PC Power & Cooling Silencer MkII 950W PSU Review @ [H]

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FrgMstr

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PC Power & Cooling Silencer MkII 950W PSU Review - We test one of the latest PC Power & Cooling computer power supplies on the market. Does it strike a balance between server and enthusiast needs? We at least know one thing just by looking at the box, this one might actually live up to the "Silencer" branding for a change since the 80mm cooling fan is now gone.
 
Hmm. Not much to say about this except "Meh." Not sure why anyone would buy this for $250 when they can get, say, an AX1200 for 25 bucks more.
 
Unfortunately thanks to OCZ, marketing is really all that the PCP&C name has left to it.
 
Thanks for the review. I expected a lot more from PCP&C than what was demonstrated from a retail unit. That last minute patch, poor soldering joint and performance will keep me from recommending that model of PSU to anyone.
 
Looks like Corsair has dethroned PCP&C as the company to beat for PSU quality :(

I like and have used both (PCP&C 1KW-SR in my 4U, HX1000W in my main PC)
 
pc299 said:
Looks like Corsair has dethroned PCP&C as the company to beat for PSU quality :(

I like and have used both (PCP&C 1KW-SR in my 4U, HX1000W in my main PC)
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PCP&C hasn't been the "company to beat" in years.
Nicepants42 said:
The HX1000 is on sale for $190 AR with a $40 MIR.
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Here's the same thing for $150 with no rebates: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817189022

And here's something better for $175 with no rebates: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121075
 
my PC Power and Cooling Silencer S75QB 750W died this weekend and i got this rather interesting reply to my RMA:

Does your UPS have a true or pure sine wave? If it does not, the UPS may have damaged the power supply. A derived, stepped, or simulated sine wave can damage the active power factor correction in our power supplies over time.

...If the power supply is exposed to a simulated sine wave for extended periods of time or frequently, the PFC can become damaged and fail prematurely.
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raise of hands as to how many of us own a Smart-UPS (models listed here: http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=165) which comes with a pure sine wave Wave Transform at home. my APC BR1500LCD 1500VA 865 Watts BACK-UPS RS has a stepped sine wave but it's shocking to hear them claim that a $250+ dollar UPS at the time of purchase could be the culprit when my machine has been off for six months of this year (PSU switched off or the system not even being connected to a power source) due to buying a new home and having an infant son to raise.

thankfully they've honored the RMA since this PSU is only a year and four months old and has four years and eight months to go on its warranty.

just figured everyone whom is a die hard PCP&C believer would want to read that they may target your UPS.

- Robert (pMr)dEATHiNjUNE

 
pc299 said:
Looks like Corsair has dethroned PCP&C as the company to beat for PSU quality :(
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I bought Corsair's CMPSU-850TX this weekend to ensure that nothing else went down when my PCP&C died and have to say that the sleeving on this unit sucks. quite a few of the cables have bulges in the sleeving... unfortunately Best Buy is cheaper than Newegg right now (despite the fact that they charged me $5 more than their website says it is on sale for) but the nearest store here in OR that i was able to find such at had every box looking like they rumbled off a fork lift and had black soot all over their boxes...

(PmR)DeathInJune

 
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Oh well, why sell based on quality, when you can sell on brand name? I mean, there are those hardcore PCP&C fanboys out there who will buy it no matter what.
 
JoeBob said:
Oh well, why sell based on quality, when you can sell on brand name? I mean, there are those hardcore PCP&C fanboys out there who will buy it no matter what.
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once upon a time they weren't just a brand name... sad to say that's no longer the case it seems as that UPS thing still pisses me off --> wonder if they got pulled from Newegg because of complaints due to similar (switch to lowest rating and 100 per page and there's lot of interesting reads here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009). guess i am going to have to keep my Corsair and re-sleeve it myself.

Robert - (PmR)DeathInJune

 
pmrdij said:
my PC Power and Cooling Silencer S75QB 750W died this weekend and i got this rather interesting reply to my RMA:



raise of hands as to how many of us own a Smart-UPS (models listed here: http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=165) which comes with a pure sine wave Wave Transform at home. my APC BR1500LCD 1500VA 865 Watts BACK-UPS RS has a stepped sine wave but it's shocking to hear them claim that a $250+ dollar UPS at the time of purchase could be the culprit when my machine has been off for six months of this year (PSU switched off or the system not even being connected to a power source) due to buying a new home and having an infant son to raise.

thankfully they've honored the RMA since this PSU is only a year and four months old and has four years and eight months to go on its warranty.

just figured everyone whom is a die hard PCP&C believer would want to read that they may target your UPS.
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The only time a UPS directly supplies power to a PSU altogether is when it's running on battery power. Otherwise, it's just passing through the power from the wall. The UPS is not what damaged your PSU.
pmrdij said:
wonder if they got pulled from Newegg because of complaints due to similar (switch to lowest rating and 100 per page and there's lot of interesting reads here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009).
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It was pulled from Newegg because the product was discontinued (hence the existence of the Silencer MKII line).
 
I have been a fan of PCP&C for a long time. I have also been watching very closely since they were bought by OCZ because I saw this situation coming. I for one will NOT be buying the brand name for name's sake. I just recently acquired a 750w Thermaltake Toughpower XT, anyone have any opinions or experience on me replacing my PCP&C 750w Silencer with the Thermaltake?
 
I bought one of the last real PCP&C Silencers for my wife's system (I believe a 350w) on clearance from NewEgg prior to OCZ taking over. Good unit.

Sad that PCP&C has become just another brand name. I can't see why OCZ bothered, considering they already use the same manufacturer and could just build the reputation of their own brand. And $250 for a 950w power supply that doesn't even have modular cables is, frankly, absurd.
 
Zero82z said:
It was pulled from Newegg because the product was discontinued (hence the existence of the Silencer MKII line).
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good catch. i swore when i looked the other day that PCP&C didn't even appear as a manufacturer under their PSU list. my bad.

- Robert (pMr)dEATHiNjUNE

 
My PC Power and Cooling Quad Silencer 750 is completely silent and always has been. How did this series get labeled as noisy?
 
I knew this crap was going to happen the moment OCZ bought the company. It took a couple years but here we see the fruits of the 'new' PC Power & Cooling.

This is heavily opinionated, but I truly think that the PC Power & Cooling we've come to regard so highly is no more.

Thank goodness for Corsair...
 
Blue Falcon said:
This is heavily opinionated, but I truly think that the PC Power & Cooling we've come to regard so highly is no more.

.
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It's not just you, it's the opinion of most informed people around the net. PCP&C were good when everybody else was crap, but the past 3-4 years (even when they sold their original Seaonics based Silencers) they just seemed to have gotten stuck in a rut. The Silencer 910 was a step forward and a sign of innovation, but that unit didn't last long on the shelves until the OCZ s**t hit the fan.
 
I've never liked OCZ. Their history with poor quality is renown. I couldn't believe it when PC P&C sold out to OCZ. DUMB move with expected end results.

SHAME. They had a great rep and product. Why the hell team up with OCZ of all companies.
 
I'm pretty sure that 'fix' in this PSU ranks above adding a rogue diode or wire on the back of the PCB. As the article said, it'd be fine for an engineering prototype/sample, but it's completely unacceptable for a retail product. I also wonder WTH they were thinking when they put this thing into production, and why they decided to sell it as-is. Maybe they don't test their designs until they got the first retail versions rolling from the production lines? :)
 
JoeBob said:
The Silencer 910 was a step forward and a sign of innovation, but that unit didn't last long on the shelves until the OCZ s**t hit the fan.
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The Silencer 910 was just a Seasonic M12D stock unit with an 80mm fan. PC Power & Cooling is not a manufacturer, or designer. They make suggestions for units, but by and large they rebrand off the self products from their OEM's. They always have its just their Turbo-cools were the only place customers say Win-tact PS2 formfactor PSU's in the US.
 
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Wow! Sad...but not a surprise.

Like most users here (it seems) I too was a big PCPC fan from 2000-2001 (built video editing systems) and so, when I was building up a system last year (not my first since 2001) I went with their 550 watt model powering a Q8400 with a nVidia GTS8800-320MB video card (old unit from my son's old gaming system).

Ran fine the first month (July 2009). Then I began to notice odd green pixels after a time on the display which usually indicates a problem with video memory. I swapped the power plug to the card and that went away.

Flash forward to December 2009, my son is playing a friend on my system on the home LAN and suddenly the APC 650VA UPS screams in pain and everything shuts down. You may know this scream if you've every overloaded a UPS.

Turned out the PSU in the PC had died completely. UPS was fine and is still running (and on it's 3rd battery refresh too, don't forget those don't last forever).

RMA"d that sucker, which PCPC honored, but since they wouldn't trans-ship a new unit I ordered a new one from Newegg from a different manufacturer and now the replacement PCPC PSU sits on the shelf where it likely reside until I die because I no longer trust their equipment.
 
I posted this info years ago, but here it is again. PCP&C used rebadged power supplies in some models (not a bad thing). The Turbo Cool 400 was a Zippy/EMACS AP2-5400F-RV2, and the Turbo Cool 300 was an FSP Group FSP-300-60GT...

Not that it matters anymore, just dustbin info :D
 
You are correct it does not matter in regards to this review, is not relevant to this review, and the topic has been covered already just two posts up from yours. Please stay on topic from now on.
 
pmrdij said:
I bought Corsair's CMPSU-850TX this weekend to ensure that nothing else went down when my PCP&C died and have to say that the sleeving on this unit sucks. quite a few of the cables have bulges in the sleeving... unfortunately Best Buy is cheaper than Newegg right now (despite the fact that they charged me $5 more than their website says it is on sale for) but the nearest store here in OR that i was able to find such at had every box looking like they rumbled off a fork lift and had black soot all over their boxes...

(PmR)DeathInJune

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Can you send me some pics of the "bulges" to [email protected] along with your contact info?

I'd be happy to replace the unit for you.
 
JoeBob said:
The Silencer 910 was a step forward and a sign of innovation, but that unit didn't last long on the shelves until the OCZ s**t hit the fan.
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How was it a sign of innovation? They took an M12D and made it WORSE.
Jima13 said:
I posted this info years ago, but here it is again. PCP&C used rebadged power supplies in some models (not a bad thing). The Turbo Cool 400 was a Zippy/EMACS AP2-5400F-RV2, and the Turbo Cool 300 was an FSP Group FSP-300-60GT...
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Every single PCP&C PSU is a rebadge. They do not and never did manufacture any PSUs themselves.
 
I have some of the older PC Power & Cooling psu's and of course they are rock solid bullet proof.

I bought one of the cheap chinese PC Power & Cooling made psu's earlier this year and it died on the customer in June.

I will never buy another PC Power & Cooling product again.

No one is surprised that this happened. The chinese do not care about quality. If you are not poisoning your kids with toys then your chinese made products are dying left and right.
 
I just don't grok the love for PCP&C here.

I bought one "silencer" product from them years ago only to find that either a) they don't know what "silence" actually means, or b) the company is run by deaf people or old people whose hearing aids have failed them.

Add in their spectacular FUD campaign over the years and the loyalty is just not justified, IMHO.

As to the influence of OCZ, I'm not a big OCZ user. More of a Corsair guy myself. Or Seasonic, or Nexus when it comes to PSUs.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I have some of the older PC Power & Cooling psu's and of course they are rock solid bullet proof.

I bought one of the cheap chinese PC Power & Cooling made psu's earlier this year and it died on the customer in June.
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PC Power & Cooling's rock solid bullet proof ones were built in China or Taiwan just like their current products.
 
@Paul_Johnson

Yeah, I think you know what I meant.

Talking about quality in general.

What's not made in China these days? And personally, I don't have anything against products made in China. I don't exactly have a choice in the matter.

I hate to see good names get trashed. Wasn't Plextor another brand that sold out?

Just a personal opinion. Not the end of the world.
 
pmrdij said:
raise of hands as to how many of us own a Smart-UPS (models listed here: http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=165) which comes with a pure sine wave Wave Transform at home.
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Me.

I have a nice Smart Ups 2200. It weighs a ton (like 100 lbs), but man is it nice. I bought it in part specifically BECAUSE of the pure sine wave feature. I got it nearly new off of ebay from someone who didn't properly describe what they were selling so I got it for about $300 instead of $900. Its still going strong and I love the huge battery life. The power here sucks (the power company musta chose the cheapest transformers from the lowest bid in the brand new developement we moved into), its often going off, or browning out, or voltage SPIKING for extended periods (and burning out things in the rest of the house). You can tell because the lights all start to get brighter and brighter. And the UPS starts beeping as it turns on voltage trim to drop it back down to 120v.

And instead of having to turn off my computer right away when the power goes out, I can play games or whatever for a while. I can get an hour or two while fully loaded, running my 37" screen, and the 470 GTX.

It's WELL worth the money.

I will never settle for anything less than an APC unit for my personal machines. I've had and seen other cheap crap, and they've BURNED out components in computers. I remember having to replace a motherboard on a computer connected to one of those cheap cyberpower (or some such) units from compusa.

This was originally written in regards to your question
 
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Zero82z said:
The only time a UPS directly supplies power to a PSU altogether is when it's running on battery power. Otherwise, it's just passing through the power from the wall. The UPS is not what damaged your PSU.
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Exactly.

Devistater said:
I will never settle for anything less than an APC unit for my personal machines. I've had and seen other cheap crap, and they've BURNED out components in computers. I remember having to replace a motherboard on a computer connected to one of those cheap cyberpower (or some such) units from compusa.
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Then don't buy cheap crap. Or don't buy a Stand-by UPS for that matter. Line Interactive UPS's are fine and a UPS doesn't have to be an APC to not be cheap crap. I actually prefer Tripp-Lite and OptiUPS to APC and they also have online, as well as lesser expensive line interactive, pure sine output UPS's.

Of course, if you don't want to do any research, APC is the "safe bet" because they're so well known and have a good reputation. Sort of like what PCP&C used to be... the "safe bet" because they used to only sell good stuff. ;)
 
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jonnyGURU said:
Exactly.



Then don't buy cheap crap. Or buy a Stand-by UPS for that matter. Line Interactive UPS's are fine and a UPS doesn't have to be an APC to not be cheap crap. I actually prefer Tripp-Lite and OptiUPS to APC and they also have online and pure sine output UPS's.

Of course, if you don't want to do any research, APC is the "safe bet" because they're so well known and have a good reputation. Sort of like what PCP&C used to be... the "safe bet" because they used to only sell good stuff. ;)
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All others I've tried I've been dissastified with. Like that cheap cyberpower thing, that was like $10 after a rebate. Glad I didn't hook that up to my personal machine.
Another example, I've used a belkin one that was supposedly enterprise class for a server before, not nearly as good as any of the APC ones I've used, even the consumer back-ups line. The features were junk, the software was junk, and the quality was junk (it died, not the battery but the unit itself, and had no warning that it was dead and acting as a outlet strip instead of a UPS).
I've even bought used APC units without batteries for cheap on ebay and bought batteries, APC's I've seen tend to be built like a tank and last quite well even used. Most other companies exaggerate and say things like 30 mins and you get maybe 10 mins. With APC, if anything it swings the other way, if it says 55 mins, one might get 60 mins.

I believe APC Smart-ups is a line interactive model and I've been quite satisfied with them. Oh and another reason I like them is the load meter, so I can tell how much wattage I'm sucking up with my machine. I know I can use (and have used) a kill-a-watt meter to check power usage, but having it integrated in the UPS is so much handier.

Now they aren't perfect, for instance the smart ups 2200 has a pretty loud fan. But I replaced it with one that is much quieter.

APC has a good rep for a reason, I prefer them both from my personal experiance and research I've done. With APC I've had around 3 generations of smart ups and from what I can tell they've only gotten better, not worse, so they aren't quite like PCP&C :)

Just my 2 cents.

I haven't tried Tripp-Lite or OptiUPS, next time I need a UPS, I'll have to look into those.

BTW, I love your PSU reviews. There's very few PSU reviews worth reading on the net, and most of them are on your site and on [h]. Most of the rest are just "well I stuck a multimeter into it" or even worse "I read the BIOS and it showed voltages were fine, and the PSU sure has pretty paint on it"
When it came time to buy a PSU for my current rig, I ended up with a Seasonic X-650, in large part due to your review of that model and the [h] review of the X-750.

Similarly, because of [h]'s review, I'd never buy a silencer MkII 950w. Previously I had a reasonably good opinion of PCP&C, I figured they were going to close down since they had discontinued most of thier current PSUs. Perhaps it would have been better if they did.
 
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This thread is about the Silencer MkII 950W, take any other discussions to a new thread. Last warning.
 
Sad, but not a surprise.

RIP pcp&c, we hardly knew ye.
 
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