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
The Andyson Platinum R 1200W PSU - Internal Design
ADDA supplies the cooling fan of this PSU. The ADN512DB-A91 has a 135mm wide frame, a ball bearing motor and a maximum speed of just 1500 RPM, which is relatively conservative for a 1200W PSU.
There is no "hidden OEM" behind the Platinum R 1200W as Andyson designs and creates their own PSUs and this unit is entirely of their own making. What someone immediately notices about the layout is that there are very few wires. Andyson went as far as to mount the AC receptacle and switch on a PCB that comes in direct contact with the main PCB of the unit.
The filtering stage begins on that small PCB and continues on the main PCB of the unit, comprising of four Y capacitors, two X capacitors and two filtering inductors. A surge-suppressing MOV can also be found. The primary conversion bridges share their own small heatsink right after the filtering stage.
Three Nippon Chemi-Con 400V/470μF capacitors and a very large inductor are the passive components of the APFC stage. These capacitors are exceedingly large, even for a 1200W PSU, which explains the presence of two NTC thermistors to moderate the inrush current of the PSU. The active components for the APFC, two transistors and a diode, are attached to the large heatsink next to the capacitors. Smaller, simple heatsinks hold the four transistors of the primary inversion stage, which form a full-bridge configuration. The eight secondary conversion stage transistors are on an even simpler heatsink that is nothing more than a thin sheet of metal.
Only a 12V output is generated by the secondary conversion stage of this PSU. Thick metal bars form current pathways, transferring the output of the unit to the vertical PCB that holds the cable connectors. The 3.3V and 5V DC-to-DC conversion circuits are present on this PCB, eliminating the losses that would occur if they were generated on the main PCB and then transferred on this one.
Most of the secondary capacitors, electrolytic and polymer alike, are supplied by Teapo. Only a few Nippon Chemi-Con electrolytic capacitors on the vertical PCB are an exception. Teapo is not the favorite manufacturer among enthusiasts but it is true that their products are being used more and more in high-end products. Andyson covers this unit with a ten year warranty, so they either feel very confident that Teapo is reliable enough or they severely oversized the capacitors in order to counter their aging.
Quality-wise, the design is almost impeccable. The layout is very well designed and clean, while the soldering job is immaculate. There is just one dissonance that feels like a rookie's mistake: right next to the secondary conversion stage and towards the secondary PCB, where the metallic bars transfer the current from one PCB to another, Andyson had to place a capacitor between a tall electrolytic and a short polymer. For unknown reasons, much likely because Andyson is oversizing the components across the layout to ensure high performance and reliability, this capacitor could not fit where it was supposed to. Andyson circumvented this by gluing the capacitor on the adjacent components and insulating its leads, which are soldered on the main PCB nearly two centimeters below. This is not a critical problem but it is something that just does not match the aptness of the rest of the unit.
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jabber - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Excellent...another PSU...I would never need to buy. Once again can we have some 'sane' PSU reviews?CrazyElf - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
The reason why I don't consider the sub-1000 watt as big is because the larger watt PSUs seem to cost exponentially more money than the ones that are cheaper in terms of price:watt output.That being said, never skimp and buy cheap PSUs.
Margalus - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
It's not about "cheap", it's about the output. Probably less than 1% of power users would need something this big. My system is an overclocked i7 930, 12GB of ram, 2-1TB hd's, 3 ssd's, a gtx970 SC, lg blu ray burner. It has never drawn more than 350W from the outlet. under normal circumstances it's about 150W for web browsing, or just general work. Goes up to 250W with most games. So I agree with jabber, it's not a "sane" psu for the vast majority of users.jabber - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Indeed, some of us aren't in our teens/20's any more and want quality, reliability and VFM, not just moar power! Plus a lot of us are moving to 'smaller boxes'. The term 'PC enthusiast' these days doesn't just mean flames/dragons on the case and lot of LEDs. It's not the turn of the century anymore.nathanddrews - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Right, some of us are beyond our 20s and have more disposable income and like to build more robust overclocked, quad CF/SLI systems that require bigger/better PSUs. This review is helpful to those people.Fortunately, the "majority of users" don't matter in enthusiast-level reviews. Titan X, 295X2, 5960X, etc. "Most people" don't need more than a random, budget 500W PSU. Those PSUs are a dime a dozen.
1. Go to Amazon/Newegg.
2. Sort by highest rating.
3. Purchase the first one under $60.
Margalus - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
nobody is saying to stop these reviews of extreme psu's , just add some that the majority of the enthusiasts can make practical use of. The last several psu reviews on this site have been for extreme psu's like this, they are ignoring a huge segment of the market. The last several reviews have been for a 1200W unit, 2000W unit, 1050W unit, 1500W unit.jabber - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
Some people really don't have a clue what 'enthusiast' means. It doesn't necessarily mean build the biggest and most expensive. Some of us have more subtle tastes.cruzinforit - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
You are an idiot, please do not give people purchasing advice on computer hardware ever again. Not all sub 1kw psus are created equal, and in fact Andyson has made some sub Par ones themselves lately.See here
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReview...
JonnyDough - Tuesday, April 28, 2015 - link
That was awfully snide. Work on manners?Dansolo - Wednesday, April 29, 2015 - link
Grow up. Most of us realize that every single game is playable with high settings without ever touching SLI/CF and that using SLI/CF just adds a ton of problems. It's actually mainly the younger people who want these useless things while the rest of us aren't living with our parents anymore and have a mortgage and other hobbies like cars.It is absolutely a valid comment to point out that AAT's reviews have been very out-of-touch with the community. Personally I rarely read an AAT review these days for this exact reason. The only reason I even clicked this review is because I was curious if Andyson makes decent PSUs at all.