Zippy Serene (GP2-5600V)
by Christoph Katzer on September 3, 2007 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Intro
With this review of the Serene we now have our second Zippy power supply for review. For those unfamiliar with the company and its roots, we suggest reading our first Zippy review as well. Zippy has been around for quite some time and in the server world they are recognized as having one of the highest qualities available in the market. Zippy is located in a suburb of Taipei called Xin Dian (Hsin Tien) and manufactures all of their power supplies in their factory over there.
They are known for having extremely reliable server power supplies, but recently Zippy has made the step into the retail desktop PSU market with several high class offerings. The Gaming G1 power supply in our last review exhibited very high quality, but it could still use quite a bit of improvement in order to better target the retail desktop PC market. Today we will be looking at the Serene 600W (GP2-5600V), a power supply that was built with the goal of having the best efficiency possible. The package claims 86%, which is quite a lofty goal for a retail product.
As we have seen many times with other power supplies, the Serene comes with a single 12V rail. We have written previously that this does not conform to the actual Intel Power Supply Design Guidelines, but as we have seen, readers and manufacturers have a different opinion about this issue. While some say it is no problem at all - there will be enough safety features that will kick in before something bad happens, i.e. overloading the power supply - the other half prefers to stick to the rules and have released power supplies with up to six 12V rails. While the lower voltage rails have each 25A on disposal, the single 12V rail has 40A and should have no difficulty powering everything a decent system needs.
Given the name, one area that will be of particular interest to us is how quiet this power supply manages to run. Granted, delivering a relatively silent power supply that provides 600W is going to be a bit easier than making a "silent" 1000W power supply, but we still need to determine whether or not the Zippy Serene can live up to its name.
With this review of the Serene we now have our second Zippy power supply for review. For those unfamiliar with the company and its roots, we suggest reading our first Zippy review as well. Zippy has been around for quite some time and in the server world they are recognized as having one of the highest qualities available in the market. Zippy is located in a suburb of Taipei called Xin Dian (Hsin Tien) and manufactures all of their power supplies in their factory over there.
They are known for having extremely reliable server power supplies, but recently Zippy has made the step into the retail desktop PSU market with several high class offerings. The Gaming G1 power supply in our last review exhibited very high quality, but it could still use quite a bit of improvement in order to better target the retail desktop PC market. Today we will be looking at the Serene 600W (GP2-5600V), a power supply that was built with the goal of having the best efficiency possible. The package claims 86%, which is quite a lofty goal for a retail product.
As we have seen many times with other power supplies, the Serene comes with a single 12V rail. We have written previously that this does not conform to the actual Intel Power Supply Design Guidelines, but as we have seen, readers and manufacturers have a different opinion about this issue. While some say it is no problem at all - there will be enough safety features that will kick in before something bad happens, i.e. overloading the power supply - the other half prefers to stick to the rules and have released power supplies with up to six 12V rails. While the lower voltage rails have each 25A on disposal, the single 12V rail has 40A and should have no difficulty powering everything a decent system needs.
Given the name, one area that will be of particular interest to us is how quiet this power supply manages to run. Granted, delivering a relatively silent power supply that provides 600W is going to be a bit easier than making a "silent" 1000W power supply, but we still need to determine whether or not the Zippy Serene can live up to its name.
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16 Comments
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irev210 - Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - link
Zippy is used in the best servers built buy Sun/Tyan/HP etc.That is why I personally love zippy. They are built like tanks with quality being #1.
While seasonic makes good PSU's, they are not built like zippy. For average consumer, they do not need such overdesigned PSU's. Seasonic will work fine.
For those that want absolute best/most durable pick zippy.
Phlargo - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
It's amazing just to check out these reviews to see what wonderful combinations of features and performance these companies can create. Seriously, 89% efficiency is impressive there aren't a lot of areas in our world we can boast this kind of input->output efficiency.Even if it isn't totally silent and or perfect in other ways (and it consequently doesn't elicit my purchase), it's an impressive piece of hardware and a great review.
I'm really enjoying the detail and care that is put into these power supply reviews - great methodology and thinking!
JEDIYoda - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
I agree the reviewer takes very seriously what he is doing.I also must say though that eficiency is not the only criteria for purchasing a PSU!
It is very possible to have a highgly efficient PSU and at a later date have to RMA it.
Efficiency does not equate to quality and longevity!!
I see no reason to chose that PSU over say a Corsair....
John - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
It's been almost 2 months and there are still no ripple results. Are you stockpiling reviews? Have you received an o-scope yet? ;)If we look at the graphs both the 3.3V & 5V come close to going out of spec, and the 12V had a ~.4 drop. The fan is far from quiet. Efficiency and "build quality" aside, I really don't see what's so special about this psu. Why would I want to purchase this particular Zippy over a Corsair HX620? Corsair (Seasonic) gives us a total of 4 PCIe connectors (2x 6-pin & 2x 6+2-pin), modular cables, 105C rated industrial caps, quiet fan, and a 5 yr warranty with one of the best RMA's in the business.
Price and availability has always been a problem with Zippy. What's the RMA turnaround time?
On a lighter note thanks for cutting the number of pages in half.
Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
I think we have a different opinion about reviews in total. When I am searching a product I don't need anybody telling me that I need to buy that PSU. I would rather like to see different reviews and build my own opinion. Where we would be when I would tell you marketing reasons why to buy this PSU and not any other Corsair one? From your post it's already clear you don't see the point of choosing Zippy and that is everything a review is about, isn't it?In case of ripple... We will have ripple results as well as many other additional ones. It just took a little longer than expected.
JEDIYoda - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
I also noticed no ripple results but in the scheme of things do we really want to be doing everything exactly the way other sites seem to mirror each other in how they test there PSU`s?Seems to me like the information given here is accurate and well written and very useful.
Even without ripple results! ,-- albeit would be a nice touch:D
These other sites that say they refuse to read your reviews due to no ripple results is so bogus. let`s say 20 people at mosts when Anands site has how many thousands who read everything?
I find it interesting the only people complaining about the lack ripple results are other people who test PSU`s or think they know ...ok now to move on....
As with the first Zippy PSU tested I see no glaring reason to choose the Zippy over any of the top quality PSU`s that Seasonic makes using the Seasonic name as well as being the OEM for other brands.
As with othr top quality PSU..namely the PC Power & Cooling there fan is also loud but hey it doe the job!!
I am not convinced that modular cables are a plus or a minus..possibly more of a preference that being good or bad.
Then we have cables coming out of the PSU not being posibly adequately secured.
Finally--- prices will likely be in the $170+ range, which is a lot to pay for a 600W PSU. On the other hand, the Zippy Serene is one of the best power supplies we have seen so far and should bring very stable and reliable service to any owners.
So we know that PSu`s such as Zippy and PC Power & Cooling as well as a few other have been known to last a very long time. Even past the warranty period!
But can we conclude the same about the new Zippy`s coming out or shoul we say we need to wait and see??
To RMA the thing could be a real nightmare...we will see....when they bcome available.
A very all very well written review!!
Just don`t get caught up trying to please 20 people from other sites....when you are out to please the members of this site and once again not the 20 or so members of other sites who visit here every so often!!
Peace!!
John - Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - link
It's not a matter of copying other sites, it a matter of supplying the necessary information to gauge the quality of a psu. ATX spec lists an acceptable range for ripple, and some "high quality" and a lot of "low quality" psu's go out of spec which can contribute to premature hardware failure. I just cannot fathom how someone can afford a Chroma 61604 and not a ~$200 o-scope for testing ripple. If Christoph didn't think ripple was worth measuring he wouldn't keep saying "ripple results coming soon....."Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - link
Actually my o-scope was more expensive than the parts of the Chroma: Tektronix TDS3014BChristoph Katzer - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
For my personal use I would prefer every main stream PSU since the RMA will be quick and without problems. It's the same like when you are driving a Toyota or a Ferrari. Which one will be quicker repaired once sth is wrong?Zippy does simply not have anybody in the US with the proper equipment to change components etc. They will let the company send it to them and then an engineer will have a look at it. Corsair takes a new PSU out of the stock and sends it to you.
For example the top brand in Germany "be quiet!" has the service of changing your faulty PSU within 48hrs. They just send you a new one and take your old one with them and probably throw it away. So who would not prefer to buy such a PSU?
JEDIYoda - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
I agree and we can also add to that list of turn around time when doing an RMA several othr companies. Such as PC Power & Cooling!I had a friend have to RMA his and all he did was call them and his replacement was sitting at his front door the next day. Thatwas even before he had a chance ship the bad unit.
BTW he had to pay nothing out of pocket. Yep--24--48 hrs is awesome !!
you are corrct Chris!!