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EVGA G2 / P2 - Quick Question before Purchase

M

Melee

Gawd
Joined
Jun 10, 2013
Messages
807
I'm getting ready to purchase a new EVGA Supernova unit for my Mini-ITX Build. I figured I might go with a 650w which is more than I need just to be safe but might end up with an 850w with the excellent pricing. I then started comparing prices and quickly became confused. At the time (yesterday or the day before) both G2 & P2 650w were $99, the G2 750w was $105, P2 750w was $110, 850w G2 was $119, and 850w P2 was $129. Those are extremely similar prices between excellent Gold and Platinum units. I understand we all love to save money but with such small differences in price, it seems like more P2s would be purchased and seen since they should technically be better than the G2 by a small margin. However everyone raves over the G2 (and deservedly so) but the P2 seems to slip under the radar.

My question is why don't more people buy the P2 units? As I understand, they are essentially identical units to the G2 with the P2 being slightly more efficient. Money is not enough of a difference to explain it. What am I overlooking about the P2 units that make them so much less popular than the G2s? I need to know. I can not in good conscience make my purchase until I understand. haha Thanks for the help.
 
I don't know why the prices are similar. I've had a G2 1000w and right now I have a 1200p2. Zero problems with either except that the G2 had a recall (and was replaced at no cost to me).
 
The G2 is like 1% lower in efficiency from the P2 and even that is hard to discern looking that the PF ratings, so there's hardly a difference between the units. EVGA has tried to strategically price them but knowing that there is hardly a difference between them because the G2 actually performs much better than its rating... get the psu that fits your budget. G2 or P2 it doesn't really matter.
 
G2 has a 7-year warranty and the P2 has a 10-year. If price is equal, get the P2.

I've got a Newegg comparison going now to replace my wife's ancient SeaSonic. I have the 550 GS and G2, and the 650 GS, G2, and P2 in there. At the current prices I'd take the 650 P2, put it in my rig, and move my 650 G2 to hers.

That said, it's a Mini-ITX build, so multi-GPU is incredibly unlikely. Get whatever is cheapest among the PSUs that you're looking at. There's no benefit to the extra power, and you won't be pushing this thing into territory that would bother any of these, even the 550W PSUs.
 
Yes I understand that they are basically identical units with the P2 being rated slightly higher in efficiency even though the G2 is also excellent especially for just a gold rating.

The problem is they are both at the same price point. The G2 is far more popular with more consumer reviews but that is because there used to actually be a reasonable price difference between the two tiers. EVGA accidentally made the G2 better than they expected to where it performs right alongside P2 give or take a few % points in efficiency.

The conundrum I am in is that I'm looking at G2 and P2 units that are nearly identical in price and I have no clue which one to buy. Haha
 
Daniel_Chang said:
G2 has a 7-year warranty and the P2 has a 10-year. If price is equal, get the P2.

I've got a Newegg comparison going now to replace my wife's ancient SeaSonic. I have the 550 GS and G2, and the 650 GS, G2, and P2 in there. At the current prices I'd take the 650 P2, put it in my rig, and move my 650 G2 to hers.

That said, it's a Mini-ITX build, so multi-GPU is incredibly unlikely. Get whatever is cheapest among the PSUs that you're looking at. There's no benefit to the extra power, and you won't be pushing this thing into territory that would bother any of these, even the 550W PSUs.
Click to expand...

^^The smaller G2's 650w and under have a lower warranty but the big G2's are 10 years. The difference of 100w at this price point is 15 bucks, so get the bigger one its that obvious.


Melee said:
The conundrum I am in is that I'm looking at G2 and P2 units that are nearly identical in price and I have no clue which one to buy. Haha
Click to expand...

I don't consider that a bad situation, any choice you make is a win in reality.
 
Daniel that is a good catch that I did not notice before. The 750w and 850 w G2 units both have 10-year warranties but the 650 w only has a 7 year warranty.

Is there any reason to buy the 650 w over the 750 W or 850w if they are nearly the same price? It just seems like it would be better in the long run to have the extra power for nearly the same price as long as there are no negative side effects.
 
Melee said:
Daniel that is a good catch that I did not notice before. The 750w and 850 w G2 units both have 10-year warranties but the 650 w only has a 7 year warranty.

Is there any reason to buy the 650 w over the 750 W or 850w if they are nearly the same price? It just seems like it would be better in the long run to have the extra power for nearly the same price as long as there are no negative side effects.
Click to expand...

Efficiency curves being what they are now, getting extra wattage on a quality unit won't hurt you significantly. If they are exactly the same price then get the best one that you can get. But I wouldn't pay $1 more for extra wattage. The further you go from your actual usage, the less efficient you'll be. So you'd be paying $1 more for slightly less efficiency. There's no point.

Basically, a power supply's job is to supply power. Heck, it's in the name. If your system needs 300W, doesn't matter if your PSU is 300W, 600W, 1200W, whatever, it will get the job done. Get enough power overage to handle several years of degradation (25-40% for most), accounting for likely upgrades, and get the features you want (efficiency level, modular, etc.). I own a G2-650, and I always wish I had gotten the 550 for $10 less (save a buck, slightly more efficient at my usage level, better CPU cable).

For your build, I'd probably go with the 650 GS model. Newegg has it now for $75 after MIR. Same price as the 550 GS, and cheaper than the 550 G2. GS models are built on a SeaSonic platform. They aren't "as awesome" as the G2, but they still exceed ATX specs. Your system won't perform any differently. I prefer the GS cables, and they have superior holdup time, which is important if you want to run off a UPS. G2/P2/T2 models are known to be out of ATX spec for hold-up time. Every platform has a weakness, and this is the Leadex platform's weakness (and it's likely why SeaSonic is advertising it so hard with their Prime series).
 
I wouldn't consider that close of a pricing to be a normal thing. Newegg fluctuates in price all the time, and it may be that at this particular time Newegg/EVGA is running a sale on their P2 units. Previous times I have checked, the P2 units have been significantly more expensive than their G2 and GS counterparts. Actually, in general the G2 units have been priced lower than the GS units, so it's a rarity that a GS is priced below a G2, and must be a short term sale by Newegg/EVGA rather than the actual MSRP. Also, the GS isn't that far behind the G2 in terms of awesomeness.

No harm in buying a larger PSU than you need at the same price point as smaller PSUs.
 
Per SmokingMan - any choice you make will be good.

From Tsumi - your PSU should - 1) be capable of providing the maximum power required
& 2) be rated at twice your PC average power requirement - to run at best efficiency.
 
i7Baby said:
Per SmokingMan - any choice you make will be good.

From Tsumi - your PSU should - 1) be capable of providing the maximum power required
& 2) be rated at twice your PC average power requirement - to run at best efficiency.
Click to expand...

Unless you're mining or folding or something similar 24/7, you should never buy twice as big for the sake of efficiency.
 
Tsumi said:
Unless you're mining or folding or something similar 24/7, you should never buy twice as big for the sake of efficiency.
Click to expand...

I was going to say, that doesn't sound like something coming from you.

i7Baby - At 50% load, a PSU is only 1-2% more efficient than a 20% or 80% load. It's not a big deal. Also, If you buy double the PSU, you're only at that 50% load peak efficiency while gaming. The remaining 80-90% of the time you're at idle or <20% load. You're killing the efficiency that you're aiming for.
 
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