Modular PSUs are dangerous!!??

.....or so I here.

PC PowerandCooling warns agianst these PSUs. Of course, they compete against these designs as well as so many others, so why not lob grenades where they can (I would). Then again, they don't offer a modular PSU and it would behoove them to do so, thus adding some credibility to the claim. Or maybe we'll soon see a 'safe' modular PSU from this outfit.

Falcon NW uses modular PSUs made by Silverstone. They charge exhorbanant prices and have no interest in seeing their customers product go "Poof!" down the road (it makes for bad repeat business ). This detracts from the credibility of such warnings IMHO.

Speaking of Silverstone, I really like the Sugo SFF and the 600w modular they also offer is an obvious compliment, especially with the short cables they offer (for an extra fee of course). But I admit the threat of the modular PSU danger gives me some pause.

Ultimately, I'm thinking that such a combo would be quite safe. I'm basing this on two assumptions. The first is price. At $160 the Siverstone modular hardly qualifies as cheap and given the near commodity nature of this market one would think there is at least some relationship between price and quality. The second stems from the first and that is simply that there are probably good and bad modular PSU just like regular PSUs.

If done some Yahoo digging and have found no objective side by side comparisons of modular vs non-modular PSU. This basically leaves buyers in the position of making assessments based on threat, opinion and gut feel based on interpretation of available data.

So, anybody have the "proof of the pudding" in this matter. Some electrical tests perhaps? Opinions are also of interest of course.

Tom

 

"Modular PSU" as in detachable cables? or have i really got the wrong end of the stick... as i dont see how being able to remove unneeded cables causes a fire risk, otherwise so would anything electrical (that has a plug )

 

In my experience a good quality modular psu is a nice thing. When I built my friends PC I used an OCZ modstream 450wt psu. Aside from being by far the most attractive PSU I've ever seen it's worked perfectly for months. He's running decent specs with his X850Pro, 3200+ proc, and gig of ram so there's some decent load under gaming conditions.

 

Okay, you need to understand something about the reasoning behind this. The connectors, while tight, still have the electrons jumping at each connection. This in turn adds more work to the PSU because it has to push itself more to get the electrons across the gaps. I know it seems like there aren't any gaps, but we're looking at a sub-atomic level, and the distance between the connectors is astronomical. The modular PSU's add even more of this in.
More work=shorter life-span. A good brand power supply will go quitely, but unfortunately, alot of crappy brands (Ultra, Q-Tech, Aspire, Coolmax, a lot of the color-clashing power supplies), are making them. People don't know this, and they get the pretty looking one. I can make a Pinto look really nice too, but it'll still blow up if you run into it from the back---just like any other one. My gut feeling is that this is what PC Power & Cooling is most concerned about.

Ultimately, you'd want to have a soldered connection where there'd be no gaps in the wiring. However, doing so would void the ol' warranty (not that some of us don't already do this anyway ).

Second point is that a lot of modular power supplies have the main power cable being detachable. There's no good reason for this as it is always required. The flow of electrons jumping from connector to connector wears them down. PCP&C uses the proper terminology of corroding. Over time, these will degrade the performance. How long depends on the power supply itself to start with. Then you get into voltage drops. Not only do the connections corrode, they add resistance. Enough resistance, and you will see a voltage drop. Voltage drops don't help with stability, as enough of a drop will cause your system to act funny without any good reason. They aren't making this stuff up. It is true, and a basic concept in electronics.

Third point: just because it's super expensive doesn't mean it's good. I don't have the link, but an article over at X-Bit Labs had a $160 Sintek brand power supply. It's modular and is 600W, but the results were craptacular. And there's loads of piss-poor brands (Ultra, Q-Tec, etc.) that are no good to start with, then you add the modular nature--often with the aforementioned detatchable ATX main power connector. Modular PSU's cost more because they're popular and because (at least I would guess by looking at the design) they could constitute extra work by having the modular plugs.

My personal view is that you stick with a good, proven brand, and you should do alright. I would not buy any recently release modular power supply, no matter the brand, simply because this is a relatively new technology, and you don't have long-term use out of them. The OCZ, Hiper, and Antec modular's have been out a while and should be pretty good, although, I'd suggest saving some money and just not get a modular power supply.

And PCP&C isn't just talking out of it's corporate ass. They are the Rolls Royce of power supplies, and they know what they're talking about. When you are the best, you can afford to charge $400-500 for a power supply.

 

I have one from enermax, Liberty is the name i think. eh so far so good- what sucks ass is that i only removed ONE extra connection; not exactly a space saver. I did just fine with my previoius thermaltake non modular PSU. in fact i think my case was neater back then too, particularly b/c every single connection has an sata power connector. instead of another molex connector. To be honest i'm not too knowledgable about voltages and what have you, but Big B always knows about power supplies so i'd go with what he said- like i said so far so good, but who knows about the future- wish i this post came out 4 months ago.....

 

Thanks Guys for the responses.

Some interesting thoughts and arguments, you might be right about PC P&C not talking out of its corporate ass, Big B .

Seriously though, I learned something about the term “corrosion” in this context. I admit I was at least semi-consciously thinking “Corrosion? It’s not going to be near a damp environment” and that it was more in the line of marketing nonsense. It’s something to think about that’s for sure.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about building a new system around the Silverstone Sugo box (gorgeous and I love the near shoe-box size), but I do have some trepidation about the overall limitations of an SFF system. If I decide to pull the trigger on this box I may simply go with a PC P&C PSU and just shove the cords where I can (I here the spare 5.25 drive bay is a good place). It’s going to be a tough call that’s for sure as a modular with short cables is also sold by Silverstone; intended primarily for this cases it seems.

At the risk of sounding ungrateful I’m going to play devils advocate and ask “What about the Falcon NW factor?” I admit that I was shocked when I checked and found out that they are even using this PSU for their high-end Mach V machines. I would’ve gone with a monster 850watt+ PC P&C unit on a full size tower on the bleeding edge if it were my design decision. Maybe it’s just a profit issue and they’ll wind up paying a price for this down the road.

 

Corrosion doesn't have to be near water. The metal will oxidize, turn black and weaken. In some cases, the power supply may fuse with the motherboard...but this is an extreme case. I have seen a few people (not necessarily with modular power supplies) have this happen.

Now, you don't have to get a PC Power & Cooling power supply. They are the best, but as stated, they're also expensive. You can still get a good power supply for less if you look at the right ones. A good power supply for a power rig will start off around $80-100. Yes, there are cheaper ones, but there's a reason they're cheap and why you generally want to avoid them.