EVGA 750 B3 PSU Review

Reviews
By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

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Final Analysis

Something is clearly wrong with EVGA's B3 family. If we had problems with one or two samples, we might chalk it up to bad luck. But this is the third B3 unit in a row to die during OPP testing. You don't need to be an expert to realize that Super Flower didn't tune the over-power protection point on these PSUs properly, and needs to fix the issue as fast as possible.

Thankfully, our 750 B3 died quietly, just like the 850 B3. However, it did fail before we were able to finish all of our tests. This time around, we didn't even bother to let EVGA know its product expired on the bench. After all, the company still hasn't responded to our concerns about the 450 B3's failure, where the main fuse remained intact, creating a fire hazard.

If the 750 B3 didn't die during testing, it would be an impressive specimen since it seems to offer more of everything (except efficiency) than its direct competitor, Corsair's CX750M, including fully modular cabling, a more modern platform, and a semi-passive mode. We take protection features seriously, though, and the fact that OPP is badly tuned forces us to specifically recommend against buying this PSU.

Of course, it doesn't help EVGA's case that our retail-purchased sample had mediocre build quality. We expect better than below-average soldering work, which reminded us of Super Flower's early days.

If you are confident that you'll never overload the 750 B3, you can try your luck with it. But we should warn you that an overload can be also caused by a short circuit. With a little more effort from Super Flower, and by using a more capable production line, the B3 family could be so much better. It seems like EVGA rushed to get these models on shelves, though, in an effort to claim market share from Corsair and its better-built CX-M PSUs.

If EVGA wants to maintain its good reputation in the power supply space, the company needs to pay more attention to quality and not assume it's untouchable just because it did well with the G2, P2, and T2 families. We'll gladly give praise where it's due. But we're also the first to call out bad products and shady tactics. Moreover, we believe that all brands should provide review samples from retail stock in order to solve the issue of hand-picked samples. Seasonic started doing this recently, and we hope that more brands follow its example.


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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

See more Power Supplies Reviews
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Dark Lord of Tech
    Several complaints in the forums from builders , very disappointed with the B3 series.
    Reply
  • logainofhades
    Yea, I will no longer recommend a B3 series PSU. Seasonic and Corsair's new CX450m-650m are better options right now.
    Reply
  • SinxarKnights
    The solder quality between review samples and retail samples is pretty shady in of itself IMO.
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    The fact that EVGA hasn't even responded to the 450W B3 fail test that was back in August is highly disturbing in an of itself. It is inexcusable to just ignore a tech website's inquiry (and serious concerns) as to why a series of their products are failing. I know EVGA's customer support is top notch in the industry (I've had to use it), but their public/customer relations team needs an overhaul. If I were the CEO, I'd be calling for some heads and light a fire under some backsides to ride Super Flower hard for a fix.
    Reply
  • maxwellmelon
    with out them identifying the failed component how can they say that the PSU not turning back on after a OPP is not intentional setup because it being shut down at 120% of load is about right like they said. It could be designed that way as a safety feature. and a way to sell more psu because when you try to RMA it they can say you overloaded it and is not covered. Operating above 750 watts is above the psu limits and having a one time OPP shut down is still technically having OPP on it.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    When a PSU is broken after OPP's triggering, it is not a feature but a problem. OPP along with the rest of the protections is there to protect the PSU in order not to break when a user goes wild with it.
    Reply
  • Lutfij
    The third paragraph of the last page reminded me of what cars with all souped up aftermarket parts but a crappy driver often results with - disaster.

    EVGA Have recently come under flack on other forums as well and their response isn't, erm, admirable. Nice work with the review, Aris, keep it up!
    Reply
  • rtansey378
    They must be having issues in the CS department. After dealing with them for an RMA I found their website to be down totally twice and fundamentally broken in important other areas during RMA submission. I was getting different answers from different people to basic questions and there were unreturned emails that led to other issues - it was kind of a nightmare overall that went on for a month. Even after being expedited to a manager of some type it wasn't much better. And their 2-3 advance RMA uses UPS ground so it is not 2-3 days at all. It routinely takes them 3 days to get the replacement into UPS' hands and then UPS takes their sweet time. People also use their expensive desktop PCs for work. I went through that twice as they sent the wrong unit back the first time.

    They charge a premium largely on their CS reputation. I guess they are now hoping people won't have to use it and learn otherwise. Being branded as a good guy in the CS is huge. Being branded as a bad guy is a death sentence. You'd think they would at least return major website emails and spin use some good old corporate spin. They won't even do that. Makes you wonder.

    I hope they figure it out. But Im no longer going to pay their premium. If they have the cheaper product then I would still consider them. That will rarely be the case. They did some nice patented stuff with their GTX 1070/1080 revisions so maybe they are putting all their eggs in that basket.
    Reply
  • mlee 2500
    Wow, I expect better from something EVGA puts their name on.

    THANK YOU tom's HARDWARE for performing objective tests on multiple samples to keep us informed and the vendors honest....

    I seriously could have seen myself buying my next PSU based on EVGA's reputation alone. I won't make that that mistake now.
    Reply