toolbox. We haven't looked at a Hiper power supply now in almost three years, but today we are looking at the Type-M 780W from Hiper Group. This power supply is dual-GPU ready (including compatibility with PCI-E 8-pin connectors), utilizes active PFC, and has four +12V rails.

The last time we had looked at a Tagan power supply was last October when exploring the Tagan ITZ 1300W and comparing it to Thermaltake's ToughPower 1200W power supply. While most enthusiasts don't need power supplies in excess of 1,000 Watts, for those that do the ITZ 1300W did perform admirably but its voltage rails did fluctuate some, though it did have the "WOW" factor on its side thanks to the stunning paint job. Since then Tagan released a new power supply, which has a maximum power output of 900W, boasts six +12V rails, and is modular with LED indicators for each cable. This new power supply is the Tagan BZ 900W, and today we are reviewing it at Phoronix.

Corsair, a company known for its high-performance system memory since rising to enthusiast stardom in the late 90's, has been toying around with the power supply market since last year when introducing the Corsair HX series. After the successful introduction of the HX520 and HX620, Corsair went on to introduce the VX series with the VX450W and VX550W. In Corsair's latest move, they have now christened the TX power supply series with the TX650 and TX750. In this review we have the Corsair TX750 power supply for testing, which complies with the ATX12V 2.2 standard, sports Active PFC, and offers a single high-performance +12V rail.

There used to be a time where 600W power supplies were considered overkill for all but the craziest of enthusiasts, modders, and overclockers. When the 850W PC Power & Cooling unit was released a long time ago, owners regarded it as a rare gem. It was both unaffordable and overly extravagant, and virtually no system was able to stress it to the limit. But now, we are finally in the kilowatt era. Today we have two members from the kilowatt club: the Tagan ITZ 1300W and the Thermaltake ToughPower 1200W. The ITZ line Tagan's newest flagship line of power supplies meant to carry Tagan into the industry spotlight. The last Tagan power supply we reviewed was the Tagan TurboJet 1100W. Its unusual packaging and high quality finish impressed us. However, while the performance was by no means lacking, we would have a hard time claiming it to be outstanding. We shall see if this unit steps up to the challenge. Aside from the 1500W behemoth that was recently released by Thermaltake, the ToughPower 1200W is their highest-end power supply. Thermaltake power supplies have always performed well. They have never been known to be the ultimate power supplies, but their performance has been better than many brands on the market. This unit is longer than the average power supply and features a huge 14cm fan.

When you say "good power supply" to newbies, most just look at the wattage and buy the biggest wattage power supply for the cheapest price. This is a costly mistake. Slightly more experienced users will look for brands like Antec, Thermaltake, Enermax, etc. These are very reliable and perform well enough for most users. However, seasoned enthusiasts and overclockers know that few companies match up to the name PC Power & Cooling. The quality of their units has been legendary and the units are highly coveted components. Earlier this year OCZ Technology, a leading memory manufacturer with products we frequently review here at Phoronix, had acquired PC Power & Cooling. One of the products to come out recently since then has been the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W power supply. The PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W has a massive 60A single rail and four PCI-E connectors. It is ATI Crossfire certified and the Crossfire Edition refers to its bright red paint job.

During our natural sub-zero overclocking event this past winter we had chose to use the Mushkin HP-580AP power supply. The Intel processor was running 133% of its rated speed, and through the entire process the power supply was providing clean and stable voltages when monitoring the rails with multiple digital multimeters. However, now we are going back to look at this Mushkin power supply and provide some additional thoughts on this 580 Watt quad-rail modular PSU.

With time we have seen computers go from a single GPU and processor to dual and quad core CPUs with a number of different options for multi-GPU systems. As we have shoved more and more into our systems, the power supplies have gone from a single +12V rail to multiple +12V rails. Dual +12V rails has been very common in recent years, while recently at Phoronix we had looked at a few quad +12V rail power supplies such as the SilverStone Zeus 750W and the OCZ GameXStream 700W. However, the more +12V rails does not necessarily make a better power supply. What we are looking at today is one of SilverStone's newest power supplies, which was recently on display at the Consumer Electronics Show. The SilverStone Olympia OP650 is a 650W power supply that supports both the current 6-pin PCI Express power connector as well as the new 8-pin version, and supports 54 Amps on its single +12V rail.

While Tagan is not a center point with consumers for power supplies here in the United States when compared to Antec or SilverStone, they are working on improving their presence. The Tagan power supply that had caught our attention was the TurboJet TG1100-U95. This power supply provides 1100W of power and is geared for MultiGPU and multi-core systems. The Wattage may be high, but so is its price tag at $399 USD.

The last time we had a Seasonic power supply in our hands for testing was the Seasonic S12 330W back in April of 2005. Today we happen to have our hands on a new Seasonic power supply, the M12 700W. Are times still going well for Seasonic? We will see in this article as we fire up this modular power supply.

It has been quite a while since we had anything from Ultra Products in our facilities for testing, but recently we decided to take them up on an offer to look at their X-Finity 500W power supply with dual 12V rails and active PFC. This power supply is also NVIDIA SLI Ready, offers a 135mm fan, and uses FlexForce cabling.

NZXT is known as a company of gamers that design creative and attractive cases for gamers. How well is NZXT able to forge a power supply? We shall find out as we throw the NZXT Precise 650W up on our workbench.

While OCZ Technology is primarily known for their vast selection of memory products, they have had interest in developing cooling and power supplies as well. For some time they have had the OCZ PowerStream and ModStream PSU series; however, only recently did they unveil their high-performance successor: the GameXStream. The OCZ GameXStream power supply is meant to suit high-end power-hungry systems for gamers, enthusiasts, and power users. Currently the GameXStream is only available in two flavors: 600W and 700W. Some of the features for this power supply unit include OCZ PowerWhisper Technology, Multi-GPU ready (NVIDIA SLI certified), OCZ ConnectAll connectors, and Active PFC.

If the popular 500~600W power supply units are not enough to suit the growing needs of computer enthusiasts, SilverStone Technology has released a phenomenal 750W continuous power PSU. With providing just over the equivalent of one horsepower, the SilverStone Zeus ST75ZF features quad +12V rails, dual PCI-E 6-pin connectors (plus the option for two more), industrial grade components, and active PFC. Is SilverStone's ST75ZF the new front-runner for high-end power supplies?

The last time a Spire product had entered our testing facilities was for examining their cooling contraptions; however, one of their recent creations is the new RockeTeer V SP-500W. Will this new power supply be adequate in providing clean and stable voltages to our expensive, and beloved, components? We shall find out today as this unit powers a new GeForce 7900 and Tyan nForce Professional 2200 motherboard.

When we reviewed the Sytrin Nextherm ICS-8200 air-conditioned ATX enclosure early last year, we were not only impressed by the superb chassis itself and cooling capabilities, but also the bundled power supply. In fact, the power supply unit included with the Nextherm ICS-8200 was likely one of the best we have ever seen bundled after years of seeing flakey PSUs bundled with all sorts of ATX cases. Today we have our eyes set on yet another Sytrin product, and today it is the Nextherm PSU460 460W.

When it comes to SilverStone Technology, although they have only been in existence for a few years now, their popularity continues to increase with gamers and enthusiasts alike. Their popularity is not simply rising due to an increase in publicity, or making a couple attractive products, but since their conception they have proved to be an excellent manufacturer and put incredible artisanship in all of their products from Temjin cases to Zeus power supplies. The product we have up on our bench today is the latest from the SilverStone Strider series and it is the ST56F 560W unit. The SilverStone ST56F claims Active Power Factor Correction, dual +12V rails, dual PCI-E connectors, and a silent operation.

Up on our bench tonight is the Cooler Master Real Power RS-550-ACLY, which packs in 550W of power. One of the features for the power supply includes an innovative power meter that fits in an available drive bay.

OCZ Technology has been near the top of the power supply hierarchy for quite a while now. Nevertheless, it is a well-known fact that they, like most manufacturers, do not actually make their own units. OCZ Technology uses Topower's as their OEM supplier. Some of the other companies that benefit from Topower include Athena Power, Globalwin, BeQuiet, Aerocool, and ePower. Today we have ePower's Silent Engine 570W PSU for review and it uses Topower's power supplies.

Over the years, we've reviewed and tested countless power supplies. Sometimes it becomes a chore, as most power supplies don't bring much of anything new to the table. However, to mark our 300th article here at Phoronix, we have something a little more special. Enermax has provided us with their newly announced Liberty series power supply. Interested? We certainly were. Read more inside.

Looking for a good power supply? Can't stand noisy fans? Well today we have XG's beastly fan-less supply; the Magnum 500W. This unit features an all aluminum chassis, copper heatpipe cooling technology, modular cables, and LCD wattage and temperature display, pretty much all you can ask for in a power supply. Last thing to consider, however, is how does it perform? Let's take this out to our test bench and give it a run!