How Power Supplies Are Made (2020) | PSU Factory Tour, ft. Cooler Master

[@GamersNexus]

Watch our factory tour playlist! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mn21aaukgJJ_f7c Find our Gigabyte automated motherboard factory tour here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZ-kd4eDlrhoiJI Support our work directly: www.patreon.com/gamersnexus

[@lodbldbol]

Hello

[@agenericaccount3935]

Have enjoyed all of the series so far, and hope others do as well. I think youtube has been a little unkind to general content promotion as the algorithm shifts due to the malware situation. Hopefully that will improve. The tours were great and should catch more eyeballs.

[@vrealon7738]

Love this series

[@AltimaNEO]

At this rate, when will gamers Nexus have their own branded PC with all gamers nexus components? Instabuy

[@cataria3903]

coolermaster advertisement showing a "warranty void if removed" illegal sticker on their psu. good one coolermaster :D but hey, if they wanna make advertisement against them, i'm all for it. i know what psu i won't buy.

[@The_Man_In_Red]

Very cool. Don't suppose there's any chance we'll ever get to see the binning process for DRAM? That'd be an awesome pipeline to watch in action!

[@GamersNexus]

We're trying!

[@lostremnant1140]

@@GamersNexus A sneak peak at SK Hynix factory, possibly featuring also the upcoming DDR5 memory would be amazing.

[@kisspeteristvan]

I mean they could explain it in a few words . Photolitography and chip design is superduper complicated , there wouldn't be any risk to show something to the (inexistent) competition , also not to mention the crazy expensive machinery .

[@ej_tech]

Even with all the human labor involved, it's still amazing that you can get a good quality 500W 80+ PSU for $50 or less.

[@mfarhansuryo3832]

@COFASA even with Coolermaster MWE 450 white 80 V2? its dirt cheap in Indonesia around 35 US dollar

[@ej_tech]

@COFASA In the Philippines (via Lazada.com) I can get a MWE 550W or a CV550 for $50 or so. You may have it bad due to insane import taxes.

[@redsquirrelftw]

@COFASA Even in Canada $100+ is typically the going rate for a decent PSU. In general we pay way more for computer components, yet they all come from same factory.

[@jamesscott3290]

This comment aged poorly

[@Dr.Taylor_site19]

@@jamesscott3290 indeed it did

[@agenericaccount3935]

When copper and some electrons love each other a lot... Also bless you. Perfecly placed sponsor.

[@NOSfusion]

Other tech channels: “grassroots tech reviews” GN: Computer Engineering Majors reviewing tech

[@Neojhun]

Actualy lots of CS people come from Electrical Engineering background.

[@Zackstrife29]

Does Steve come from an Engineering background? Didn't know that, how great!

[@gautamdiwan5952]

@@Zackstrife29 most likely yes. Check GN website under his editor tag along with history

[@osgrov]

I am so grateful you're making these tours. Fascinating content! Quite impressed by the amount of testing they perform, wasn't expecting that. Looking forwards to part 2! :)

[@stephanematis]

Awesome. Having spent time in R&D, I love to see that there is no "hidden magic" with work like this. More QC, less headaches. Thanks for the series.

[@recordatron]

"If you ever think your PSU is dead, try trouble shooting everything else first because it's probably not" I wish this was engraved at the top of every pc forum as almost every issue I've encountered with my system has had one or more people telling me it's probably my PSU dying and it NEVER has been. I hope they all watch this video.

[@jeremyniels]

@@tomvarior5328 orange or grey tho? there is a diff i heard?

[@tomvarior5328]

@@jeremyniels both of them, people dont know how much testing they go trough until they are sold

[@jkd7799Yann]

To me, power supply is the most fascinating part of a pc. If it's any good, quality wise, It should give stable and proper power as the need is constantly fluctuating , it should protect it from many threats (power surge, other components failure etc). All these matters are critical for the ecosystem. It's very underrated compared to other parts.

[@AndwiguZ]

These videoes are like the ultimate nerd version of the show How its made. Literally can't get enough of them, oddly satisfying to watch.

[@ricardoabh3242]

The gatling gun is nice! I was very surprise of the automation

[@airlink2142]

And its RGB! @ 5:30

[@ricardoabh3242]

airlink2142 did not event notice, can we get one fro Amazon? Lol

[@mashedpotatoes5323]

I was just thinking about how much power this wastes and that they should use it to charge batteries to recycle the power and then I hear that's exactly what they do lmao

[@mjc0961]

@Dave P. "Eco facists" Winter is only 3-4 months every year, but okay.

[@theepicslayer7sss101]

@@mjc0961 you forget spring and autumn are also about 3 months of cold also. only about 2 months actually are hot in a year. (meaning you have the heat on most of the year.)

[@jeeBisOkay]

@Dave P. why are you talking about fascists lmao

[@xintimidate]

@@jeeBisOkay he isnt. Hes talking about eco fascists

[@donloder1]

@Dave P. must be nice to have winter..

[@Taja_]

"PSUs have low failure ratings" - Its amazing how different realities coexist in the world. Im from Brazil, and most PSUs here are absolute crap, I had at least 5 PSUs exploding before I got into tech. Most manufacturers lie about the potency, efficiency,etc. We even have a group (Teclab) that tests a lot of PSUs and the vast majority is bellow spec, even from reputable brands (in the low end)

[@demonwares]

That is why you buy from USA. I live in South America too and my entire computer even the case was brought by friends from USA. I have a seasonic 800 modular still working after 10 years

[@FM4AMGV]

counterfeit parts?

[@ratchet1freak]

so that is where the units that failed QC finally end up

[@Taja_]

Not counterfeit, just cheap stuff. From small companies mostly, like c3tech, xigmatek, etc. Also the low end stuff from EVGA for example: they are not THAT bad, but they are not good. My evga 430w went bad after 3-4 years, the 12V rail was varying between 10.9 and 11.4V, so the gpu stopped working properly (but it didnt kill any component)

[@PhantomMattcraft]

Any cheap PSU whether from something random like you suggested, c3tech, or from Seasonic, is generally quite bad. If from a major seller they're generally not bad enough to explode (except Thermaltake and it's Litepower / 80+ bronze Smart series), however they still certainly will do dumb things potentially damaging the PC.

[@aaaarrrg3773]

Thanks Steve and team. To me, this is the best factory video so far. PSUs are my favorite hardware component. My OCD loves how contained and uncluttered they are. I can't own anything less than a fully modular unit. The extra cables would irritate the sh*t outta me. I'm such a cable management freak. The rear exhaust fan on my X99 can only reach a mid-board header and even though I've got it perfectly trained and routed it has a couple inches of slack that doesn't seem to want to tuck in anywhere and it's just short of being able to wind it in with a quarter turn of the fan, aaaaaarg!

[@MissingMew]

30 qc steps is a lot more then i anticipated. good to know that my usual testing process is either ignoring the PSU or checking that last. except, of course, when the symptoms explicitly point towards it, like breakers ripping, the unit sparking and smoking or the system being reproducably unstable when loading multiple power hungry components simultaneously...

[@demonwares]

While a CPU and GPU may last you for 5 years, I have a seasonic 800 psu still working after 10 years.

[@eideticex]

The one I'm using is roughly the same age, only thing that has ever failed on it was a SATA power connector. It has 6 such connectors and I use at most 3, so wire snips and but splices to eliminate the faulty one, still working great.

[@flandrble]

maybe it's just you? I have working 15+ year old cards here.

[@GamersNexus]

@@flandrble The point is that those cards, by today's standards, are not that good. The power supply still supplies power.

[@NebulonRanger]

tbf, GPUs maybe, but Haswell seems to be immortal. I've got a 5820K in my rig that still wrecks games even at stock six years later.

[@critiqalerror]

Seasonic. The heart of your system

[@KairosObj]

I always wonder how they get these kind of tours..

[@CatalystDestiny]

Subscriber count and viewership numbers, corporations look at things like that and view little bits like a factory tour like this as extremely dirt cheap cost effective advertisement for their products compared to the ridiculous costs of regular things like commercials that literally cost millions upon millions of $$$ to make and air.

[@SirNickyT]

How could you say no to GN? 😁

[@GamersNexus]

@@CatalystDestiny 12 years in the industry and clout is what gets it. We got this kind of access back when we had 20,000 subscribers because we've been a publication for a long time.

[@Kf1rr]

@@SirNickyT How could you say no to Jesus...((-:

[@KairosObj]

@@GamersNexus Fair enough! Keep up the good work!

[@雪鷹魚英語培訓的領航]

19:02 - Cute moment there. It must be sweet connecting on the shared interest of tech with folks from another country.

[@yakacm]

Pretty sure Gigabyte won't be extending an invite back to their factory any time soon, lol.

[@AlexSeadanya]

so great video, I love how are many QC test on single psu.... and this video change my mind about cooler master psu quality.... Good job done GN

[@random_n]

I've seen very few cradle deaths of PSUs, but there's a clear separation between how a quality PSU and a cheapo PSU handle bad AC power. Takes good design to prevent "garbage in, garbage out" from blowing up your motherboard. Looking forward to the R&D lab tour!

[@redsquirrelftw]

There is something different about this factory, it feels like it has a better atmosphere for the workers, and they also seem to care a lot about quality which is great to see.

[@EdmundPaddington]

I'm repeatedly surprised at how manual these processes are - I've always envisioned vast factories with very low numbers of actual people. You'd think (or at least I thought) the order volume for cooler master would warrant more automated manufacture. Love the show Steve.

[@bashanborlangkhongshei2851]

Wow my cooler master PSU has been with me for 6 years and yep its still working till this moment....and i really appreciate the cooler master company.. because they really make stuff that last...👍👍

[@Notsodirt]

this was very interesting. explains why we don't hear much about psu death outside of REALLY old units

[@ZeeshanMuhammadX]

I thoroughly enjoy these factory tours and appreciate the time, effort and travel money spent to produce them. The technical narration is also spot on, not too complicated for a layman but still dumping a lot of information. Please keep posting these videos even if you think they are "boring" for KZbin, I am hoping your video view counts reflect the keen user interest.

[@51rwyatt]

This video makes realize more than ever that the old "Made in China" stigma/label has no relationship to the quality these companies put into these parts.

[@Kalvinjj]

When you think about it, pretty much everything nowadays is made there after all. There's also price points in everything, and many times the part dimension/choice is the failing point instead of being badly made, so the costs have been cut even before it went to the factory.

[@julianangell4535]

Wait aren't they in Taiwan...

[@51rwyatt]

@@julianangell4535 sorry, I'm an idiot. HOWEVER, some of the components were made in China, so I'm only partially an idiot.

[@julianangell4535]

@@51rwyatt No judgement

[@DrSmugface]

@@julianangell4535 well the iphones are made in china too .. a friend of mine who works/worked with chinese factory´s said ... its all about the money, they can produce you a product for 10 cents or 10$ ...you decide what you want ..

[@sen87]

4:06 That is a wave soldering machine and not a reflow oven. Thanks for the interesting tour!

[@jasonfullerton7763]

And that poor thing needs to be dedrossed desperately!

[@LunarSmash]

Indeed. A reflow oven is like a long conveyor pizza oven. You can't see inside as windows wouldn't be sufficiently insulated for accurate temperature zone control.

[@Jdraisen]

Love the tours, thanks for the awesome content!

[@dpjazzy15]

"Supply chain disruptions caused by human malware" hahahahaha! Funny ass shit!

[@kiwi-on-a-bike660]

I have a Cooler Master 1000w Silent Pro Bronze, so far so good after 10 year.

[@TechDunk]

I actually had a psu broke on me. It was a 10 (or more) year old Corsair PSU and it popped and then there was a terrible burning smell. Tripped the breakers in my house lol. Glad they have security to make sure the system itself doesn't fry!

[@DriftyG]

These videos are so cool, it reminds me of the "How It's Made" series.

[@cijoykjose]

Jesus is making discovery and national geographic channel obsolete.. 😀😄

[@msrblonline]

I most appreciate this channels trying to be as scientifically and technologically accurate as possible, with straight forward presentation, clarification and if necessary, correction. A+ work. Thanks!

[@ilajoie3]

I'm waiting for the Gigabyte power supply factory tour. I want to see if it goes up in flame whenever they pull a power supply for testing

[@turboimport95]

This reminds me im using a EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G3 power supply i got back in 2017, im still using it today and my pc is on 24/7 and it now runs a 4080 no issues. I payed $140 back in 2017.

[@rdyer8764]

I hope you continue to get support from manufacturers for these tours. I feel more satisfied paying for a good power supply now that I understand the QC process. For a long time I've been thinking how over-priced power supplies are. I understand better now, and will be happier to pay the higher price for good quality.

[@maxcypond]

I love these videos about how things are made. Out of all the videos from this past tour, this was my favorite.

[@archklown2]

Thank you all again for a new episode of How it's made with Tech Jesus. I absolutely love these , thanks for continuing to do them

[@goldrogerffs]

i've been waiting for the power supply factory tour for so long, thanks for making awesome content!

[@douglascampbell9809]

As someone who worked QC in two different manufacturing companies producing two different types of products I can say that's the most impressive and extensive testing program I have ever seen.

[@-eMpTy-]

Nice to see how much actual QC and manual labor is going into these products.

[@upchur09]

It's a shame other companies didn't want it revealed that they use the same factory. After watching how awesome the QC is I am more likely to buy a PSU knowing it came from this factory.

[@Jaaxfo]

I've had two PSUs fail on my, one was an old no name brand in a hand-me-down computer my dad built. It blew up good and took the system with it (Electrolytic cap - one of the big ones - popped) The other was a lot less exciting. Silverstone 600w SFX PSU just gave up the ghost. Nothing else was damaged, but none of the rails would output power, not even +12v or +5vsb. Local shop confirmed the same. The replacement it still kicking, 4 years later

[@simoncheong7692]

Loved the detailed explanation regarding the process flow. The info about SMT, AOI, Reflow machines in this video is really good!

[@WingMcCallister]

I didn't know I needed this video, but I did.

[@stuarchwu]

Tainan is also awesome place featuring best food in Taiwan. The PC related industries in Tainan began to heat up just few years ago though as I know.

[@PistolPoet]

Good ol' Windows XP

[@1000-Baby-Oil]

jank

[@FerrumBellator]

You'd be surprised how many industrial machines use older OS as the machines that they run, are expensive and once the company is done producing the machines they never make updates for software.

[@redsquirrelftw]

@@FerrumBellator Hospitals too. My hospital has tons of NT4 stuff. Medical software tends to be super proprietary and made by fly by night companies. Once the company no longer exists there is no support or upgrade path but yet the hospital relies heavily on it. They refuse to use open source stuff "because we need support" but yet they don't have support, nor any ability to upgrade it because it's closed source.

[@kawatzaki]

@@redsquirrelftw You own a hospital?! damn you must be very rich!

[@ixflqr]

It really shouldn’t have been mentioned. That’s a big security problem to have that published. (Even though the factory has not been named, we have been told detailed information about them which if invested in it, shouldn’t be too difficult to trace)

[@Yggdrasill8]

Very thorough manufacturing processes and testing, makes me appreciate what went into PSUs. Currently using an Evga, Corsair, CoolerMaster, and Montech Gamma II, all 750 watts each

[@lordmithras47]

GN is featuring a CM MasterWatt 650W Bronze unit. If I had to make an educated guess (based on reviews and the LTT PSU tier list) I would say that this is HEC's factory. They're based in Tainan TW. HEC's no Delta, SeaSonic or FSP, but they're a decent OEM.

[@malpaca]

I love how in every factory tour, they are always sponsored by another company and never the company of the factory

[@ghostdog4330]

The factory efficiency is impressive.

[@Haarschmuckfachgeschafttadpole]

"Thanks to human malware", what an awesome and funny quote about COVID. Man that got me for a good minute laughing.

[@Kachel94]

I just returned a cooler master PSU, out of its 5 year warranty by 2 months and they still replaced it. Very impressed by their help.

[@razorsaber2287]

This video definitely makes me feel more confident about my power supply failing

[@jt92]

It's incredible the amount of QC that they do. I had a corsair AX1200i PSU that failed after 6 years and 10 months due to a voltage spike that was my utility's fault but corsair still honored the 7 year warranty on it. Amazing.

[@pawelpablo898]

15:40 i found it kinda funny one person packed stuff and handed all to the next one , which then unpacked stuff and checked it again :)

[@Masterblack1991]

For me,the pick and place machine is one of the best automation. Pick different components without smashing and place in a millimetric spot at that speed is amazing

[@ReyMysterioX]

CoolerMaster PSU video sponsored by bequiet. Nice.

[@bassmunk]

When you see a security camera view of an object at one end of an empty room on a table, you know some serious s**t is going down. Those are my favorite videos! :D

[@teddygoboom1]

I'm sure they wanted to get low-level with you when they brought you to the screw factory ;)

[@Pertamax7-HD]

super footage

[@JohnnyD0518]

Just watched your old video on PSU voltage ripple. Awesome content!!

[@g1mmedatdome284]

"Here's a Cooler Master PSU video!" "SPONSORED BY THIS OTHER PSU MAKER!!!"

[@soon931111]

cool video. Love the work you guys done. Made me feel good about the good quality PSU I purchased.

[@Wayne-fe1ed]

Wow! Just wow! The process is astonishing. Great vid.

[@Sightbain.]

This is by far some of the coolest and most interesting commentary and content being produced fro many of these tech review / news channels keep it up.

[@the360gaming5]

Amazing video

[@duramirez]

I work for a company that customizes a software solution for factories in my Country, it is pretty cool, it can control everything, audit every step, with sensors, all automated and linked with their ERP etc. Very cool i love to visit the factories and work with their production line :)

[@fanofCOH]

Ah yes the video that noone asked for but everyone wanted. good work Steve!

[@BRUXXUS]

Whoa... there's a shockingly large amount of manual hands-on stuff that goes into PSUs! When my buddy and sister were picking parts for their new computers a few months ago I told them that the PSU is the least fun part to spend money on, but one that's probably most important not to cheap out with. Now I can see why they seem to cost more than you'd expect. I've been (un)lucky enough to have had *two* catastrophic PSU failures.... which are REALLY scary, lol. I've learned my lesson with cheap power supplies.

[@richw3215]

I'd LOVE to see a component factory, capacitors specifically.

[@DerFledderer]

Oh I just love this type of content and I think your efforts to create these videos are well worth it. Thanks GN! Such a versatile channel (Y)

[@anthonydiiorio]

Wow very interesting. Nice to see so much care is taken with QC

[@n3ttx580]

Steve officially dropped the "g" at the end of each and every verb he says.

[@jace4817]

Nice of Be Quiet to sponsor a Cooler Master manufacturer video :P

[@AlexKenis]

This was great, man! thanks for the in depth coverage

[@gureguru4694]

i never knew these were tested to hell and back. truly worth the money spent

[@RavTokomi]

Kids nowadays have no idea how great modern PSU's are compared to 15 or 20 years ago.

[@cesar_onada]

1:30 Why HEC (High-Quality Evolution Commitment) doesn't want to be named? 🤔 They've manufactured PSU's for Aerocool, Corsair, EVGA, Thermaltake and even BeQuiet in the past.

[@tarfeef_4268]

Yeah pretty sure that's who it is as well. I mean, they're not typically regarded for the highest end units with the best specs or perfect solder jobs every time. But they're also not known for dumpter fires or anything.

[@qlum]

It may just be a case that they don't know if Coolermaster wants them to be named as the manufacturer. Linking the two can be a touchy subject even if information behind the link is publicly available.

[@AkiraBaikal]

I have a cooler master psu right next to me, and is super cool to know about where it came from and how it was made.

[@Fix_It_Again_Tony]

Great video. I really like content like this. Looking forward to the R&D episode. The soldering machine you show at 4:15 is performing a process called "wave" soldering. A large amount of solder is melted in a tray where the boards are dipped into it. This is for through hole components. You describe it well. Reflow soldering happens in a totally enclosed oven. This is the process that occurs directly after pick and place. The heat is ramped up to an initial plateau to activate the flux and then ramped again to about 250 C to melt the solder. This is for SMDs. Both are essential for a board using both through hole and SMT. The boards first have the SMDs placed and reflow soldered, and then the through hole components are placed and wave soldered. Once caveat is if you have a dual technology board, to utilize wave soldering there must be surface mount components only on the top side. Otherwise the wave soldering process would melt the solder attaching the bottom layer SMT components and they would be removed from the PCB. Notice at 4:40 the bottom of the board has no SMDs. Your description of the RMAs at about 16:15 is literally the same story as the history of how the term software "bug" was coined. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bug#History

[@davidpoulson2873]

Its amazing every time I see machines making machines...

[@SgtSayWhat]

A Be Quiet PSU advert on a video sponsored by cooler master giving you a tour of their PSU factory. The balls!

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

PSUs are my forte! Love to see some coverage of the thing that makes our systems tick!

[@ExPsy]

Love how coolermaster is sneaky regarding psu failures. A very common issue on lower end units is the voltage going out of specs on specific loads. Technically the psu "works", it just kills some of the connected hardware.

[@toxsickshaun]

Thank you for the efforts to make these sort of videos. Excellent work

[@vanisshen4467]

Love how Be Quiet sponsors a Cooler Master factory tour

[@yotuanyboi6201]

Really enjoy the factory tours videos

[@Martycrane]

I love these videos. I know you’ve said you take a hit on viewership with them but I hope the rest of the videos make up for it enough to keep doing them

[@Nox665]

17:48 I like the choice of colors for the warnings: Green: ok everything looks fine Yellow: Careful, we might have forgot a cable, maybe we should check. RED: WTF!! SOMEONE MUSH HAVE SLIPPED AN EXTRA 1$ CABLE IN THERE!!!

[@lanceripplinger8352]

Its like watching that show How It's Made. Love the video journalism, keep up the good work fellas!

[@uss_04]

“Our Factory Tours are getting increasingly low level” Soon: Gamers Nexus teams up with Dr. Emmitt Brown in a Delorean to travel 4.5 Billion years in the past to show the origin and distribution of all the Iron used to make Power Supply Shrouds.

[@tullgutten]

I like the burn in testing. Really making sure the gustomer gets a good working unit 👍

[@AcktongueBaby]

I love these episodes. It's like extended versions of How It's Made or Modern Marvels!

[@jeffb.6642]

Factory Tour Hosted By: Cooler Master PSU Video Sponsor: be quiet! PSU lol

[@LeonardoLeo-jw2dx]

After applying solder paste in the screen printing machine, there is the SPI machine next (Solder Paste Inspection), to inspect the quality of the solder paste applied on the PCB, then it gets passed to the pick and place machine then straight to the oven, after all that, the AOI (Automated Optical Inspection) machine which inspects the components, solder joints etc

[@alexatkin]

This is extra fascinating as I believe my PSU IS a Masterwatt 650.

[@rakly347]

Been a couple of years since you promised more PSU content, It's finally happening folks!

[@WildkatPhoto]

This is what I became a Patreon! Love me some factory tours!!