HiPro of the future?

[everell]

Got this "bad" power supply from a computer shop. Lettering on the side of the power supply is very small, so didn't take a picture of it. Looks like a 300 watt power supply with OEM name HiPro and Chicony. China, of course. I have tried to tackle repairs on a number of power supplies, but this one went beyond what I can do. Topside doesn't look too challenging, but the bottom with all those surface mount parts is simply impossible for me to handle. Even under the microscope some of those integrated circuits were beyond what I could identify!

I did an initial test, and everything came up OK. So attached it to my Gigabyte test board with Pentium 4 3 Gig cpu. Have ran it several hours with no trouble. Thankfully I won't have to attempt any repair on it.

I have seen a lot of "POS" power supplies from China. But this one looks so much better than most. I somewhat wonder if this is what we will be seeing more of in the future.

[dmill89]

Re: HiPro of the future?

In general double sided PCBs and surface mount components are becoming more and more common in PSUs. That isn't a particularly new HiPro design though, I pulled one out of an older eMachines that looked very similar.

[Sparkey55]

Re: HiPro of the future?

Got this "bad" power supply from a computer shop. Lettering on the side of the power supply is very small, so didn't take a picture of it. Looks like a 300 watt power supply with OEM name HiPro and Chicony. China, of course. I have tried to tackle repairs on a number of power supplies, but this one went beyond what I can do. Topside doesn't look too challenging, but the bottom with all those surface mount parts is simply impossible for me to handle. Even under the microscope some of those integrated circuits were beyond what I could identify!

I did an initial test, and everything came up OK. So attached it to my Gigabyte test board with Pentium 4 3 Gig cpu. Have ran it several hours with no trouble. Thankfully I won't have to attempt any repair on it.

I have seen a lot of "POS" power supplies from China. But this one looks so much better than most. I somewhat wonder if this is what we will be seeing more of in the future.

From what I see in those pics that is total junk. Would not put those in a clients or my computer for sure.

[kaboom]

Re: HiPro of the future?

I did an initial test, and everything came up OK. So attached it to my Gigabyte test board with Pentium 4 3 Gig cpu. Have ran it several hours with no trouble. Thankfully I won't have to attempt any repair on it.

At least get rid of the ltecs. I'd scope it before/after, while loading with resistors.

I have seen a lot of "POS" power supplies from China. But this one looks so much better than most. I somewhat wonder if this is what we will be seeing more of in the future.

Well, it is specced by "hp," who/whatever that is, so that answers most of the cheepness.

From what I see in those pics that is total junk. Would not put those in a clients or my computer for sure.

Odd looking for sure. Almost resembles something from an LCD tv or monitor.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: HiPro of the future?

more sm components means more automation in the production line, i guess? so the chinese are phasing out their sweatshops with ppl in them for fully automated sweatshops with robotic machinery to do wave soldering and much faster manufacturing of pcbs? guess no one will complain now about how they are treating their workers like robots! rofl~

[dmill89]

Re: HiPro of the future?

From what I see in those pics that is total junk. Would not put those in a clients or my computer for sure.

Aside from the crap caps and super-group regulation I don't see anything particularly terrible about it. Judging from the connectors (only 2 SATA, 24-pin and 4-pin) it likely came out of a low-end micro-tower or desktop system and is likely more than adequate for the system it came from (granted longevity will be limited with those caps). I certainly wouldn't put it in anything but a very basic/low-power system, but with decent caps it should be a lot better than most of the "cheap junk" aftermarket units out there.

[everell]

Re: HiPro of the future?

From what I see in those pics that is total junk. Would not put those in a clients or my computer for sure.

After working on several IMicro power supplies and a Okia 500 watt power supply, this one looked like a jewel. I was not afraid to attach it to a compuer motherboard. On the other hand, I never tried running anything with that Okia 500 watter!

[momaka]

Re: HiPro of the future?

Topside doesn't look too challenging, but the bottom with all those surface mount parts is simply impossible for me to handle. Even under the microscope some of those integrated circuits were beyond what I could identify!
... I somewhat wonder if this is what we will be seeing more of in the future.

Yes, lots more of it (which is unfortunate for us repair folks). As ChaosLegionnaire said, they probably do it since it allows faster production times and since availability of SMT components is becoming much cheaper now.

From what I see in those pics that is total junk. Would not put those in a clients or my computer for sure.

I disagree.

Sure we have seen better PSUs from HiPro in the past (I myself am a big fan of the 250W HP-P2507F tanks with PPFC), but this one isn't bad either. Aside from the crappy caps, the PSU looks good overall. Though I will also note that the wires on the output connectors also look a bit thin - probably 20 AWG. I've noticed that Delta has also taken a similar path in that regard: a DPS-300AB of mine (out of a Gateway PC from 2007 or so) had thin 20 AWG wires everywhere. Looks like even the big manufacturers are starting to cut corners every now and then. Probably what was ordered to them from the big PC retailers, though, as kaboom suggested.

That said, I WOULD use a PSU like that any day in any PC over the cheap $10-20 garbage units sold everywhere online (and off). An honest 300 Watt PSU like this HiPro will handle even the fastest Intel i7. If you move a step-down with the CPU TDP, you can even put in a mid-range video card in the PC (something along the lines of 50-100 Watts TDP if the CPU is around 60-80 Watts TDP). With a modern mid-range GPU, you can still end up with a decent modern gaming PC that is well capable of being used an an HTPC too. So I don't see any reason to fuss about these PSUs. Put new caps, oil the fan, and it's good to go for another 10-20 years (if de-dusted every few years, of course).

On the other hand, I never tried running anything with that Okia 500 watter!

I think some Okia PSUs are very low-end CWT PSU's based on the old ISO design. Like this one:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39370
As gutless as they appear, the old ISO half-bridge design isn't actually half-bad with half-decent components .

Half-Life 3 confirmed???

... But yeah, I wouldn't trust those Okai PSUs with anything either. Not unless I want to see a computer getting destroyed

[everell]

Re: HiPro of the future?

... But yeah, I wouldn't trust those Okai PSUs with anything either. Not unless I want to see a computer getting destroyed

Here is a quick review of some labels made just for these Okia power supplies. Enjoy.....

[Stefan Payne]

Re: HiPro of the future?

That Okia label is something I've seen on older PC-Winner PSUs.
Those weren't that bad at all, even if it sounds like that.

The ones I've found had a Seventeam and CWT partnumber, so not all that bad...

[dmill89]

Re: HiPro of the future?

That Okia label is something I've seen on older PC-Winner PSUs.
Those weren't that bad at all, even if it sounds like that.

The ones I've found had a Seventeam and CWT partnumber, so not all that bad...

Oh, some are absolute crap, like this turd:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...&postcount=411







Okia rebrands a bunch of different units from different manufactures, so they range from barely serviceable (usable in a low power system with questionable longevity) to absolute garbage (like the one above, wouldn't put these anywhere near a computer).

[Wester547]

Re: HiPro of the future?

Half-Life 3 confirmed???

Ah, so that was the reason for the Resonance Cascade... Black Mesa was using an OKIA POWER SUPPLY to power the Test Chamber! Who would've thought...

...

That Chicony may "look" gutless because a number of the (SMD) components are on the underside, a far cry from older Hipros which had no underside SMD components, although those were still overbuilt by comparison. Yes, without the Teapo, Su'scon, and Ltec (especially the Teapo), and after lubing the fan if necessitated (or replacing it if you like), that wouldn't be a half-bad 300 Watter (the Elite in the voltage doubler should still be good for a while). I see 2015 datecodes on that though, so maybe the crapacitors are still good for now as well as the fan (whatever the brand is). I hope the important connectors are 18 gauge at least. Also, I don't think it's super group regulation at all - +3.3V is likely linear regulated in that PSU which means there is no need for another toroid.

[momaka]

Re: HiPro of the future?

Also, I don't think it's super group regulation at all - +3.3V is likely linear regulated in that PSU which means there is no need for another toroid.

Exactly. The 3.3V output should be pretty clean from ripple. Not that it matters that much on new motherboards. But if using this PSU for an older motherboard with SDRAM, a clean 3.3V rail is essential for a glitch-free and stable PC.

Ah, so that was the reason for the Resonance Cascade... Black Mesa was using an OKIA POWER SUPPLY to power the Test Chamber! Who would've thought...

Lol, was wondering who'd reply to that .

Actually, the OKIA PSUs were running *mostly* okay and only glitching the system every once in a while. But when they needed to boost the overhead capacitors to 105%, they needed some extra power, and the PowMax PSUs they were using simply could not put up with that. Result: resonance cascade and kaboom