The best modular power supplies for a clean PC build

SP Hydro G Pro is a top series of computer power supplies from a famous Taiwanese brand, with a power from 650 to 1000 W. Boasts an 80 PLUS Gold energy efficiency certification, a 10-year warranty and support for both European 230-volt and American 115-volt power grids. The latter makes the power supply useful even in our area, because it allows it to work during severe power drops, which especially often happens in country houses.

The Hydro G Pro platform is completely modular, in-house developed and produced by FSP, operating according to a progressive DC-DC conversion scheme. High-temperature (up to 105 °C) Japanese Hitachi, Nippon and Rubycon capacitors are used. Even under maximum load, the internal electronic components of the power supply heat up to only 50°C. This is achieved thanks to the effective airflow of a 12 cm Protechnic Electric fan with a durable hydraulic bearing.

If under maximum load the noise of the FSP Hydro G Pro fan can be described as average, then under a load of less than 30 percent the power supply switches to silent passive cooling. But if desired, for example in the hot season, you can use the Eco button to switch to constant light airflow mode. A special comfort coating protects the printed circuit board and electronic components of the power supply from high air humidity (up to 95%).

Even in the younger 650-watt version of the FSP Hydro G Pro, the power of the solid +12 volt line is as much as 54 amperes (650 W), which is equal to one hundred percent of the declared total power across all lines. And in peak mode, the power supply is capable of delivering a good hundred watts more. There are two 4+4-pin processor connectors available, and four 6+2-pin video card connectors. FSP also has cheaper power supplies in its assortment: Hyper 80+ Pro with a “white” 80 PLUS certificate and “bronze” Hydro Pro.

The Pure Power 12 M is a high-performance power supply that is ATX 3.0 compliant and 80 Plus Gold certified, delivering power efficiency in the region of 93%. It supports the PCI-E 5.0 standard and is equipped with a 12VHPWR connector, necessary to power GeForce 4000 series video cards.

The Pure Power 12 M circuitry is built on the HEC platform with LLC topology, half-bridge converter, synchronous rectifier and DC-DC converters; the power units use Teapo solid capacitors and German-made transistors. In general, the filling guarantees an efficiency of more than 93% with voltage deviations of no more than 2%, which fully complies with 80+ Gold quality standards. The only negative is that the capacitors are not Japanese. This may confuse particularly demanding users who are accustomed to such things in “gold” power supplies. However, this disadvantage is covered by a 10-year warranty from the manufacturer. If these components actually caused serious problems, manufacturers would not risk their reputation and offer such long warranties.

And, importantly, the Pure Wings 2 fan installed inside automatically changes the rotation speed depending on the temperature of the device, and its maximum noise level, even at peak load, does not exceed 26 dB. In addition, Pure Power 12 M has two 12V lines with load sharing, all wiring uses a modular connection system, and the security system is equipped with all major types of protection, including protection against overheating, short circuit, overvoltage, etc.

After the debut power supplies from Gigabyte began to burn in vain, many experts gave up on the brand and forgot about it. However, to the credit of the Taiwanese, they quickly worked on their mistakes and returned to the game. One of the company’s main hits was the “golden” PG5 power supply with a gold quality certificate, detachable cable noodles and Japanese Nippon Chemi-Con capacitors, which ensure high quality, reliability and durability of this power supply.

Gigabyte PG5 is based on the MEIC platform. This is a relatively new platform that, although it has good reviews, needs more optimization to achieve the best results. The platform uses ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 architecture, ensuring full compatibility with modern systems and requirements. It also supports the latest PCI-E 5.0 and ATX 3.0 standards, necessary to power particularly powerful current-generation video cards.

Despite the modest cost (approximately 4000+ hryvnia for a 750 W model), we have before us a purebred mid-level power supply that meets the standards of models one and a half times more expensive. Taking this into account, we are ready to forgive its not-so-successful cooling system, which operates barely audibly at loads up to 50%, but begins to make noticeable noise when the PC is running at its maximum capacity. There are also questions regarding the cables: in order to save money, the manufacturer used 2 EPS connectors on one cable, so the power supply may have problems due to overheating and voltage drop if you connect particularly powerful and “gluttonous” components to it.

To be honest, we are still not getting used to the fact that many Taiwanese manufacturers of PC components have recently started producing monitors, mice and power supplies for PCs. However, you can’t take the words out of a song, and MSI products quickly found their way onto the lists of recommended products, and its “golden” MAG A750GL power supply became one of the best-selling models of 2023, along with Chieftec Polaris, Deepcool PK-D and be quiet! Pure Power 12 M.

So, MSI MAG PCIE5 is an advanced and highly efficient power supply, tailored for ATX 3.0 architecture, has a 16-pin GPU connector and supports the PCI-E 5.0 standard, necessary to power the latest generation of video cards, such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4000 and similar solutions from Radeon. The wires are completely modular; unnecessary ones can be disconnected and hidden until better times. Conveniently, the 12VHPWR power connectors are painted yellow so that the user can better see whether the cable is fully inserted. According to MSI, it was because of incorrectly connected cables that users most often came to the service center.

The device is certified according to 80 Plus Gold standards, which guarantees high energy efficiency of the equipment (90% efficiency). Hidden inside is a high-quality element base with a resonant LLC converter, a synchronous rectifier and DC-DC converters, thanks to which MAG PCIE5 provides the highest accuracy and maximum stability of the output voltage even at a load close to 100%. Also on board are basic safety tools including overvoltage, overcurrent and short circuit protection. In general, the capabilities of MSI MAG PCIE5 are quite suitable even for powering a powerful processor and video card of the Core i9-14900K and GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER level.

The NZXT C750 Gold is a premium power supply for high-end workstations and gaming PCs, with an 80+ Gold efficiency rating, fully modular cable management, a solid array of protections, and an impressive 10-year warranty. Unlike the first versions released several years ago, in this model NZXT engineers switched to the hardware platform from Seasonic (looking ahead - very, very successful), modified the cooling system, adding an alternative silent operation mode, updated the cable noodles, and basically that’s it.

If tests of the first versions of this model received slightly mixed ratings in terms of efficiency, energy efficiency and heating, then the 2022 update begs for a solid five. The NZXT C750 uses high quality Japanese Nippon capacitors inside with a temperature rating of up to 105°C to ensure long life and stable performance. The platform includes LLC topology with half-bridge converter and DC-DC converters that provide stable power with a flat power distribution curve and minimal surges and sags. And the presence of two EPS connectors allows you to use the model with the most modern and high-performance processors, video cards and motherboards.

In turn, the fan on a hydrodynamic bearing provides fairly quiet and efficient cooling even at a load of around 80%, as well as support for Zero RPM mode. The only thing is that with a sharp increase in power, the rotation speed increases exponentially, which on the one hand helps maintain the optimal temperature of the iron, and on the other can lead to an increase in noise. In principle, this is the only negative. Otherwise, NZXT has turned out to be an extremely successful power supply, which can be praised for a long time and has almost nothing to criticize.