Power supply rebranding

[omarhevgi]

Silverstone psu.s with 80mm fans are from Enhance (st52f, st65zf), 120mm versions (ST46F) are also from Enhance. So is the 460w psu from Akasa.
Thermaltake psu-s are from Sirtec. Chieftec psus come from Sirtec, Delta Technologies and Enhance.

oh before i forget PCMCIS, A+GPB/Athena Power are also TOPOWER, at least their models above 400w, below that i am not sure.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Good lord. Topower must have a killer price on OEM/Customer BTO PSU's because they seem to make them for half the white box companies in the world!

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Thermaltake is made by enlight. Enlight used to be good and make very nice entry level cases but now as you can see they stink. They are better than generic vendors like Powmax and what not though.

-Kevin

I dunno about their cases, but I can vouch for their power supplies. They are excellent, sturdy units for budget systems. Unfortunately, they don't have more powerful units that can handle higher end systems and video cards. I had to sell my 420w when I put a new eVGA 6800NU into my overclocked mobile barton system, because my 18A 12v line was dipping under load.

I'm loving my 460w Enermax though. Never seen such solid rails before.
Who makes Enermax supplies?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
Good lord. Topower must have a killer price on OEM/Customer BTO PSU's because they seem to make them for half the white box companies in the world!

I kind of wonder which of these companies makes most of the PSUs used in name-brand OEM systems like Dell/Compaq/HP/etc. Any idea?

 

[jonnyGURU]

Most of the name-brands use power supplies from HEC, Delta, etc. They're usually companies that don't do a lot of rebranding. Probably because they're busy enough producing decent, but no frills power supplies for companies like Dell, etc.

 

[Slaimus]

A few more updates:

ChannelWell: Antec, Lead Power, Turbolink
Sirtec: Chieftec, Enlight, Thermaltake, High Power
Topower: OCZ, EPower/Tagan, Raidmax(XP series), TTGI(older ones), Vantec
Youngyear: Aspire, Logisys, MGE, Ultra X-Connect, Rosewill(aluminum 500W ones only)
ATNG: Coolink, Coolmax, Rosewill(all others), Coba, StarTech
FSP Group: Fortron, Sparkle, Zalman, XClio
Wintech: Ultra X-Finity

EDIT: fixed the Ultra ones

 

[TopNurse]

Well I decided to pop the cover on my PCP&C Turbo-510 SLI supply I got a few weeks ago. It says PC Power & Cooling on the board. However, I did find another marking that said "PICO 400" on it. I wonder if this is the company that is making them: http://www.picoelectronics.com/

They make high quality power supplies, PFC modules, and also appear to build military equipment too.

I have to say that this supply is built like a rock! It's got more heatsinks and circuit boards than you can shake a stick at

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Slaimus
A few more updates:

Youngyear: Aspire, Logisys, MGE, Ultra X-Finity, Rosewill(aluminum ones only)
Wintech: Ultra X-Connect

Backwards. X-Finity is Wintech, X-Connect is Youngyear.

 

[Slaimus]

Fixed the Ultra ones.

A power supply that has impressed me is the Cooler Master Real Power 450W unit. 80% efficiency even on low loads and ATX12V 2.0. You can get the non-APFC version for $60. Its internals (show in this review) do not match anything else I have seen. Any idea who makes it, as I doubt Cooler Master makes it themselves.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Slaimus
Fixed the Ultra ones.

A power supply that has impressed me is the Cooler Master Real Power 450W unit. 80% efficiency even on low loads and ATX12V 2.0. You can get the non-APFC version for $60. Its internals (show in this review) do not match anything else I have seen. Any idea who makes it, as I doubt Cooler Master makes it themselves.

Acbel Polytech makes them.

The Coolermaster:
http://www.insanetek.com/reviews/psu/Co...0Real%20Power/images/Picture%20013.jpg

The Acbel Polytech:
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/ac450_intro.jpg

Note the specs on the Acbel are a bit better than the Coolermaster.

Acbel also makes PSU's for other people, but I can't think of who they are right now.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Ok. You can change that "Channelwell (older Antecs)" to "Channelwell (all Antecs)"

I thought I was correct on this and you put me in doubt, but I opened up a Neo Power and it is in fact made by Channelwell. I then asked my Antec rep if Antec ever had anyone other than Channelwell make their power supplies and he said no.

 

[Slaimus]

Can't beat first hand information
Thanks

 

[jonnyGURU]

Also, Mad Dog Multimedia's (formrely "Hi-Val") UL listing pulls up "Super Flower" as the manufactuer of their power supply.

Now, I thought Super Flower and Topower were the same company, but they each have their own UL listings, and the OCZ that Topower makes looks nothing like the Mad Dog on the inside. Perhaps the "Fiat and Ferrari" of the PSU industry? Hard to say.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I knew that the mfg of those Mad Dog PSUs seemingly had to be decent, what with their 5-year warranty and high MTBF ratings. But you never know with those companies, they might drop their "quality" OEM after a year and move on to a cheaper one, after they've used that one to develop a market reputation. Their modular supply does seem similar to the new-ish modular TTGI supply though, so the connection makes sense.

Also, I knew that Hi-Val and I/O-Magic were essentially the same company, but Mad Dog too? That's totally news to me. I mean, the marketing tactics are similar, but Mad Dog's products seem to be slightly a cut above (I did only say "slightly") the usual Hi-Val and I/O-Magic drek products. Seems a bit non-obvious to me, perhaps even unlikely. But if you have inside info on that, I'll believe it.

 

[Slaimus]

The transformer sticker on this TTGI review indicates that it is made by Li Tone. Maybe SF is now building their own PSUs using whatever parts they want.

EDIT: The same transformer is also used on this unit, with the same 30A 12V rating as the TTGI.

 

[Slaimus]

Oh and about that Cooler Master PSU, the THG review shows the AcBel 450W being a lot more efficient than the CM one.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Yeah. AcBel makes their own power supplies better than others. I've noticed that.

Also, confirmed: The Aspire and MGE PSU's are also Youngyear.

Not sure about Logisys and Rosewill, but I don't have access to either of those right now.

And Larry: I/O Sys doesn't have anything to do with Hi-Val. The reason Mad Dog seems to be targeting a more "educated" audience than Hi-Val did is because after Hi-Val "disappeared" (filed bankruptcy or whatever they did. Don't remember.) CompUSA and BestBuy put out their own "house brands" to fill that niche, so when Hi-Val was ready to come back to market, the niche they used to fill was already occupied. What they saw instead was an opportunity to fill the gap between house brand and Antec (with PSU's) and between house brand and name brand (Sony, Pioneer, etc.) with optical drives, etc. Very strategic move IMHO. It's always good to put yourself in the position of filling niches.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Erm, Hi-Val and I/O Magic, today, *are* the same company, AFAIK. One bought out the assets of the other, and also handles warranty claims and rebates. I'd have to look up which is the "controlling" brand, but they are definately one - found it, looks like I/O Magic is the "parent" brand, of sorts. link

We also plan to expand our sales of new and existing products into additionalsales channels, such as corporate and government procurers, value-addedresellers and value-added distributors. In addition, we plan to further developour product offerings over the Internet at our company websites located athttp://www.iomagic.com, http://www.dr-tech.com and http://www.hival.com.

All three of those brands are the same company. More from that link:

We sell our products under three brand names, I/OMagic , Digital ResearchTechnologies and Hi-Val . Each of these trademarks has been registered by uswith the United States Patent & Trademark Office. We also sell products undervarious product names such as "MediaStation," "DataStation," Digital PhotoLibrary , EasyPrint and Sound Assault .

Notice that Mad Dog is not among them.

FYI, also found this interesting tidbit

In February 2003, we entered into a Warehouse Services and Bailment Agreement with Behavior Tech Computer (USA) Corp., or BTC USA. Under the terms of the agreement, BTC USA has agreed to supply and store at our warehouse up to $10,000,000 of inventory on a consignment basis. We are responsible for insuring the consigned inventory, storing the consigned inventory for no charge; and furnishing BTC USA with weekly statements indicating all products received and sold and the current level of consigned inventory. The agreement also provides us with a trade line of credit of up to $10,000,000 with payment terms of net 60 days, without interest. The agreement may be terminated by either party upon 60 days' prior written notice to the other party. As of December 31, 2003, we owed BTC USA $8.3 million under this arrangement. BTC USA is a subsidiary of Behavior Tech Computer Corp., one of our significant shareholders. Mr. Steel Su, a director of I/OMagic, is the Chief Executive Officer of Behavior Tech Computer Corp. See "Certain Relationships and Related Transactions."

So BTC is directly involved, more or less, with I/O Magic Corp.

We are increasingly using product consignment as a sales model. Our existing credit facility with United National Bank is an asset-based facility under which our borrowing power is measured based on the value of certain of our assets. Currently, the amount that we are permitted to borrow under this facility is based on our accounts receivable only and not our inventory. Accordingly, the value of our inventory is not counted when determining the amounts we are permitted to borrow from United National Bank. Consignment models typically result in higher levels of inventory which must be financed until that inventory is sold by a retailer to the consumer resulting in corresponding accounts receivable. More traditional sales models (that is, non-consignment models) result in immediate sales and corresponding accounts receivable upon shipment of inventory to retailers. If we are not able to obtain satisfactory financing, which may be asset-based financing tied to our accounts receivable as well as our inventory, we may be unable to finance sufficient inventory levels which would result in our inability to fill orders in a timely manner or at all, which would cause reduced sales of our products. In addition, as we increase our use of a consignment sales model and as a result of the increased time it takes us to receive payment, we may need to convince our subcontract manufacturers to lengthen the duration of our payment terms to them. If we are unable to lengthen the duration of our payment terms with our subcontract manufacturers, we may be unable to finance sufficient inventory levels which could result in our inability to fill orders in a timely manner or at all, which would cause reduced sales of our products.

That seems to indicate one reason for all of these dang mail-in-rebate offers on things. :|

 

[jonnyGURU]

FYI: Hi-Val filed BANKRUPTCY. So if they're using the name, it's because they just bought the name. Just like how Schwinn and GT are now the same company. Only the names were bought to protect the innocent.

I did notice Mad Dog is not among those listed. That is because Mad Dog has nothing to do with I/O Magic or Digital Research.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Hi-Val's assest were liquidated to BTC as part of a bankruptcy negotiation (BTC made Hi-Val's drives and therefore Hi-Val owed BTC beaucoup bucks.) I believe Digital Research was BTC's own brand already. Not sure about that.

In 2/2001, I/O Magic aquired BTC. Obviously, Hi-Val and Digital Research would be part of that package.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Yep. CONFIRMED! (to use AT speak.) The owner of Mad Dog used to be the man behind Hi-Val. Hi-Val was part of BTC and BTC was merged into or bought or whatever with I/O Magic where he took a VP seat. He then left that post to fire up Mad Dog.

So technically Hi-Val does not equal Mad Dog, but I'm sure you can see the connection.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
FYI: Hi-Val filed BANKRUPTCY. So if they're using the name, it's because they just bought the name. Just like how Schwinn and GT are now the same company. Only the names were bought to protect the innocent.
I did notice Mad Dog is not among those listed. That is because Mad Dog has nothing to do with I/O Magic or Digital Research.

Nor does or did Mad Dog have anything to do with Hi-Val. I/O Magic Corp. bought out both the Hi-Val and Digital Research brands after they both went bankrupt, although I think that the current head of I/O Magic, is the same person that was head of Hi-Val before the bankruptcy.

 

[jonnyGURU]

You posted two minutes after my last post, yet you only digested the information in the first of three?

What I just said, now in different words, was: The head of Hi-Val is the CEO of Mad Dog. When Hi-Val was bought by I/O Magic, he took a VP seat. I/O Magic had nothing to do with the former H-Val or Mad Dog.

 

[Slaimus]

Yet more unraveling: Coolink does not make their own PSUs either. They are actually made by ATNG Power. As for the Rosewill (newegg/chiefvalue/abspc house brand), the "AP" ones are straight ATNG model numbers. The "RE" ones, someone in a hot deals thread opened one up and confirmed them to be Youngyear

 

[CJ4]

I'm searching for a new power supply and thought it would be helpful to compile a list of all the brands discussed thus far. Hope this can help someone else as well:

A+GPB- Topower
Akasa- Enhance
Antec- ChannelWell
Aopen- FSP Group
Aspire- Youngyear
Athena Power- Topower
Chiefman- Powmax
Chiefmax- Powmax
Chieftec- Sirtec
Coba- ATNG
Coolermaster- AcBel Polytech
Coolink- ATNG
Coolmax- ATNG
Demon- Powmax
Enermax- ChannelWell (?), Topower (?), Topower (?), Wintech (?)
Enlight- Sirtec
EPower- Topower
Fortron- FSP Group (same company)
HighPower- Sirtec (same company)
Hi-Q- FSP Group
Hi-Val- Topower
Logisys- Youngyear
Lead Power- ChannelWell
Mad Dog- Topower
MGE- Youngyear
OCZ- Topower
PCMCIS- Topower
PC Power & Cooling- FSP Group
Powerman- FSP Group
Powmax- Ultra
Raidmax- Topower (XP Series)
Rosewill- ATNG (AP models), Youngyear (RE models)
Silverstone- Enhance
Sparkle- FSP (same company)
Startech- ATNG
SuperFlower- Topower (same company)
Tagan- Topower
Turbolink- ChannelWell
Thermaltake- Sirtec
TTGI- Topower (older ones), Youngyear (newer ones-?)
Turbolink- ChannelWell
Ultra- Wintech, Youngyear (X-connect ?)
Ultra X-Finity- Wintech
Vantec- Topower
XClio- FSP Group
Zalman- FSP Group
Zippy- ?

Disclaimer- this is by no means a comprehensive list and may not even be totally accurate. Many of them have been verified, but there may be variances within a product line. Also, just because the same manufacturer OEM'ed a product for a vendor doesn't necessarily mean that it is the same as a product from a different vendor since a vendor may take the OEM product and upgrade it with better components or they may give the manufacturer a tighter set of specifications.

In general, it sounds like the best manufacturers are AcBel Polywell, FSP Group, and Topower.

CJ