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
When it comes to high performance >1 kW computer power supplies, almost every reputable OEM has released at least one design to serve as their flagship. This is not necessarily because the companies expect high revenue because they are well aware that this segment of the market is very small and overly saturated. They do this because the flagship serves as a symbol of the company's capabilities and competence, enhancing their profile on all fronts in order to produce that halo product, hoping the performance of the high end results in trickle-down sales. In this extremely competitive and saturated market, we have a new contender - Andyson.
Introduction
Andyson is a Taiwanese manufacturer, established in Taipei. Although they are not very well known as some of the other brands, they are neither small nor a new company. Andyson has been around for 18 years nowand they have sufficient production capabilities. Their reputation suffered because of Hiper, a company that shut down years ago, whose products were reported as having very high failure rates. The Platinum R 1200W PSU that we will be reviewing today represents their power supply engineering high end, at least as far as power is concerned, since the company also has four 80Plus Titanium units available.
Andyson currently has nine 80Plus Platinum units on their books, yet only three models (including this particular unit) have an official 80Plus certification. The same goes for their 80Plus Titanium series, where only one model has been officially certified. This tactic is somewhat common among manufacturers, getting only the most powerful unit of the series certified that is.
On paper, the Platinum R 1200W PSU has it all: modular design, very high efficiency, excellent reliability and top performance. Andyson boasts that it is very cost-effective as well, since it has an MSRP of just about $200. However, Andyson is going to have major opposition from brands like Seasonic, Flextronics and Super Flower in that segment of the market. We will see if the Platinum R 1200W has what it takes to meet such opposition head on.
| Power Specifications ( Rated @ Unknown °C ) | |||||
| AC INPUT | 100 - 240 VAC, 50 - 60 Hz | ||||
| RAIL | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | +5Vsb | -12V |
| MAX OUTPUT | 20A | 20A | 100A | 3A | 0.4A |
| 100W | 1200W | 15W | 4.8W | ||
| TOTAL | 1200W | ||||
Packaging and Bundle
Andyson supplies the Platinum R 1200W PSU in a relatively plain cardboard box. The artwork is very simple and formal, rather uninteresting and unlikely to draw attention if showcased on a store shelf. However, it is very sturdy and the PSU is well protected with polyethylene foam pieces, offering effective protection during shipping.
The Platinum R 1200W comes with a broad and very effective bundle. Thumbscrews, regular screws, small and large cable ties, cable straps, an anti-vibration silicon frame, a typical AC cable and a manual are supplied alongside the PSU itself.
The Platinum R 1200W is a fully modular PSU, including the main ATX 24-pin cable. All of the cables are made using only black wires and are covered with black sleeving. They are supplied inside a tall nylon bag. The following table lists the total number of connectors:
| Connector type | Hardwired | Modular |
| ATX 24 Pin | - | 1 |
| EPS 4+4 Pin | - | 2 |
| PCI-E 6+2 Pin | - | 10 |
| PCI-E 8 Pin | - | - |
| SATA | - | 9 |
| Molex | - | 6 |
| Floppy | - | 2 |
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ImSpartacus - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
I agree.I couldn't care less about giant PSUs.
I want to see reviews of ~500W PSUs because that's the kind of PSU that I would buy.
E.Fyll - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
You see, the problem is that good <550 Watts PSUs are very rare. In the order of $50, you will get something that works OK and that's about it. Will it really matter if the ripple is 90mV instead of 75mV, or if the average efficiency is 95% instead of 95.3%?Besides,manufacturers do not easily supply samples of such products. I've already discussed the reasons why not many times over. The few good low power units that exist, I am trying to source them. Silver stone sent in a 450 watt unit and we might be getting somewhere with Andyson too.
And no, I cannot just buy the samples. Especially from newegg.
The0ne - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
They won't listen lol, it's like they're being paid to do the article...wait a minute, I may be on to something!ImSpartacus - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
Yeah, the author says it up front:"When it comes to high performance >1 kW computer power supplies, almost every reputable OEM has released at least one design to serve as their flagship. This is not necessarily because the companies expect high revenue because they are well aware that this segment of the market is very small and overly saturated. They do this because the flagship serves as a symbol of the company's capabilities and competence, enhancing their profile on all fronts in order to produce that halo product, hoping the performance of the high end results in trickle-down sales."
But that doesn't justify it. The bottom line is that I read Anandtech reviews because I want to be educated about potential purchases. However, I'll never purchase a 1000+W PSU. That's just wasteful.
I want relevant reviews and Anandtech needs to demands relevant PSU review units.
JonnyDough - Tuesday, April 28, 2015 - link
Agreed. I own 10 computers, 8 of which are gaming PCs. None have more than a 750w PSU in them, and none will ever need to.computex128 - Wednesday, April 29, 2015 - link
Drop the insanity and buy a dual-GPU card like the rest of us certifiably sane folk :PLoneWolf15 - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Andyson didn't just suffer because of Hiper.Remember Ultra power supplies? First modular units made, now house brand of Tiger Direct? Andyson. Many failures, old designs, horrible voltage regulation, never meeting load specs....that's a lot of Andyson PSUs made for the vendors they supply to. While it could be that vendors want Andyson to make cheap units, I wouldn't touch one, even one that rates well. You can do better with other choices.
DanNeely - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Thank you for updating your testing methodology to reflect the continued decline in the amount of power available on the legacy (3.3/5v) rails in more modern designs.Laststop311 - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
Because legacy systems used lower voltage more. Nowadays everything is 12 volts.CrazyElf - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
The most important things to consider are:1. Voltage regulation under load
2. Ripple suppression
3. Long term reliability
I would ignore the 80 Plus as it's mostly marketing.
Good power supplies are made by Delta (OEM), Super Flower (their Leadex platform is pretty good), Seasonic, and I would argue some of the Flextronics designs are pretty good too. Brand is mostly for warranty support - it's the OEM that really counts.