MGE is Bad?

[KingThot]

I'm considering an MGE 500W VXG Vigor but i noticed MGE is on the avoid list. I've checked out a lot of reviews and I have yet to find a bad one. They seem pretty strenuous too, stress tests and everything. Can anyone tell me what is supposedly "wrong" with MGE?

 

[[Spectre]]

I'm considering an MGE 500W VXG Vigor but i noticed MGE is on the avoid list. I've checked out a lot of reviews and I have yet to find a bad one. They seem pretty strenuous too, stress tests and everything. Can anyone tell me what is supposedly "wrong" with MGE?

Can you show me a good review?

I believe MGE has the same contract provider (Young Year) as Ultra with the exception that they use smaller caps on the input side. So a manufacturer of inferior quality with caps smaller than one of their "best" inferior products would be a very bad PSU in my book.

 

[Ice Czar]

waddayahknow two for the price of one

grabbed from a post I just made > http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=916217
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Manufacturer of Great Electronics (MGE) isnt a very highly regarded brand around here, and they likely exaggerate thier specs to the lowest common denominator in the industry.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

IMO bad would be a fair description
not that the supplies when properly selected couldnt run a config stably
but that its nearly impossible to select a PSU based on the hyperbole they try to blow up your butt.
There being a near total lack of real info about thier capabilities and stability
they are basically bling bling for suckers that dont know any better
mostly hype with little useful info, if they work for you config its more likely luck than anything else

of course "brands" and "watts" are poor indicators of actual applicability
brands give you a general trend into the corporate culture
watts these days are horribly misleading, lacking actual amp distribution at a given temperature,
which spec the supply conforms to, and its actual stability for a given crossload

 

[[Spectre]]

Manufacturer of Great Electronics (MGE)=Irony

 

[KingThot]

Hum.. looks pretty iffy here are some of the reviews I spoke of:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/vigor_uv_sleeved_psu.php

http://hi-techreviews.com/nuke/vigor/vigor_page1.htm

http://www.cluboc.net/reviews/power/MGE/XG_Vigor500/

http://www.pcmoddingmy.com/content.php?review.203

http://www.computekreviews.com/Reviews/Vigor 500/

http://www.ocia.net/reviews/vigor500/vigor500.shtml

 

[compslckr]

i had an mge powering the system in my sig, and it died on me within 3 months. when it was working the voltages were a little on the low side (12v was around 11.39 if i remember correctly)



i would stay away from mge

 

[[Spectre]]

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/vigor_uv_sleeved_psu.php

Static config with little other data:

The results in the table above reflect each voltage rail with both the high and low results. Of course "high" means this is the highest I ever saw the PSU reach while testing it and "low" means it's the lowest I saw the voltage drop while testing.

Not very inspiring.
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http://hi-techreviews.com/nuke/vigor/vigor_page1.htm

Static config with MBM:

Before start our tests we will start Motherboard Monitor version 5.3.7.0 and clear the high/low voltage settings so that we can see where the Vigor 500 ranges going up and down from the the specified mid-points. Then we will fire up Sisoft Sandra Burn-in Wizard along with Hot CPU Tester Pro and allow them both to operate for 30 minutes.

Even less inspiring.
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http://www.cluboc.net/reviews/power/MGE/XG_Vigor500/

Looks are great, but what about performance? One of the critical areas we look at when testing PSUs is the 5v line. A low quality PSU will not put out a steady 5v. Sometimes they wont even measure up to 5v at all. As you can see from the screenshot below, the 5v line is putting out a steady 5.13v.

Oh my god................a BIOS shot with a camera.
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http://www.pcmoddingmy.com/content.php?review.203

Static config with MBM and BIOS! Just bad....bad....bad....
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http://www.computekreviews.com/Reviews/Vigor 500/

To test the Vigor 500 I will be using Motherboard Monitor 5 to measure the highs, lows, and averages of the voltage rails.

Statice config again and MBM.
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http://www.ocia.net/reviews/vigor500/vigor500.shtml

As you can see, my system consumes a decent amount of power, or at least my electric bill says so . All kidding aside, this system does use more power than a typical system, but is right on par with many enthusiast systems. Stress was added to the PSU by maxxing the CPU with Prime 95 and SuperPi running simultaneously. The voltages obtained were recorded with Motherboard Monitor. I realize that the numbers could be slightly high or low depending on how well the IC7 interprets voltages. However, the difference in low/high fluctuations is what we are really concerned with. That being said, motherboard monitor should be pretty accurate to obtain fluctuations.

Ummmmmm......yeah.....another MBM static test.

None of these tell us anything of real value.....and all but one are completly software based.

 

[Ice Czar]

static meaning if your running a config with the same basic crossload range as those guys (which you have to guess at) with the same environmental factors (temperaturr, VAC stability)
means they have some limited value as reviews

as opposed to a real review
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/fsp-psu.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/atx-psu.html

MGE Vortec PSVO-500 (500W) and Vortec PSVO-600 (600W)

without PFC

Despite its very high declared current on the +12V rail, the PSU is only equipped with a 20-pin mainboard connector and comes enclosed with an adapter for the 24-pin one.
I can’t really explain this decision of the manufacturer. As I said above, this adapter is not just useless, but contradicts the very idea of transitioning to 24-pin connectors. So, it is very strange for me to see such cheap economy on connectors in a power supply the manufacturer positions as a top-end solution. The length of the ATX cables is 45cm.

The cross-load characteristics of the PSUs look identically, save for the higher wattage of the PSVO-600 (but its protection would come into play somewhat below the load power of 600W). The stability of the output voltages of these PSUs is rather average. It is high enough for the computer to work normally, but it is worse than the above-described competing models ensure. Well, if these PSUs had a slightly lower voltage on their +5V rail, then it would be better with high loads on the +12V rail (when the +5V voltage goes out of its acceptable range). But it’s a fact that the +5V voltage is set rather high on both of the tested PSUs.

The high-frequency ripple of the output voltages lies within the acceptable range. Its amplitude at full load isn’t higher than 30 millivolts for the +5V rail and 80 millivolts for the +12V rail. There’s also low-frequency pulsation at a frequency of 100Hz and with an amplitude of about 15mV on the +5V rail and about 40mV on the +12V rail. So, the PSU comes close to the allowable limit as concerns the sum of the pulsations at full load, but never exceeds it.

thier "top of the line" is just average with some glaring flaws
and isnt anywhere near what many "good" supplys are capable of producing in power quality

 

[KingThot]

Thanks for clearing all that up guys. I appreciate the help. I can tell now tht most of the MGE claims are 100% BS.