The Andyson Platinum R 1200W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on April 24, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- 1200W
- 80Plus Platinum
- Andyson
Conclusion
Andyson may not be the most reputable manufacturer when it comes to high-end units but it seems that they really wanted to turn the tide around. As far as performance is concerned, the Platinum R 1200W has literally nothing to fear from its competitors. With superb output quality, efficiency and thermal performance, it excels on every performance aspect. It also has extreme thermal resistance, with high ambient temperatures having almost no effect at all on the performance of the PSU. The combination of great thermal resistance and high efficiency allows the fan to operate at low speeds, maintaining low noise levels under most conditions.
Aesthetically, the Platinum R 1200W is rather uninteresting. The full modular design and the all-black cables certainly enhance the appeal of this PSU a lot. On the other hand, printing a logo that will be facing upside down on the side of the unit is an amateurish mistake. It is not a secret that almost every case in existence that has the PSU compartment below the motherboard tray is designed to have the PSU installed with its fan facing downwards. It is unlikely that most people will care about the logo, yet modders will obviously seek to correct it somehow.
The quality is a little more complicated matter. The ten year warranty is certainly reassuring, the design is exceptional and the assembly job immaculate, yet we feel that Andyson did a childish mistake by selecting Teapo capacitors. It is not that Teapo capacitors are technically worse than their Japanese counterparts are. On paper, they are identical or even better. However, it all goes down to market psychology and Teapo capacitors simply are not loved among advanced users, which are exactly the target group of this product.
Andyson claims that the Platinum R 1200W is the most cost-effective PSU of its class. True enough, with an MSRP just over $200 and such performance, it could wreak havoc to the sales of its competitors. However, it is exceedingly difficult to find in the US at this point of time, or almost anywhere outside Eastern Asia for that matter. This negates the company's argument and reveals a major flaw, that of availability. There is no point with having an excellent product if the majority of your potential customers have no access to it. If it becomes readily available to the "western" markets and the price remains similar, then it will most likely be in the shortlist of every enthusiast shopping for a >1kW PSU.
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ImSpartacus - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
I agree.I couldn't care less about giant PSUs.
I want to see reviews of ~500W PSUs because that's the kind of PSU that I would buy.
E.Fyll - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
You see, the problem is that good <550 Watts PSUs are very rare. In the order of $50, you will get something that works OK and that's about it. Will it really matter if the ripple is 90mV instead of 75mV, or if the average efficiency is 95% instead of 95.3%?Besides,manufacturers do not easily supply samples of such products. I've already discussed the reasons why not many times over. The few good low power units that exist, I am trying to source them. Silver stone sent in a 450 watt unit and we might be getting somewhere with Andyson too.
And no, I cannot just buy the samples. Especially from newegg.
The0ne - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
They won't listen lol, it's like they're being paid to do the article...wait a minute, I may be on to something!ImSpartacus - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
Yeah, the author says it up front:"When it comes to high performance >1 kW computer power supplies, almost every reputable OEM has released at least one design to serve as their flagship. This is not necessarily because the companies expect high revenue because they are well aware that this segment of the market is very small and overly saturated. They do this because the flagship serves as a symbol of the company's capabilities and competence, enhancing their profile on all fronts in order to produce that halo product, hoping the performance of the high end results in trickle-down sales."
But that doesn't justify it. The bottom line is that I read Anandtech reviews because I want to be educated about potential purchases. However, I'll never purchase a 1000+W PSU. That's just wasteful.
I want relevant reviews and Anandtech needs to demands relevant PSU review units.
JonnyDough - Tuesday, April 28, 2015 - link
Agreed. I own 10 computers, 8 of which are gaming PCs. None have more than a 750w PSU in them, and none will ever need to.computex128 - Wednesday, April 29, 2015 - link
Drop the insanity and buy a dual-GPU card like the rest of us certifiably sane folk :PLoneWolf15 - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Andyson didn't just suffer because of Hiper.Remember Ultra power supplies? First modular units made, now house brand of Tiger Direct? Andyson. Many failures, old designs, horrible voltage regulation, never meeting load specs....that's a lot of Andyson PSUs made for the vendors they supply to. While it could be that vendors want Andyson to make cheap units, I wouldn't touch one, even one that rates well. You can do better with other choices.
DanNeely - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Thank you for updating your testing methodology to reflect the continued decline in the amount of power available on the legacy (3.3/5v) rails in more modern designs.Laststop311 - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
Because legacy systems used lower voltage more. Nowadays everything is 12 volts.CrazyElf - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
The most important things to consider are:1. Voltage regulation under load
2. Ripple suppression
3. Long term reliability
I would ignore the 80 Plus as it's mostly marketing.
Good power supplies are made by Delta (OEM), Super Flower (their Leadex platform is pretty good), Seasonic, and I would argue some of the Flextronics designs are pretty good too. Brand is mostly for warranty support - it's the OEM that really counts.