3BTech.net Viotek "Black Titanium" Power Supply Ripoff

Hi All,
I just ordered this Viotek 550W24 Black Titanium 600 watt "High
Quality" power supply from 3btech.net
http://3btech.net/vi600wahiqu2.html
In the past I have gotten good prices with free shipping from 3btech. I did
a internet search for this power supply and it seems to be something
specially branded for 3btech and a few drop ship re-sellers of 3BTech
equipment. The picture shows a modern looking black power supply with open
grill back. You would assume it had a bottom mounted 120 mm fan or some
other fan mounted in front (not visible). What arrived was some old grey
steel standard looking power supply with a 80 mm fan in back and 120V/240V
switch. Nothing like the picture. It had Viotek model VIO60 listed on label.
It has 20 pin ATX connector and no SATA connector. There was a 20 to 24 pin
adapter but no SATA adapter. This would have been very nice supply in 2003.
I plugged it in and was dead. There was no 5V standby or voltage on power-on
line. As an internet search for this comes up mostly empty, I am posting for
future reference. I will send this POS back to 3B Tech.

On Sat, 17 May 2008 09:48:02 -0700, "Kent_Diego"
wrote:

Hi All,
I just ordered this Viotek 550W24 Black Titanium 600 watt "High
Quality" power supply from 3btech.net
http://3btech.net/vi600wahiqu2.html
In the past I have gotten good prices with free shipping from 3btech. I did
a internet search for this power supply and it seems to be something
specially branded for 3btech and a few drop ship re-sellers of 3BTech
equipment. The picture shows a modern looking black power supply with open
grill back. You would assume it had a bottom mounted 120 mm fan or some
other fan mounted in front (not visible). What arrived was some old grey
steel standard looking power supply with a 80 mm fan in back and 120V/240V
switch. Nothing like the picture. It had Viotek model VIO60 listed on label.
It has 20 pin ATX connector and no SATA connector. There was a 20 to 24 pin
adapter but no SATA adapter. This would have been very nice supply in 2003.
I plugged it in and was dead. There was no 5V standby or voltage on power-on
line. As an internet search for this comes up mostly empty, I am posting for
future reference. I will send this POS back to 3B Tech.

Thanks for the info. Some further info- You will get get a
decent house brand "600W" PSU for $30, nor 500W, and 400W is
unlikely as well. For the best savings on PSU you'd left
looking for name brands that have significant rebates or
coupon code discounts. Rarely you can find some surplus
from the OEM market marked down to be a great deal but I
haven't seen nearly as many values on these types as I did
earlier in the Pentium 4 era and then it could be explained
in that many OEMs had shifted to using motherboards with
Intel's 4 pin power connector for CPU power while the
surplus were very high quality PSU without that connector
and more 5V current - perfect at the time for the coming
generation of Athlon XP boards that hadn't transitioned as
quickly to 12V power for CPU (subcircuit).

Claude Hopper (11) 5. ? wrote:

I got a good power supply for $15.00 It has 24 pin mobo connector and
SATA connector. Works great.

Does it come with a fire extingtuisher?
Hold on, is that /all/ its got, a 24 pin connector and a SATA connector? Not
gonna be much use, is it?
--
SteveH

Kent_Diego wrote:
Hi All,
I just ordered this Viotek 550W24 Black Titanium 600 watt "High
Quality" power supply from 3btech.net
http://3btech.net/vi600wahiqu2.html
In the past I have gotten good prices with free shipping from 3btech. I
did a internet search for this power supply and it seems to be something
specially branded for 3btech and a few drop ship re-sellers of 3BTech
equipment. The picture shows a modern looking black power supply with
open grill back. You would assume it had a bottom mounted 120 mm fan or
some other fan mounted in front (not visible). What arrived was some old
grey steel standard looking power supply with a 80 mm fan in back and
120V/240V switch. Nothing like the picture. It had Viotek model VIO60
listed on label. It has 20 pin ATX connector and no SATA connector.
There was a 20 to 24 pin adapter but no SATA adapter. This would have
been very nice supply in 2003. I plugged it in and was dead. There was
no 5V standby or voltage on power-on line. As an internet search for
this comes up mostly empty, I am posting for future reference. I will
send this POS back to 3B Tech.

If what you were promised did not match what was delivered you simply
notify the vendor and demand satisfaction. More importantly, notify your
credit card company that you were ripped off. Then move on.

Expecting a "high quality" power supply for such a cheap price is beyond
comprehension. Do your homework. Read every review you can lay your hands
on. Look at what well-reviewed equipment sells for. If you suddenly find
something selling for 1/3 as much as the others in the category you can
pretty much write it off immediately. Their is no good power supply fairy
going around waving her magic wand filling the shelves of unknown sellers
with superior parts for free.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

"John McGaw" wrote in message
...
Kent_Diego wrote:
Hi All,
I just ordered this Viotek 550W24 Black Titanium 600 watt "High
Quality" power supply from 3btech.net
http://3btech.net/vi600wahiqu2.html
In the past I have gotten good prices with free shipping from 3btech. I
did a internet search for this power supply and it seems to be something
specially branded for 3btech and a few drop ship re-sellers of 3BTech
equipment. The picture shows a modern looking black power supply with
open grill back. You would assume it had a bottom mounted 120 mm fan or
some other fan mounted in front (not visible). What arrived was some old
grey steel standard looking power supply with a 80 mm fan in back and
120V/240V switch. Nothing like the picture. It had Viotek model VIO60
listed on label. It has 20 pin ATX connector and no SATA connector. There
was a 20 to 24 pin adapter but no SATA adapter. This would have been very
nice supply in 2003. I plugged it in and was dead. There was no 5V
standby or voltage on power-on line. As an internet search for this comes
up mostly empty, I am posting for future reference. I will send this POS
back to 3B Tech.

If what you were promised did not match what was delivered you simply
notify the vendor and demand satisfaction. More importantly, notify your
credit card company that you were ripped off. Then move on.

Expecting a "high quality" power supply for such a cheap price is beyond
comprehension. Do your homework. Read every review you can lay your hands
on. Look at what well-reviewed equipment sells for. If you suddenly find
something selling for 1/3 as much as the others in the category you can
pretty much write it off immediately. Their is no good power supply fairy
going around waving her magic wand filling the shelves of unknown sellers
with superior parts for free.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

I have found the magic hardware fairy selling 1/2 price quality equipment at
3B Tech several times. The way it works is manufacturers have bulk inventory
and they offload with steep discount to 3B Tech. With the Viotek power
supplies, Viotek is just a label they slap on some other power supply. Also
$30 is not an unreasonable price for a quality PS. Newegg has the Antec
Earth watts 380W for that price (with rebate). The whole point of my post
was the only info available for this specific model was one cryptic photo
and a scant paragraph. Now when someone Google's "Viotek 550W24 600W Power
Supply" they get a real description of what the part is. I submitted RMA and
am awaiting response. I am hoping this was an error and they can send me the
PS that was advertised. If so I will post an updated follow up. The Viotek
550W 24 could turn out to be a great deal. In either case this would be of
interest to the home build computer group and an on topic thread.

On Sun, 18 May 2008 10:19:53 -0700, "Kent_Diego"
wrote:


I have found the magic hardware fairy selling 1/2 price quality equipment at
3B Tech several times. The way it works is manufacturers have bulk inventory
and they offload with steep discount to 3B Tech. With the Viotek power
supplies, Viotek is just a label they slap on some other power supply.

With one-off items that may be true but it will not be the
case with quality commodities as contemporary PSU are.


Also
$30 is not an unreasonable price for a quality PS.

Yes, it is an unrealistic price and wasn't that even a
delivered price?




Newegg has the Antec
Earth watts 380W for that price (with rebate).

Meaning:

1) That's not the price, that's the after rebate price.
Rebates don't count because it is well known by those that
offer them that a certain % of buyers won't end up cashing
the rebate check for one of many reasons. That is how they
can offer the rebate instead of just offering it at the
lower cost (adjusted for the interest on money based on how
long they held it between making sale to distributer and
paying out on rebates).

2) That's only 63% of the wattage.


The whole point of my post
was the only info available for this specific model was one cryptic photo
and a scant paragraph.

You fell into the trap of assuming PSU were honestly sold
like most other goods. They are one of the exceptions to
the rule, unlike expecting a gallon of milk to have darn
near one gallon worth as rated, with PSU anything goes...
some should be seized at the ports into the country instead
of sold at all.

You are correct though, that if you had good consumer
protections and avenues for recourse and penalties against
the manufacturer and seller, it would go a long way towards
helping to ensure that people don't get sent junk psu, but
also that they aren't typically listed as $30 delivered for
a 600W either.



Now when someone Google's "Viotek 550W24 600W Power
Supply" they get a real description of what the part is. I submitted RMA and
am awaiting response. I am hoping this was an error and they can send me the
PS that was advertised. If so I will post an updated follow up. The Viotek
550W 24 could turn out to be a great deal. In either case this would be of
interest to the home build computer group and an on topic thread.


No, you're getting confused. There's no "great deal" on
these, an honest manufacturer or reseller doesn't put their
name on junk one day then give away the farm for peanuts the
next.

Claude Hopper (11) 5. ? wrote:

If you ever built a power supply you'd know what's in it. High priced
ones are mostly bull ****.

From many years of having built and repaired PC's, I would have to disagree,
except about the bull**** bit - your statement is indeed BS.
--
SteveH

On 2008-05-18, Claude Hopper wrote:

If you ever built a power supply you'd know what's in it. High priced
ones are mostly bull ****.

If you ever built a power supply you'd know what's in it, and what
differentiates a quality PSU from tat. The OP was talking about
a $30 supply. A first rate fan can cost more than that.

Cheap commodity PSUs usually work fairly well for unchallenging
commodity type machines but if your machine is a little special,
or you want it to run for ten years or more before it breaks down
then it's worth paying the extra.

Higher quality units tend to be more conservatively rated. As many
have noted a good PSU will deliver its rated power without problems.
Cheap PSUs don't. There may well be a good margin in component
specifications, such as coils or the choppers where theoretically
they are capable of much more than they are being asked to do.
That leeway gives you extra reliability and better performance
since things are not being pushed to their limits the same.

Good quality PSUs individually monitor and regulate each rail to
assure that it is the correct voltage at all times. Cheaper models
may only monitor one and assume all the others are loaded in a
fixed proportion in relation to that one rail. Higher end units
are faster to recover from sudden changes in loading. In many
subtle ways you do get what you pay for. If reliability is a
consideration, or simply saving money in a commercial environment
where failiures cost money, then better quality units are the way
to go.

--
Andrew Smallshaw

Kent_Diego wrote:
snip...
I have found the magic hardware fairy selling 1/2 price quality
equipment at 3B Tech several times. The way it works is manufacturers
have bulk inventory and they offload with steep discount to 3B Tech.
With the Viotek power supplies, Viotek is just a label they slap on some
other power supply. Also $30 is not an unreasonable price for a quality
PS. Newegg has the Antec Earth watts 380W for that price (with rebate).
The whole point of my post was the only info available for this specific
model was one cryptic photo and a scant paragraph. Now when someone
Google's "Viotek 550W24 600W Power Supply" they get a real description
of what the part is. I submitted RMA and am awaiting response. I am
hoping this was an error and they can send me the PS that was
advertised. If so I will post an updated follow up. The Viotek 550W 24
could turn out to be a great deal. In either case this would be of
interest to the home build computer group and an on topic thread.



Have to disagree. For a _real_ top-quality 600W PSU $100-150 would seem far
more reasonable. Antec PSUs have shown themselves to be of reasonable
quality in my experience but not in the league of Seasonic. In computers
where really quiet cool operation was paramount I have pulled new Antec
units and replaced them with Seasonic. Then Antecs are always good to have
on the shelf as replacements for use in friend's computers.

I guess that sometimes one can get lucky and buy equipment that was sold as
stock clearance by the maker but every time I see such items offered I
start wondering why they couldn't sell it originally. Sometimes the reasons
can be figured out and are not a hindrance (overrun, failed contract,
discontinued line, etc) but sometimes it turns out to be a bad product
who's shortcomings became known to the public before the stock could be
dumped. In any case a lot of research is called for with the proverbial
"offer that is too good to be true".

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

11 Claude Hopper 5. ? wrote:

I got a good power supply for $15.00 It has 24 pin mobo connector and
SATA connector. Works great.

What brand and manufacturer? Because unless it's used, a pull, or $15
is the after-rebate price, I'd be reluctant to use a $15 PSU, except
for parts.