The Riotoro Onyx Power Supply Review: 650W & 750W Tested
by E. Fylladitakis on March 23, 2017 10:00 AM ESTConclusion
In this review we examined two of Riotoro’s first power supply units, the Onyx 650W and the Onyx 750W. The company’s approach is simple, attempting to deliver quality but also a reasonably priced unit for home PCs and casual gaming systems. It was never their goal to market PSUs with astounding performance figures or fancy designs - Riotoro wanted PSUs that would appeal to the bulk of the market, which largely consists of regular users and casual gamers.
Perhaps the strongest selling point of the Riotoro Onyx PSUs is their build quality. Great Wall may not be a well-known OEM in the North American and European markets, but they are an old and experienced manufacturer. Riotoro made good components choices as well, especially with the all-Japanese capacitors, which is a very rare sight into products that are designed to mainly compete in terms of pricing. Our only concern lies with the sleeve bearing Yate-Loon fan, which is the weakest link of the whole unit - anecdotally these fan models tend to fail after some years. However the fan should easily outlive the unit’s three-year warranty and beyond, but we would still rather find better quality fans into these units.
The overall performance of the Onyx PSUs is very good. Both units displayed high-efficiency readings at light and heavy loads, as well as proper filtering and regulation on all of their voltage lines. They also maintain low noise levels when they are operating in good environmental conditions or heavily loaded for prolonged periods of time. However, due to the high internal temperatures that occur with the units heavily loaded when operating under harsh environmental conditions, we would not recommend using the Onyx for systems that maintain heavy loads for prolonged periods of time with perhaps limited cooling (e.g. cryptocurrency miners), as the stress will certainly have a serious impact on the longevity of the units.
The MSRP prices of the Onyx 650W and Onyx 750W PSUs are $80 and $90 respectively, but we already see both units selling for $10 less each depending on the retailer. The company currently also has a running campaign that gives customers an extra 10% off and free shipping for units preordered via their website. These are reasonable prices considering the quality and performance of the units and so we believe that Riotoro has fully attained their goal to design a competitive PSU for today’s PC market. After the company’s campaign expires, the success of the Onyx series will depend on its availability and Riotoro’s ability to survive the price war that their competitors will undoubtedly silently declare.
Suggested Reading
- The SilverStone SX700-LPT SFX 700W PSU Review
- The SilverStone ST60F-TI Strider Titanium 600W PSU Review
- The Raidmax RX-700AT 700W 80Plus Titanium Power Supply Review
- Best PC Power Supplies: Holiday 2016
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fanofanand - Thursday, March 23, 2017 - link
Once upon a time I made the mistake of buying a high-end PSU from a relatively new outfit that was created by former execs and engineers from a high-profile component manufacturer. Everything seemed brilliant. Excellent power characteristics with nary a ripple, fully modular design, it seemed fantastic. Two years later it crapped out on me taking a few components with it (yes it was hooked up to surge protectors and a UPS). When I went to go back to the manufacturer whatdya know, they were already gone. I was left in the lurch with several fried components and no recourse for my warranty. Never again, I will stick with the known quantities on PSUs. It is a far more important component than many give it credit for.feelingshorter - Thursday, March 23, 2017 - link
Had a Corsair PSU years back, started making a buzzing sound closer to the end of it's warranty. Corsair replaced it but the new PSU still made that buzzing sound. Bought a SeaSonic X650 back when it first came out for for $115-$120 (expensive b/c it was the first 80 plus gold at the time) and it has been rock solid without any electronic buzzing. I agree with your statement, I can't trust a new company either. Had a Nvidia graphics card fail and the company, BFG Tech disappeared. They offered a "life time warranty" and the card was barely past 2 years. No thanks. BFG Tech also sold PSUs and I was wondering if we are talking about the same company.fanofanand - Thursday, March 23, 2017 - link
Nope, the company was Tagan, and I bought it based off this review (Gee thanks Anandtech.....)http://www.anandtech.com/show/2357
I had the 700 watt version as I was one of the suckers who thought my 8800 and Q6600 "needed" 700 watts. I figured if their top end version was among the best of the best, surely their 700 watt would be just as solid. Apparently not.
BrokenCrayons - Thursday, March 23, 2017 - link
Anandtech and any other hardware reviewer can't really test long term reliability. They sample a single unit (potentially cherry picked by the vendor if the reviewer doesn't buy retail parts) which is never a statistically significant number and test it over the course of a short period of time. There's nothing AT can do to test for years' long operational capabilities.fanofanand - Thursday, March 23, 2017 - link
Oh I know, I'm not actually blaming Anandtech, just taking a cheap shot. :)Samus - Thursday, March 23, 2017 - link
I purchased a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 Quad 10 years ago based on an anandtech review. Still have it, still works, and it was on a miner 24/7 for 4 years.fanofanand - Friday, March 24, 2017 - link
Cool story but how is that relevant? PC Power and Cooling wasn't an unknown entity ten years ago.Galid - Monday, March 27, 2017 - link
That is a complete sophism, sorry it happened to you, the new kid on the block deceived you back then but that is a fallacious argument. I beleive MILLIONS peoples made money, great investments on what used to be new back in the days. My father used to invest in apple when it was new, some peeps went in to say ''this is a dangerous investment, we don't know nothing about them''. He also invested 1500$ on Bombardier back when it was a new company. He made 180k$ from that even if it was riskyThe new honda accord 2017 is worse/better than the honda accord 2016, this is an example of a sophism, you can't use that as an argument.
If we base life on argumenting like that, maybe you shouldn't walk on the sideways, there are reports of people that died hit by a car or just slip on the ice.
Maybe you should move from your home if you have carpet/wood in it, there are reoprtedly homes that caught fire.
Maybe you should stop doing anything because there are reports about people getting in real danger doing just about anything in life including but not limited to: breathing, swimming, walking, looking at the sky, watching TV, sleeping, etc...
Galid - Monday, March 27, 2017 - link
You know, life is risky, you won't get out of it. Don't try to dodge EVERY risky moves because well, your life WILL be boring. If you really care about risks, huddle in the corner, we'll feed you, give you protection and you'll live being 120 years old. But what a life...Ascaris - Sunday, April 9, 2017 - link
"You know, life is risky, you won't get out of it."You contradict yourself. If life is risky, how is he going to live forever as you say?