TechPowerUp is Hiring a Power Supply (PSU) Reviewer

[the54thvoid]

How about everybody respects that this thread is about hiring a new PSU reviewer?

Next OT post is getting points.

 

[Testsubject01]

Yep, certainly big shoes to fill.

Second this, some mighty large ones. All the best to Aris!

 

[R-T-B]

How about everybody respects that this thread is about hiring a new PSU reviewer?

Next OT post is getting points.

I'm not trying to be obtuse or difficult here, but from what I can see, everything is pretty on topic?

Just trying to understand, don't hit me pls.

 

[the54thvoid]

I deleted a lot of posts.

 

[crmaris]

Hope all the best to the new editor. TPU's team is wonderful, and W1zzard is THE GUY to work with. I learned a lot from him all these years, and I wish I could continue, but besides Cybenetics, I finally decided to work on my own media, especially my site and YT channels. This is why I won't write for any other media from now on.

I still consider TPU my home, though, and W1zzard and some of the veteran editors are among my close friends. So we will remain in touch, although I won't be a part of this great team.

PSU reviewing is among the toughest things someone can do, it needs countless hours and constant reading, and you also need to be prepared for huge lab failures, haha. But I find it one of the most exciting things. Automation surely helps, but so much stuff needs to be done manually.

My best to all of you guys!!!

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Hope all the best to the new editor. TPU's team is wonderful, and W1zzard is THE GUY to work with. I learned a lot from him all these years, and I wish I could continue, but besides Cybenetics, I finally decided to work on my own media, especially my site and YT channels. This is why I won't write for any other media from now on.

I still consider TPU my home, though, and W1zzard and some of the veteran editors are among my close friends. So we will remain in touch, although I won't be a part of this great team.

PSU reviewing is among the toughest things someone can do, it needs countless hours and constant reading, and you also need to be prepared for huge lab failures, haha. But I find it one of the most exciting things. Automation surely helps, but so much stuff needs to be done manually.

My best to all of you guys!!!

You'll definitely be missed by us TPU readers/Forum lurkers... Looking forward to the work you do on your YT channel.

 

[Hattu]

At first I was like cool, sounds good, maybe I'll send email about it.

But then reality hit me hard. Allthough I have better than average understanding about general electronics, schematics, soldering and measuring, this demands too much resources I don't have.

Those shoes are just too big for me to fill. And I lack the equipment and all the rest. Like good language skills and separate space to have it all.

I hope you guys at TPU find a good reviewer in near future. Previous reviews have been top notch. Wish you all the best.

 

[zlobby]

Hope all the best to the new editor. TPU's team is wonderful, and W1zzard is THE GUY to work with. I learned a lot from him all these years, and I wish I could continue, but besides Cybenetics, I finally decided to work on my own media, especially my site and YT channels. This is why I won't write for any other media from now on.

I still consider TPU my home, though, and W1zzard and some of the veteran editors are among my close friends. So we will remain in touch, although I won't be a part of this great team.

PSU reviewing is among the toughest things someone can do, it needs countless hours and constant reading, and you also need to be prepared for huge lab failures, haha. But I find it one of the most exciting things. Automation surely helps, but so much stuff needs to be done manually.

My best to all of you guys!!!

May your cathode always be heated and your amps flow without resistance (wait, did I just wish you short-circuits?)!

 

[Shrek]

Perhaps it should be clarified as to what equipment would be supplied and what would not.

Needs a load tester, oscillascope, infrared camera, high power transformer for 220/110, to only mention a few; plus perhaps a book budget.

All those topogies make my head spin
Power Topologies Poster (Rev. G) (ti.com)

 

[dirtyferret]

hey @W1zzard , try to get Jeremy Schrag out of retirement

that said the list of guys who stopped doing PSU reviews is far more impressive than the list of the few people still left who do it

Good news to us is Aris will still do reviews on his channel & site
Bad news is it may open the door for certain youtube personalities to start declaring themselves gods gift to PSU reviews if more sites stop offering written reviews by quality reviewers

 

[GorbazTheDragon]

This is definitely the reviewer position that has the highest barrier to entry, given all the equipment and experience needed to do it properly.

I know Luke over at psucultists has been writing good pieces for a while, he's a pretty knowledgeable guy, last I checked in with him he didn't have the equipment to run the tests himself unfortunately.

 

[poiu]

Besides @jonnyGURU I don't recall anyone capable of doing this job properly on tech journalism scene. But it is not needed. Give the job to anyone.

A professional won't waste time with an attempt to educate and average consumer, simply because there is no need. And anyone knowledgeable in the field will be tied with many sorts of NDA's about you will keep your mouth shut including me. A retired guy is retired to do stuff for himself and what he likes, despite having the gear, all retirees I know will not obey anyone and will do things only for fun. And this job is not fun.

The topology analysis actually has degraded over time and with lacking parts in PCB design breakdown, that's where the key performance differences really reside, especially for modern designs, for best results you should even xray the device to choke the maker about design qualities and how lax they are about it. So for most part we can treat the given text as novel or poetry, whatever. You have to start designing PSU's yourself to fully understand the common hurdles of those devices depending on platform and design goals(like make that thing cheap).

Transient response tests done in a mixed random dynamic and not linear manner, not by the rather lacking ATX minimums, but approaching real usage and being bombarded with external EMI radiating sources(read shitty 500W GPU's with spikey nature) and a lot of heat, it is fairly new, now we have a 300W CPU also. You cannot really sum those results as each deviation has it's own severity and you cannot really make a generalized approve stamp often, it depends, so... you cannot distill that analysis to be understood for a mere mortal, the only way to do it is to be imprecise, lie, be unprofessional.

So it clashes with the main idea about PSU reviews as such. It is an unboxing review for most. The technical part is skipped for most due to lack of knowledge to interpret the graphs. So are they really needed? I say no. They all work and price is the thing you consider most as long it doesn't catch fire people don't really care. Reviews lack some basic info like real product dimensions and dimensions with cables attached and how they bend. That's important bits especially designing tight small format PC's. Put a damn ruler in the photo, it ain't an art photoshoot. I've had many cases that the sizes deviate and you have to fight even for 5mm.

The first problem is to find someone with the appropriate knowledge who is not already working somewhere in the industry. The second problem is equipment, if someone already has it, then they are already working in the industry, certifications, etc.
To do reviews in part-time, there must be either interest, or the financial motivation must be huge.

So I'm curious whether there is someone reports, probably has done here with power supply reviews


@64K

Unfortunately, TweakPC is the last site that tests power supplies in Germany, Hardwareluxx and Compuerbase don't have anyone who would do that anymore, the same problem everywhere.

TweakPC also has its own Chroma Load Tester. The tests are in German, the videos have mostly English subtitles.

Robert could test on the same level, but I doubt he has the time to write detailed articles in English.
Testing is probably not a problem but writing the articles is very time consuming.

 

[Ferrum Master]

The first problem is to find someone with the appropriate knowledge

The first thing, you are overestimating the need of professional as such. I've tried to explain. We actually don't need a guy with loads of gear and stuff.

 

[zlobby]

The first thing, you are overestimating the need of professional as such. I've tried to explain. We actually don't need a guy with loads of gear and stuff.

Do you know the price of a half-decent Keysight?

 

[droid-I]

My five cents.
I might assume that the PSUs in the rewiew scope are consumer grade PSUs,
which the majority of users looking for a new PSU likely go in the $100-150 price range and less.
The "tests" within the scope for an average user does not need to be too complex,
it just does not bring much added value, whether to choose this or that PSU.

The test scope should be within a reasonable amount of tests&design review that can give a user a
best guess which PSU to go with. It is not always a race run between PSUs.

But yes, the equipment needed to do a trustworthy test is likely a hurdle for many.

 

[VSG]

At first I was like cool, sounds good, maybe I'll send email about it.

But then reality hit me hard. Allthough I have better than average understanding about general electronics, schematics, soldering and measuring, this demands too much resources I don't have.

Those shoes are just too big for me to fill. And I lack the equipment and all the rest. Like good language skills and separate space to have it all.

I hope you guys at TPU find a good reviewer in near future. Previous reviews have been top notch. Wish you all the best.

Don't worry about the equipment part, email W1zzard about it either way if you are interested.

 

[zlobby]

Don't worry about the equipment part, email W1zzard about it either way if you are interested.

I'm still waiting for your anechoic chamber...

 

[VSG]

I'm still waiting for your anechoic chamber...

I have one in my lab at work, I use it for all my sound measurements in fan reviews.

 

[Shadowjump]

I still have a Thermaltake DPS G 1050W as my main PSU which was a review unit and he sold it to me!

 

[R-T-B]

Hope all the best to the new editor. TPU's team is wonderful, and W1zzard is THE GUY to work with. I learned a lot from him all these years, and I wish I could continue, but besides Cybenetics, I finally decided to work on my own media, especially my site and YT channels. This is why I won't write for any other media from now on.

I still consider TPU my home, though, and W1zzard and some of the veteran editors are among my close friends. So we will remain in touch, although I won't be a part of this great team.

PSU reviewing is among the toughest things someone can do, it needs countless hours and constant reading, and you also need to be prepared for huge lab failures, haha. But I find it one of the most exciting things. Automation surely helps, but so much stuff needs to be done manually.

My best to all of you guys!!!

What's your own site? Is it just cybenetics or something else? Would love to follow you.

And yes, we will miss you, but you've done wonders for our community so there can simply be no hard feelings, best of luck to you!

 

[wheresmycar]

PSU reviews are so techy-speccy i wouldn't even know where to start. So definitely not applying for the position.

Although, if theres a second PSU related job offering where you guys offer a Beez-Kneez of a gaming build every 3-5years... and then seek a 3 option reviewer evaluation at the end of each term with "PSU is 1) working great, 2) running ok 3) bad" i'm all in hehe

 

[zlobby]

PSU reviews are so techy-speccy i wouldn't even know where to start. So definitely not applying for the position.

Although, if theres a second PSU related job offering where you guys offer a Beez-Kneez of a gaming build every 3-5years... and then seek a 3 option reviewer evaluation at the end of each term with "PSU is 1) working great, 2) running ok 3) bad" i'm all in hehe

It's not that hard, actually. Hard part is that you put your review in an intersting presentation, so it doesn't just sound like you're reading a lab test report. @jonnyGURU has this gift to make you chuckle while you are reading about, say, bridge rectifiers.

 

[AMF]

nothing replaces knowledge and experience except knowledge and experience . but whoever takes this job must have the tools of the trade as well. goodluck and godspeed to the new reviewer

 

[Airisom]

Man I wonder what happened to OklahomaWolf from jonnyguru. His PSU reviews were top tier and were entertaining to read with his wit.

 

[GabrielLP14]

Hope all the best to the new editor. TPU's team is wonderful, and W1zzard is THE GUY to work with. I learned a lot from him all these years, and I wish I could continue, but besides Cybenetics, I finally decided to work on my own media, especially my site and YT channels. This is why I won't write for any other media from now on.

I still consider TPU my home, though, and W1zzard and some of the veteran editors are among my close friends. So we will remain in touch, although I won't be a part of this great team.

PSU reviewing is among the toughest things someone can do, it needs countless hours and constant reading, and you also need to be prepared for huge lab failures, haha. But I find it one of the most exciting things. Automation surely helps, but so much stuff needs to be done manually.

My best to all of you guys!!!

Completly true, i'm relatively new on TPU's staff as the SSD Database Maintainer, but it's been wonderful these last 1.5 years i've started this project.
Hope you all the best Aris, you're definitely going to be missed around here