PC Power and Cooling

PC Power and Cooling is a California-based company that manufactures computer power supplies. PC Power and Cooling was founded in 1985 and based in Carlsbad, California. On May 25, 2007, the company was acquired by OCZ Technology.^[1] On February 10, 2014, FirePower Technology announced acquisition of OCZ Technology Group's power supply division including PC Power and Cooling.^[2]

Company

PC Power and Cooling was founded by Doug Dodson in April 1985.^[3] The company was responsible for many innovations including the first CPU cooler, the first PC heat alarm, the first independently regulated PC power supply, the first redundant power system, the first NVIDIA SLI Certified supply, the first 1000W computer power supply and the first - and still only company - to offer an individual certified test report with each power supply sold.

It sells to both consumer and enterprise/oem channels. The company can customize power supplies for U.S.-based OEM customers in their Carlsbad facility.

Models

The Silencer brand of power supply units is available in 360 watt, 470 watt, 610 watt and 750 watt varieties.^[4] The 360 watt and 470 watt versions are also offered in Dell compatible models.^[5] PC Power and Cooling also offers a maximum performance line of power supplies, the Turbo-Cool units, which are available in 850 watt, 1000 watt, and 1200 watt versions.^[6]

A feature of PC Power and Cooling units is that their units use a lone, high-current +12 V rail for DC output to the rest of the system, as opposed to multiple lower current rails that run in parallel. This single-rail configuration is reminiscent of high-end power supplies in the early to mid 2000s, before an industry shift towards using split +12V rails for reliability, stability, and economical reasons.

The shift towards multi-rail power supplies can be seen as when new tech such as the Pentium4 or Athlon64 platforms, along with the introduction of GPU's which required more power than the AGP/PCIe slot could provide, more and more power was needed for that progression. When given a dedicated +12V rail for exclusive use by the GPU, and another dedicated rail for the rest of the system, the increased power demand was met while maintaining a simple design, ideal for (continued) mass production and cost control for a more complex unit. The later introduction of high power-demanding multi-core and multi-gpu systems, saw a split from two to three or four rails.

PC Power and Cooling have several power supplies that are 80-plus certified; the Silencer 910W achieved the Silver Certification at over 88% efficiency ^[7]

PC Power and Cooling branded products shifted more towards the enthusiast and businesses, while OCZ Technology branded power supplies cater more towards the gaming and entry level enthusiast segments. With the introduction of the re-designed Silencer line, legacy power supplies are still available.^[8][9]

After a brief shortage in supply of Silencer and Turbo-Cool units in 2009–2010, OCZ released the Silencer Mk II line. At the January 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, a product line branded under PC Power and Cooling was announced. It included Silencer Mk II in 500, 650, 750, and 950 watt capacities, and a Fatal1ty 750 watt model.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15]}

The Mk II line was built by OCZ OEM Sirtec, based on a modification of OCZ's "Z-Series Gold" power supplies. In early 2011, the Silencer 910W became available again, along with a new model, the Silencer 760W. These models are re-engineered from a SeaSonic S12D platform, the successor to the older S12 platform used in the original Silencer series. The Turbo-Cool series, made by industrial electronics company Win-Tact continue to be made, although efficiency and performance lag compared to modern enthusiast power supplies. Some new/old and refurbished stock of the Silencer 750W Quad also appeared in 2011.

References

External links

• Official website