Sparkle Announces $200-$250 1000W-1250W Power Supplies
by Ian Cutress on May 12, 2010 1:33 PM EST- Posted in
- PSUs
In terms of power supplies, it can sometimes become astounding at how much a company will charge for a unit, and whether it is valid, in terms of features and warranty/support. So when Sparkle are announcing a 1000W Gold rated unit for just over $200, we sit up and take notice.
This is Sparkle's first venture into the power supply genre of computing (previously, they sold only graphics cards), and they are advertising two units, the GW-EPS1000DA and GW-EPS1250DA, their 1000W and 1250W units respectively. Both units come with a five-year warranty, upgradeable to a lifetime warranty upon online registration of each unit.
Both units achieve 80PLUS Gold certification, which guarantees 87% efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% load for 115V users (88% efficiency at 230V). Both models, which will initially include a $100 game bundle package (via gift cards for 3 full retail games from the Tom Clancy and Brothers In Arms franchises), supply the user with 6 power rails. However, each of these rails supplies only 20A for the 1250W and 18A for the 1000W unit, therefore limiting power to hungry graphics cards when overclocking.
The 1000W model will feature four 6+2 pin connectors, whereas the 1250W will have six. This makes the 1000W unit a model to consider if you're building an overclocked core i7 920/930 system with two stock ATI HD 5850 graphics cards (around 500-600W altogether). Part-time overclockers, folders and gamers may look at the 1250W power supply, if running 3 dual PCI-E connector graphics cards in tandem. If these power supplies are released at below $250, Sparkle could be onto a winner.
Also of note, the 80 PLUS Gold list show Sparkle as having three units achieving this rating, so another unit (possibly in the 850W region) could possibly be available at some point in the future.
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lord_mur - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
I have been using Sparkle PSU's for many years.I built 50+ units for a school system that had 300w Sparkle PSU back in the Northwood days.
They still run to this day.
This company makes some amazing power supply's that have quality internals. As soon as you pick one up you can feel that nice weight that indicates to me they are not cheap like the units sold with the low end cases.
IanCutress - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
The PSU company is Sparkle Power Inc. (SPI), which is a different company to Sparkle Computer Corp., who make graphics cards and these PSUs. Their respective websites:SPI: http://www.sparklepower.com/
SCC: http://www.sparkle-usa.com/
The relevant data can also be found on the 80 PLUS website.
All the best,
Ian
jonup - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link
Ian, that's not what the article reads. Can you revise the article, because I was misled.scavio - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
I'm guessing that you are thinking of Sparkle Power Incorporated (SPI) and this is Sparkle Computer.. All my old Sparkle power supplies had SPI on them.Anyhow, I'm just guessing, I might be wrong.
scavio - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
Beat to the punch. At least my memory isn't completely gone yet.NITRO-X - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
Known as SPI, our Systems Builder has been using Sparkle for many years. I can attest to thier quality as being top tier. Someone should do more homework Ian, sorry.NITRO-X - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
EDIT: they might have a differnt name and websites, but fact is it is the same company R&D etc.NITRO-X - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
Looks like I'm the one who should be doing his homework. I stand corrected aa they do indeed look like different companies. My apologies to Ian.classy - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
I did not know they were still around. I know back in the day their power supplies were decent.classy - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link
Not this sparkle company. I am talking about sparkle power.