The PSUs Of CES 2018
LAS VEGAS, NV -- We didn't see many new PSUs at CES 2018. Most companies held on to their biggest announcements for Computex, which is much more important than CES to the IT hardware market. That doesn't mean the show was bereft of new products, though, with several announcements from mainstays like Cooler Master and EVGA as well as newcomers. Below are the PSUs we saw throughout CES 2018.
Be Quiet!
The new Straight Power 11 line consists of six members with capacities ranging from 450W to 1kW. The prices will be around the same as the previous modular models, and in the U.S. market they will be available in mid to late February.
Cooler Master
Cooler Master announced two new PSU lines during CES 2018, the MasterWatt V and the MasterWatt Maker. Both of them will be available later this year, so there wasn't any detailed information about their technical specifications. The MasterWatt V consists of three PSUs with capacities ranging from 550W to 750W and 80 PLUS Gold efficiency, along with a fully modular cable design. The MasterWatt Maker, meanwhile, will consist of two members with 1.2kW and 1.5kW capacities and 80 PLUS Titanium efficiency.
Corsair
The AX1600i was the one and only new PSU from Corsair at this CES, and thanks to its design, performance, and features, it managed to capture our attention and earn the best PSU award for this show. It is bloody expensive, but its fully digital platform demanded years of design work and a lot of resources in order to reach the production stage. Corsair, along with Flextronics, should be very proud for this achievement. The whole digital PSU era started with the AX1200i, the AX1500i came next and easily prevailed over the competition, and now the AX1600i is here to seal Corsair's dominance into the super-high-end PSU category. Currently there is no other PSU with similar performance levels.
EVGA
EVGA showed three new PSUs during the show, with the most impressive one being the SuperNOVA 2200 P2 beast, which is 80 PLUS EU Platinum certified and, as its model number implies, it can deliver up to 2.2kW of power, making it ideal for hardcore mining situations. Besides this unit, for which we don't have any other information like technical specifications, price, or availability, we have also seen the 1000 PQ and 1000 G+. Unfortunately there is no detailed information available for those units either.
Phanteks
Phanteks finally entered the PSU market, using three Seasonic high-end platforms that appear to belong to the Prime lines. The two Phanteks PSU lines are the Revolt X and Revolt Pro. The first consists of only one model with 1,200W capacity (the PH-P1200PS), and the second lists two models (PH-P1000GC and PH-P850GC), which have 1,000W and 850W capacities, respectively. All units are fully modular. The PH-P1200PS sports 80 PLUS Platinum efficiency, whereas the other two are 80 PLUS Gold certified. So far they aren't certified by Cybenetics, so we don't have a detailed performance report or any information about their noise output.
The PH-P1200PS can power two systems at once, since it has two 24-pin ATX cables and three EPS connectors, while the PH-P1000GC and PH-P850GC can be combined with other PSUs, increasing their total capacity. The PH-P1200PS will cost $260, so it will be quite expensive, whereas the PH-P1000GC and the PH-P850GC will cost $160 and $130, respectively.
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Riotoro
Riotoro might be a new company, but the people behind it are highly experienced in the IT market. The new Enigma G2 line is based on the Seasonic Focus platform, so we expect good performance, increased reliability, and affordable prices. The Enigma G2 units will be available within the first quarter of 2018 and their MSRPs are $70, $90, and $110 for the 650W, 750W, and 850W models, respectively. Finally, Riotoro will support those units with an impressive 10-year warranty period.
Seasonic
Seasonic revealed during CES 2018 the upcoming fully modular and white Snow Silent PSUs, which will feature 750W, 650W, and 550W capacities. In the 80 PLUS scale those units score Titanium, Platinum, and Gold levels, respectively. They haven't been tested by Cybenetics yet, so we don't have a detailed performance and efficiency report, nor do we know their noise ratings.
Besides the upcoming Snow Silent units, Seasonic also showed the AirTouch model, featuring 850W capacity, for which we don't have a release date or price information. We only know that it will be 80 PLUS Gold certified, fully modular, and will use a 135mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan featuring a hybrid digital RGB fan control with a five-mode smart control interface.
SilverStone
SilverStone had quite a few PSUs to show off during CES. The first new line is the Essential, which consists of three semi-modular units--the ET550-HG, ET650-HG, and ET750-HG. As their model numbers show, those units cover the 550W-750W capacity range. They are also 80 PLUS Gold certified, have normal dimensions (16cm depth), and are cooled down by a 140mm fan that promises a silent operation. The maker of those units is Channel Well Technology (CWT). According to SilverStone's PR, the first shipment of those units has just arrived in the U.S., so you should expect to see them on the store shelves within the next couple of weeks. The MSRPs for the U.S. market, from the strongest to the lowest capacity model, are $95, $85, and $75, respectively.
Besides the new Essential PSUs, SilverStone also showed the ST1200-PTS and ST1000-PTS models, which have super compact dimensions. Those PSUs will be available sometime in Q2 2018, and their prices will be similar to the ST1200-PT and ST1000-PT models at $239 and $199 each.
Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
-
Phaewryn Anything from FSP? I've had an eye on their Platinum Certified Hydro PTM 550W. It's Full Modular and they boast a 10-Year Warranty, but they are new so I was hoping to see/hear something more from/about them before investing in their product. Looking for something for a low power home file server that's economical but fully modular so I can get it in a small case pretty-like.Reply -
alextheblue 20605256 said:FSP isn't in CES as far as I know. They will be in Computex for sure.
FSP is my go-to for PSUs, followed by Seasonic - obviously that includes units they build for other brands too.