BFG ES-800 Power Supply Review

[Capper]

BFG is a privately held US based company best known for their NVIDIA graphics cards, and as one might expect, they are a gamer focused company (their slogan is “The Gamer’s Choice!”). Graphic cards are not their only product however, as BFG carries product lines ranging from mousepads to motherboards, and in a place in between, they even carry power supplies like the one we have today - the BFG ES-800 watt power supply.

BFG ES-800 Power Supply Review

Chris Adcock

[Parker]

Whoahooo...... that is one noice PSU!!! And one Awesome review!! Great job Chris!

This looks to be the king of PSU's (PSU's under 900w at least).
I'll definitely be recommending this to the enthusiast friends of mine.....

[jonnyGURU]

Dugg!

Digg - BFG ES-800 (BFGR800WESPSU) PSU Review at HardwareLogic

[gvblake22]

Wow, BFG really left no stone unturned with this thing! I'm really impressed! Thanks for the review Chris!

Does BFG plan on introducing any lower wattage "ES" series units that might be a little more reasonably priced?

[MantaBase]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Wow, BFG really left no stone unturned with this thing! I'm really impressed! Thanks for the review Chris!

Does BFG plan on introducing any lower wattage "ES" series units that might be a little more reasonably priced?

I do not know. I think a 700 watter could easily be done.

What really pushed this unit over the top was the attention to detail. Of course, performance was stellar. It was almost like it was designed to be reviewed.

[jonnyGURU]

Originally Posted by MantaBase

I do not know. I think a 700 watter could easily be done.

I know Chris and Rich know, but I'm going to throw this out there to avoid any "shill" comments that y'all might feel like throwing at me, but... I work for BFG, have for about 6 months now, managing power supplies, yadda yadda yada....

To address Chris's concern: The reason why the product launched as an 800W and at this price point was because to use this technology and this level of quality in components (I know, I sound like a pimp) it's simply not cost effective to make it in lower wattages (at least right now).

To cut 100W off the unit only saved $2. Using Taiwanese caps instead of Japanese only saved $2. Sleeving only to the first connector only saved $1. Flat black instead of the electro-plate saved $1. Sleeve bearing fan instead of ball bearing saved $1.

So when you're talking about something with a street price around $200 and you're only saving $7 total with all of those changes, something that might translate into $10 or $15 savings for the customer in the end, what's the point? On something that can street for $100? Ok... that's another story.

[gvblake22]

Interesting, thanks for the info jonny, I did not know about your background with BFG or your behind the scenes knowledge about the cost of parts.

Originally Posted by jonnyGURU

On something that can street for $100? Ok... that's another story.

HAHA, that's the price point I was thinking of. A 500W - 650W model was what I had in mind...

[jonnyGURU]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

HAHA, that's the price point I was thinking of. A 500W - 650W model was what I had in mind...

I'm working on a 550W and 680W product around that price range that's of the best quality as possible... while keeping the price low. That said, it's not going to have the "frequency conversion" feature that the ES has, but I am shooting for 80 Plus certification, good regulation, etc. while still providing a quiet fan, fully sleeved cables, etc. and when this whole modular patent BS finally blows over, a modular version as well. Unfortunately, you can't have the all around "perfect" product at every price point. So to satisfy different budgets you have to have product families of varying quality. Like PC Power, for example. They have the Silencer and Turbo-Cool, one significantly higer quality and higer performance than the other, and higher priced.

I guess time will tell.....

[stinger608]

Hey Johnny, how good is the 800w LE power supply?

[gvblake22]

Good to hear! I know we are always looking for the best, most perfect product at the cheapest possible price and it always comes down to what you need to sacrifice to make that happen (quality or price). I totally understand it is very much a balancing act that will probably never equal out.

I currently have a Corsair VX550W PSU and it seemed to be the best thing that was reasonably priced (easily less than $100) and still had great features (fully sleeved cables), quality construction (good reviews), and good customer service (5 year warranty).

Would you say that this market ($100 range) sells more PSUs than the $200+ range?