Major Power Supply Brands Ranked Worst To Best
Power supplies, also known as PSUs (power supply units), are one of the most important components of a PC build. It supplies power to all of the components, and it's also tasked with handling things like transient spikes in high-power components like graphics cards. You can find a power supply for almost any occasion. Most don't go lower than 300W unless it's for a special use case. On the high end, you can find them as high as 2000W or even higher, which is completely unnecessary for most consumer-oriented PCs.
So, where does one start looking? There are a variety of power supply manufacturers. Most of them have at least a few different power supply products. It's not difficult to find reviews of any specific power supply, but there is less information in regard to brands as a whole. It's not recommended to shop by brands specifically, as all brands can have the occasional clunker. In general, cheap PSUs are of lower quality no matter which brand you buy from.
The good news is that there really is no such thing as a bad power supply brand anymore, so you can still buy a power supply from essentially any brand and have a good experience. Here is a list of the major power supply brands ranked from worst to best based on warranties, where the parts come from, and overall selection.
Silverstone
Silverstone is a reasonably decent manufacturer of power supplies. The company has a wide range of PSUs, including TFX, SFX, Nightjar, Zeus, Extreme, HELA, Strider, Essential, and several others. Each series has its own subset of power supplies. As such, the law of large numbers applies here. As a whole, Silverstone makes fairly average power supplies with some gems and clunkers at the extreme ends of its various product lineups. PSUs like the HELA-R 1200W, Nightjar SXL, and DA Gold 1650W score quite well in reviews and tier lists. On the other end of the spectrum, the Essential ET-ARGB, Strider Gold Evolution, and Strider Essential PSUs score quite low.
The reason for the huge variance in quality from Silverstone is due to the source of its power supplies. Silverstone farms out its power supplies to a variety of OEMs, including FSP, Enhance Electronics, Sirtec, and CWT. You'll see those names often on this list since they are consistently used by power supply brands for manufacturing products. It's nearly impossible to determine if a power supply is going to be good or not based solely on its original manufacturer. Instead, you'll have a much more consistent experience looking up individual products instead.
Unfortunately, when it comes to warranty, Silverstone scores below average. In the U.S., Silverstone warranties range from two years to five years. Many competitors have longer warranties. There are certainly some good Silverstone PSUs, those looking for enhanced long-term support can likely do better.
Thermaltake
Thermaltake is a lot like Silverstone in that it produces a ton of power supplies. Most of Thermaltake's PSUs fall under the Toughpower branding. There are multiple sub-brands as well, including GF, SF, TF, BX, and GX. Each of those also has multiple variants. Thus, there are a lot of power supplies under the Thermaltake branding. Most of them are relatively decent, but plenty, such as the TR2 Bronze, have wound up on the bottom of at least a few tier lists. Of course, the Thermaltake GF3, SFX 1000W, and GF1 power supplies are at the top of those same lists. You can easily get a great or terrible PSU from Thermaltake depending on which product you choose.
The reason for Thermaltake's wide range of quality is the same as Silverstone. The company sources from a variety of companies, including HEC, Yue-Lin Electrical Technology, CWT, Sirtec, and FSP. With such a wide range of products and power supply sources, the margin for error increases. You'll definitely want to check not only existing tier lists, but also read some reviews to make sure the one you're buying is on the level.
To top things off, Thermaltake has a fairly mediocre power supply warranty of five years for parts and labor. Many other companies have warranties for up to 10 years for higher-end PSUs. You can definitely find some great Thermaltake products, but make sure to double-check before purchasing anything.
Cooler Master
Cooler Master is another bulk distributor of power supplies. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the company's PSUs are about as reliable as Thermaltake and Silverstone. That's mostly because Cooler Master uses the same manufacturers as its competitors to outsource its PSUs. Cooler Master also started making its own PSUs back in 2018. The result is the XG-series, a power supply made by Cooler Master. The company's in-house XG series ranks toward the top of the popular Cultists Network PSU tier list. That's pretty high praise for a first attempt and better praise than most of its outsourced PSUs.
Aside from the aforementioned XG-series PSUs, Cooler Master's V series is also highly regarded in the PC enthusiast community. There are multiple V-series PSUs depending on the rating, but they're all good. Cooler Master is also quite adept at adjusting to the market. The company makes several white and RGB products for people looking for themed builds. You'll want to check those against reviews and community opinion before buying anything to make sure you're not getting one of the bad ones.
Cooler Master's warranty for power supplies depends on which ones you buy. The XG and V-series PSUs have desirable 10-year warranties. The MasterWatt series generally has a seven-year warranty, and the rest of Cooler Master's offerings are five years or lower.
Enermax
Enermax has a few benefits when compared to its competitors. The company doesn't produce a bunch of PSUs, so the extremes for the brand are slimmer than most. Most of its PSUs, like the Revolution, MaxTytan, Mabletron, and Revobron series PSUs range from quite good to average, respectively. The only series that many people recommend you avoid is the Cyberbron. The Cyberbron isn't even that bad, but it is meant for low-end systems with predictable power draw. Thus, there really isn't a total clunker in the entire Enermax lineup. It's mostly just a lot of average and budget offerings with a few high-end options.
Like most, Enermax farms out most of its PSUs to other manufacturers. The list includes CWT, Yue-Lin Electrical Technology, Sirtec, and FPS. However, unlike most competitors, Enermax also makes its own power supplies. Namely, the highly touted Revolution series is an in-house product. The company farms out its remaining catalog of PSUs to CWT, so the few hands involved in the production of Enermax PSUs help keep the quality in check.
In terms of warranty, Enermax does pretty well. Some of the company's budget-tier power supplies have warranties between three and five years. However, top-tier PSUs, like the Revolution series, can have a warranty of up to 10 years. It is worth noting, however, that the 10-year warranties only kicked in as of January 2020, so older Enermax PSUs will have a shorter warranty.
EVGA
EVGA shocked the world when it stopped selling NVIDIA graphics cards. Luckily for consumers, the company still sells some generally excellent PSUs. Units like the G2, G3, most of the G6 series, G7, P2, and most of the P6 series are considered among the best single-rail PSUs that you can buy. Meanwhile, only some of the B-series and W-series are considered to be less than ideal for most PC builders, giving EVGA a leg up on the bulk PSU brands above it on this list. Most of its PSUs are solid.
The former NVIDIA graphics card darling also outsources its PSUs. EVGA PSUs are made by Enhance Electronics, HEC, Super Flower, and Seasonic, among others. You'll see Super Flower and Seasonic further down on this list because those companies make excellent PSUs. In particular, the highly touted G2 series of PSUs are almost identical to Super Flower Leadex Gold, while many of its midrange selections are made by Seasonic. As a result, buying an EVGA PSU is a pretty safe bet for consumers.
EVGA's warranty situation is all over the place. Warranties range from 90 days to 10 years depending on the model. As is the case with all PSUs, recommended models are the ones with seven or 10-year warranties so you can get an easy replacement if the unit is faulty.
Be Quiet
Be Quiet isn't a brand many associate with power supplies, but the company's selection is pretty good and compares favorably with companies like Enermax and MSI. At the top of Be Quiet's totem pole is the Dark Power 13, which is one of the highest-rated power supplies on the market. The Dark Power 12, Straight Power 11, and Pure Power 12M round out its high-end lineup. Most of the rest of Be Quiet's lineup consists of midrange power supplies that have no glaring issues but should be reserved for mid-range PC builds.
Like most of its contemporaries, Be Quiet outsources to other OEMs, including FSP and HEC. The company also used Seasonic for its now-discontinued Dark Power Pro 10 series. Unlike other power supply brands on this list, Be Quiet made a smart move by keeping the number of partners low, which seems to ensure a more consistent product. FSP in particular has made most of Be Quiet's most recent PSUs and Be Quiet adds in its own cooling fans for good measure. That relationship seems to be paying dividends because there aren't many negative reviews for Be Quiet's PSUs.
In terms of warranties, Be Quiet is above average. Its midrange and budget-tier PSUs tend to have 5-year warranties while the high-end ones extend up to 10 years. This is an encouraging sign for consumers, especially if you're ponying up for one of the more expensive PSUs.
MSI
MSI is in a strange place when it comes to power supplies. Consumers can choose from one of three series: the MEG, MAG, and MPG series of power supplies. Here's the thing: All three are actually pretty good. The power supplies range from 650W to 1300W, which means there are no budget or low-tier options. Everything MSI sells is for midrange to high-end PCs. That makes it quite difficult to find a clunker in the mix because there essentially isn't one. All of the company's power supplies rank highly in reviews and tier lists across the Internet.
MSI doesn't make its own power supplies. The MPG series is made by CWT as is the MEG series. As such, it wouldn't be a huge stretch to assume the 2023 MAG series is also made by CWT. MSI is relatively new to this space, but the company seems to be doing everything right. The newest MAG series PSUs come with PCIe 5.0 support, a 16-pin power cable specifically for high-end 4000-series NVIDIA cards, and only two of the company's products aren't fully modular designs. Perhaps MSI's budget PSUs could be a little better, but otherwise, there is very little negative to write about this brand.
Even the warranties are pretty good. MSI's budget-tier PSUs have a 5-year limited warranty while the high-end ones get a full 10-year warranty. This level of support is above average in comparison to competitors, especially considering that most of MSI's power supplies have a 10-year warranty.
Corsair
Corsair is a huge name in PC building. You've likely seen its signature yellow and black colorway all over the Internet. Corsair's PSUs are a popular choice as well. The company's offerings span all of the price categories. You can get a CX series PSU for fairly cheap and it's among the better budget options. Corsair's higher-end products, like the RM, RMx, and RMi are easy recommendations to make. There are a few less stellar options in the lineup, such as the VS series. However, most of Corsair's clunkers have either been discontinued or are difficult to find new, so those products generally stay out of the way of the company's top offerings.
Corsair is the final brand on this list that doesn't make its own power supplies. Most of its current PSUs are made by CWT and Great Wall. CWT is the same manufacturer that makes MSI's excellent power supplies, and the quality is very similar to Corsair. Most reviews agree. Corsair doesn't misstep often and its products are available everywhere.
The warranty should also please most people. Most of Corsair's lineup has warranties lasting up to 10 years, but no fewer than seven years. Some of the company's older products go as low as three years, but most of them can't be purchased new anymore. The only difference in terms of quality seems to be how good the cooling is and where the capacitors came from. It's hard to go wrong with Corsair at any price range.
Super Flower
Super Flower isn't a name known to most people, but it's one of the most reliable power supply manufacturers out there. Cultists Network's PSU tier list has most of Super Flower's lineup in the top tiers, with only the budget-minded Leadex Silver falling into the average category. The company doesn't seem to have a single true failure in its lineup. The entire catalog consists of the Leadex and Legion series, which makes them easy to find when shopping for them.
Not only does Super Flower make its own PSUs, but it also farms them out to other brands like EVGA and Rosewill. As Cooler Master showed, there's a benefit to making in-house PSUs if for no other reason than quality control. The company's PSUs aren't perfect, as no PSUs are, but they tend to have good features, excellent performance, and reasonable prices. Since the company doesn't dabble in low-end or budget-tier products, it's exceedingly difficult to find a fully negative review of any of its current products.
All of Super Flower's warranties have either a five-year or 10-year warranty. The only issue is that it's occasionally difficult to pin down exactly how long the warranty is. For example, Super Flower's official website doesn't have any warranty length information, but you can often find the warranty length in product listings on websites like Newegg. Other than that one hiccup, Super Flower PSUs are quite good.
Seasonic
Seasonic is among the most trusted names in PSUs. Not only does the company manufacture its own power supplies, but it also makes PSUs for several other brands. Seasonic's bread and butter products include the Prime, GM, GX, PX, and SGX products. The company also makes some lower-end and budget-oriented PSUs. Those products are still pretty good quality comparatively, but you can still find Seasonic products up and down most tier lists. While poor-quality Seasonic products can exist, it's just not common.
In general, Seasonic's products garner heavily positive reviews from just about everywhere. The only time you can find mediocrity is when it's by design. For example, the S2III would be a solid mid-tier PSU if it didn't ship without under voltage protection, or UVP. Other than mishaps like that, Seasonic products rarely have any serious issues. The higher-tier models are obviously preferable to the budget models, and Seasonic has yet to notably stumble with its high-end lineup.
Seasonic also has some of the best warranties in the industry. The Prime series comes with an incredible industry-leading 12-year warranty. Most of the company's other high-end products come with 10-year warranties while other mid-range products have 7-year warranties. Even the aforementioned S2III and its lack of UVP still has a five-year warranty. The only real downside is that Seasonic PSUs are a little mundane cosmetically compared to flashier options from other brands, but that's mostly a matter of preference.