Shop PCP&C, Accept No Substitutes!

N

n64man120

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 11, 2004
Messages
3,498
Posting this as a follow up to my thread a few weeks ago, when my PCP&C 510 supply suddenly started pouring smoke and died on the spot. Search is disabled, or else I wouldn't have bothered with a new thread.

Basic backstory:

-Power supply goes up in smoke
-No proof of purchase, bought 2nd hand, 'warranty void' sticker torn off, cables sleeved, zip ties inside supply cut, molex's replaced with 3rd party ones
-Call up PCP&C, they say none of that is a problem and to send it in
-Ask them to retain my old cables, so I don't have to go through hours of re-sleeving again (never thought they'd honor this)

So when I got home from work today, a big 'ol PCP&C box was at my door. The power supply has all my original cables attached, and the original enclosure. All of the internals appear to be brand new, or at least cleaner than I ever thought was possible.

So brand new parts, and all my old custom sleeved cables returned attached? Yea I'm psyched.
 
The 510 Deluxes were damn solid. I own 2 personally and they still can power modern systems. They are actually 3 independant powersupplys. Too bad I feel that PCP&C will become nothing more than a brand name now that OCZ has bought them. I think we are going to get the same shitty stuff packed into a PCP&C box.
 
Spazilton said:
Too bad I feel that PCP&C will become nothing more than a brand name now that OCZ has bought them. I think we are going to get the same shitty stuff packed into a PCP&C box.
Click to expand...

I think that is doubtful. OCZ knows they have a good thing here and they seem to be headed towads nurturing it with the capital it needs to continue.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
I think that is doubtful. OCZ knows they have a good thing here and they seem to be headed towads nurturing it with the capital it needs to continue.
Click to expand...

I sure hope you are right. I am a huge supporter of PCP&C powersupplies. I was a little disturbed to read the most recent review on the 1KW however. I don't believe the units from a year or 2 ago exibhted the same issues. However they are loud as all hell :)
 
Spazilton said:
I sure hope you are right. I am a huge supporter of PCP&C powersupplies. I was a little disturbed to read the most recent review on the 1KW however. I don't believe the units from a year or 2 ago exibhted the same issues. However they are loud as all hell :)
Click to expand...

On the performance issues the units from a year or two ago had the exact same characteristics. The thing is at the time noone else had anything competitive 2 years ago but that changed and PC Power and Cooling didn't keep up. I would expect that they'll get back on the horse performancewise. The remaining issues we'll just have to wait and see about.
 
Spazilton said:
I sure hope you are right. I am a huge supporter of PCP&C powersupplies. I was a little disturbed to read the most recent review on the 1KW however. I don't believe the units from a year or 2 ago exibhted the same issues. However they are loud as all hell :)
Click to expand...

you gotta give them a little credit... the fact that these powersupplies put out the amount of current that they do is nothing short of incredible in my opinion... i have some some powersupplies that put out less current that are bigger than my computer and probably weigh at least 2x my computer lol :eek:

the fact that switching power supplies have become this good is also impressive, and they are so cheap! you guys consider $200 a lot of money, some of the power supplies i have dealt with for commercial radio systems and such that put out less and are much larger (some switching/some ferro-resinous) can easily cost thousands!

so i have hope that people like PCP&C will continue to push the bar on computer switching supplies...
 
I haven't used or recommended anything but PC Power & Cooling products for the past 15 years or so. Nice to see someone else - that did have a problem, unfortunately - got to see just one of the reasons (not counting the wicked evil cool products) that I won't use, touch, recommend, or purchase any other brand of power supply, period.
 
FLECOM said:
you gotta give them a little credit... the fact that these powersupplies put out the amount of current that they do is nothing short of incredible in my opinion... i have some some powersupplies that put out less current that are bigger than my computer and probably weigh at least 2x my computer lol :eek:

the fact that switching power supplies have become this good is also impressive, and they are so cheap! you guys consider $200 a lot of money, some of the power supplies i have dealt with for commercial radio systems and such that put out less and are much larger (some switching/some ferro-resinous) can easily cost thousands!
Click to expand...

Why Yes Indeed. I know exactly what you are talking about..

BTW, Still trying to get my hands on that Orion bible, people are stingy as hell with info here :p
 
bbz_Ghost said:
I haven't used or recommended anything but PC Power & Cooling products for the past 15 years or so. Nice to see someone else - that did have a problem, unfortunately - got to see just one of the reasons (not counting the wicked evil cool products) that I won't use, touch, recommend, or purchase any other brand of power supply, period.
Click to expand...

No offense but I hate it when people are loyal to a single brand only. Clearly, PCPC doesn't make the best and most power supplies anymore. Their power supplies are loud, inefficient, overpriced, and doesn't seem "unbreakable" anymore.

Other PSU's are far better with the same reliability but at a much lower price. You should really look beyond just one brand because you can get a better deal by going for Fortron, FSP, and Seasonic built PSUs.

I'd never recommend a PCPC PSU to anyone. I currently own a Corsasir HX520 and its better than anything PCPC has in the class.

And to the OP, I find it very funny that you still say that there are no substitutes for PCPC after the PSU failed, and blew smoke at you.
 
I'd take a pcp*c 510 over a corsair HX520 any day. I have a pcp&c 510 SLI that is 6 years old and powering a e6700 @ 3.6ghz, 2x evga 8800GTS 640MB in SLI, 4x 1TB hard drives, 4X raptor 150GB in raid 0, and 4x 1GB OCZ pc8500. It has external pots to boot for the ultimate in adjustability, and the ability to have custom lengths and a custom harness is something no other manufacturer offers. It is loud, but I don't care because it still isn't dropping even .01 under load via DMM. Lets see the corsair hold that kind of stability under load. FWIW I use a Zippy 700w in my main system and it's every bit as good. PCP&C, Zippy, and Etasis are my top 3 picks, with seasonic a bit behind them.
 
SentToSchool said:
And to the OP, I find it very funny that you still say that there are no substitutes for PCPC after the PSU failed, and blew smoke at you.
Click to expand...

Every brand will have PSUs fail sometime. That's a given. The level of customer service the OP received, however, is not a given at all.
 
SentToSchool said:
No offense but I hate it when people are loyal to a single brand only. Clearly, PCPC doesn't make the best and most power supplies anymore. Their power supplies are loud, inefficient, overpriced, and doesn't seem "unbreakable" anymore.

Other PSU's are far better with the same reliability but at a much lower price. You should really look beyond just one brand because you can get a better deal by going for Fortron, FSP, and Seasonic built PSUs.

I'd never recommend a PCPC PSU to anyone. I currently own a Corsasir HX520 and its better than anything PCPC has in the class.

And to the OP, I find it very funny that you still say that there are no substitutes for PCPC after the PSU failed, and blew smoke at you.
Click to expand...


Ill put my either of my 510 Deluxe SLIs up against your HX520 any day of the week.
 
computerpro3 said:
I'd take a pcp*c 510 over a corsair HX520 any day. I have a pcp&c 510 SLI that is 6 years old and powering a e6700 @ 3.6ghz, 2x evga 8800GTS 640MB in SLI, 4x 1TB hard drives, 4X raptor 150GB in raid 0, and 4x 1GB OCZ pc8500. It has external pots to boot for the ultimate in adjustability, and the ability to have custom lengths and a custom harness is something no other manufacturer offers. It is loud, but I don't care because it still isn't dropping even .01 under load via DMM. Lets see the corsair hold that kind of stability under load. FWIW I use a Zippy 700w in my main system and it's every bit as good. PCP&C, Zippy, and Etasis are my top 3 picks, with seasonic a bit behind them.
Click to expand...
Being Johnny Guru's best rated power supply isn't easily done. I'd love to see the HX520 pitted against the the 510. I can bet that you paid several times more than what I paid for my HX520 which I clearly said "in its class". And while your PSU can output 510w, it's obvious that it's not as efficient by the amount of noise you describe. You can have your wires as long as you want, it's still not modular.

And worse of all, you said your 510 is 6 years old which makes you lose all your credibility.

Also, if you guys didn't know, the OP's PSU that failed was a PCPC 510.;) I just thought you might want to know.
 
SentToSchool said:
Being Johnny Guru's best rated power supply isn't easily done. I'd love to see the HX520 pitted against the the 510. I can bet that you paid several times more than what I paid for my HX520 which I clearly said "in its class". And while your PSU can output 510w, it's obvious that it's not as efficient by the amount of noise you describe. You can have your wires as long as you want, it's still not modular.

And worse of all, you said your 510 is 6 years old which makes you lose all your credibility.
Click to expand...

Actually, my pcp&c can output over 650W tested. Google it. And please explain how my credibility is damaged? Even if it's not 6 years old, it's at least five. I don't remember exactly when I purchased it; it was a half decade ago. It started life as a normal 510 ATX when they first came out and has been sent back twice to have connectors added and updated for the new standards and SLI.

And it's been a lot more cost effective than your Corsair too. I paid $220 for the unit when it first came out including the external pots (which your corsair doesn't have), and then $50 for one refit and the second only cost me shipping. So that's what, $270 on power supplies for 5-6 years. Your corsair hasn't even been out half that long, how much have you spent on PSU's in that time frame? Pretty close to $270, if not more.

My credibility isn't damaged in the least; I've cracked open and modified more power supplies than you've ever seen in your life. You should check the sticky's once in a while ;)
 
As I work for OCZ, I can clear a few things up:

The PCP&C guys are still very much in charge of the company and will remain that way. I visited them the other day (I live in North San Diego County just 15 min away) and they are working on new designs and are definately running the company the way they always did. They are very excited about being a part of OCZ (believe it or not).

The opposite scenario from what someone wrote above is actually happening. PC Power is going to take over the PSU business for OCZ and will run it from the Carlsbad facility, not the other way around. Who knows best how to design and test power supplies? PC Power of course. From what I have seen and heard with my own eyes and ears, you will see nothing but good things come from this partnership. :D

As far as the comments on who makes the best PSU on the market, this areguement will go on and on. Competition is a good thing for the consumer. Quality control is as well and that's what PC Power is known for, along with their great customer service.
 
well, everyones got to be competitive, dont they?


I just built a new rig

[email protected] on air, 2 gigs ocz pc6400, 2 xfx 8800gtx, 2 seagate 500 gis in raid 0, 5 case fans(not includibing my 120 on my ultra extrene) so that makes 6, powered by a brand new pc power and cooling 750 watt silencer, now this is power hungry rig, and its voltages are rock solid steady, and the things dead ass quiet

the best I domt know, but does a great job for me.
 
computerpro3 said:
Actually, my pcp&c can output over 650W tested. Google it. And please explain how my credibility is damaged? Even if it's not 6 years old, it's at least five. I don't remember exactly when I purchased it; it was a half decade ago. It started life as a normal 510 ATX when they first came out and has been sent back twice to have connectors added and updated for the new standards and SLI.

And it's been a lot more cost effective than your Corsair too. I paid $220 for the unit when it first came out including the external pots (which your corsair doesn't have), and then $50 for one refit and the second only cost me shipping. So that's what, $270 on power supplies for 5-6 years. Your corsair hasn't even been out half that long, how much have you spent on PSU's in that time frame? Pretty close to $270, if not more.

My credibility isn't damaged in the least; I've cracked open and modified more power supplies than you've ever seen in your life. You should check the sticky's once in a while ;)
Click to expand...
I've spent a total of $0 for PSUs in the last 5-6 years with the exception of this Corsair.

To each his own though. You probably like yours better but I'll take my more efficient, never goes up in smoke, silent, much cheaper(in price) and newer PSU over yours. I wouldn't trade mine for yours even if you gave me 2.
 
PCP&C is one of my three suppliers.
Yes, three. Corsair, OCZ, Seasonic, Fortron? Nowhere on the list. Not even remotely close.
The other two? Etasis and Astec. You've probably heard of Etasis - I source my 950W-2250W N+1 units from them. Astec produces my -48V DC/DC units.

Why PCP&C? Two failures out of many, many units. (I can't count over the years.) And both of those failures? They got advanced replacement - one was a 510A4 and the other was a 510XE. Neither failure damaged any other components, or caused damage to anything but the PSU itself.

Presuming OCZ's giving PCP&C the engineering? They just might make the list.
But only if they bring back TwinPower. No, seriously. You want the crown back? TwinPower 2K. (Also, chromed cases. Hinthint.) ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top