EVGA SuperNOVA 650 P2 PSU Review

Reviews
By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

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Packaging, Contents, Exterior And Cabling

Packaging

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EVGA's packaging does a good job of protecting the PSU inside. On the front of the box, we see a small 80 Plus Platinum badge. On the back, you'll find the features list, along with an inventory of the PSU's bundled cables and connectors. There are also three photos; two of them show the PSU's fan grille and modular panel, while the last one depicts the APFC converter's Japanese bulk capacitor. Right next to the photos is a graph illustrating the fan's speed with ECO (semi-passive) mode enabled. Finally, the power specifications table is located in the bottom-right corner.

Contents

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The PSU is well-protected by two foam spacers. It is also stored inside of a cloth bag with EVGA's logo printed on it.

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The bundle includes an AC power cord, a set of fixing bolts, some Velcro straps and a pouch for storing unused modular cables. There's also a user's manual that covers the 650, 750 and 850 P2 models. EVGA also provides an ATX-bridging plug for switching the PSU on without having it connected to a system. This plug comes in handy when you want to test your water-cooling setup or bleed air out of it.

Exterior

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Thanks to its matte coating, the high-quality finish on the PSU is fairly scratch and fingerprint-resistant. On the front, there's a small on/off switch next to the AC receptacle. Large decals flank the sides of the PSU with the model number and power specifications table. Two more stickers are on the bottom conveying the serial and part numbers.

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The modular panel includes three eight-pin and four six-pin sockets, along with a pair of sockets for the ATX connector.

The switch that toggles ECO mode on and off is located on the back as well, so it isn't easily accessible after the PSU is installed. You will have to get inside of your case to reach it. While we find the placement of the ECO switch inconvenient, some power users think it's better to have the switch on the back of the unit to avoid confusing it with the power switch.

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EVGA's characteristic punched fan grille helps set the PSU apart from competing offerings. It's worth emphasizing that we love the build quality of this unit. 

Cabling

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All of the cables are stealth, and only the FDD adapter is flat while the rest are round. Overall, EVGA's cable sleeving quality is good, although the ATX, EPS and PCIe cables are quite rigid because of their thicker wires. As a result, cable management inside of your chassis will be challenging.

Additionally, we don't like the fact that the EPS cable has two connectors. Since most enthusiasts will likely only utilize a single EPS connector, they should exist on separate leads. We also think that all PCIe connectors should have 6+2 pin connectors (not just half of them). Finally, as usual for a Super Flower PSU, the ATX, EPS and PCIe cables feature capacitors at their ends for extra ripple filtering.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

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14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • cst1992
    $120 is a good price for a Platinum 650W PSU. That used to be the price for Gold units with half the warranty a couple of years ago.
    Reply
  • TbsToy
    Your reviews are so jaded. Anything for the ad dollars, right? Not going to go all the way here but as an example but why didn't you compare the Antec EA 650 Platinum power supply for a more fair apples to apples test instead of the Bronze 80 one? Yeah, I, know why. You guys just keep going down hill.

    Walt Prill

    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    Before you dive into conspiracy theories etc. can you tell me where you saw the bronze Antec unit? Last time I checked the Antec Edge 650 which is included in the comparison has Gold efficiency. Also I can only include PSUs which I tested with this setup and the EA 650 Platinum isn't among them. And even if it was it wouldn't do better than the EDGE 650 since it uses a budget, ACRF platform which offers average load regulation and ripple suppression.

    And a piece of advice, better have your facts straight before you jump into conclusions.

    Merry Christmas to all!
    Reply
  • cst1992
    @Aris_Mp I think he's talking about the EA-650 Bronze on the first page of the review. The EA-650 Platinum is also on Newegg, and it's actually cheaper than the EVGA by $6.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28N5004&cm_re=antec_ea_650-_-17-371-056-_-Product

    Now that I think about it, none of the products on the first page are similar in price to this one while being Platinum, and the CoolerMaster is actually the wrong wattage. Why is that? The products should be similar in price, at least.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    I have no control on the product prices shown on the first page. This is an automated script that looks on all PSUs mentioned in the review and depicts their prices. Also since I don't have so many PSU reviews with 115V input, I have to include into my comparison charts, at least in some cases, PSUs that have slightly different capacity and features than the one under test. Once I have a capable PSU database this won't be a problem any more.

    Also including a product in a pricing list is another thing with including it into a comparison chart. In any case I advice all of you not to lose the forest for the tree(s) and read the entire review before you draw any conclusions or make purchase decisions. Finally, in a PSU review the final rating is based on facts and numbers so the final rating is easily supported.
    Reply
  • PureBlackFire
    nice review.
    Reply
  • Take_Out
    I have been in electronic/electrical power distribution field since 1964 (old fogie, used slide rules {slip sticks} to study field effect transistors, heh) working/studying/troubleshooting in a large assortment of types and uses of devices for military and industrial and residential.

    In gaming computer type PSU builders (not brandnames put on them), I like Super Flower, Seasonic, Antec and used to like PC Power and Cooling before the takeover, donno now. Forgot some I am sure. Use the performance list here to make PSU decisions in a fair manner.

    I build gaming computers for family and friends and they kick ass for the cost and last a long time usually unless a part fails. 8800GT and 560ti video cards I liked. Now like GTX 970s and 960s for my money level. 750 and 750tis and some others nearby are only Direct X12 cards in 7 series lineup, go look it up in Wikipedia, despite deceptive advertising on Newegg that all 7 series cards are Direct X12 compatible, not like them. Must be nubies there for the holidays.

    HATE changing OS just cause engineers need something to do, darn it. I know I simplify it, but it is THERE that they make you spend money and worse, learn their "NEW" way to make it work, how utterly fantastic for them. I think engineers are behind a lot of viruses so they can fix some of them, although there are bad actors for sure out there with extremists.

    I think buying a well known brand (Lenovo, Dell, ASUS, etc) of regular NEW i5 4590 plain model cpu or so computer (absolutely NOT small form factor or s or t on end, ugh, regular-sized ATX board mid tower with 8 or 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB HrdDrve WD or Seagate included in price of about 500USD, then add a 240 or 500GB SSD recommended by Tom's, for OS and top games you play to load a lot faster by a wide margin, really. Steam takes up a LOT of room. Then put a good Nvidia GTX-970 or 960 into it and game away with a darn warrenty. Plus engineers have something to do with making all the parts work together, is quite a job........ really. People who make money depend on those types of puters to feed thier kids, they have to work right, not just having fun with them.

    Really like Intel cpus and Nvidia 900 series video cards right now, dem magic, was a time I liked 3DFX(VooDoo2)SLI and ATI(RAGE) cards, even AMD cpus a decade or so back with the X2 64bit Athlons that buried Intel for a while.

    TUROK Dinosaur Hunter is coming back, OMGosh. Game hooked me on 3D gaming for real.

    EVGA seems to be broadening their approach to vending PSUs. Might prove interesting.
    Usually the companies that have stayed in business for many decades are doing something right and it tells. EVGA hasn't yet, but seems to be trying hard, I like their brand of video cards and they support them well.

    seriously something wrong with me, I could keep going and going, sorry....

    Merry Christmas.
    Reply
  • f-14
    Reply
  • f-14
    too expensive a good PSU should cost $10 per 100w on average nd at the cheapest be the price of the amps on the +12v rail so in this PSU's case average price $65 and sale priced at $54.
    Reply
  • TomaszC
    I have a question regarding Fan RPM, Delta Temperature And Output Noise for load range 300W-400W - does the fan RPM changes smootchly in temperature/load function, or just switch from 0RPM to 800RPM?
    Reply