The 1STPlayer Steampunk 80+ Gold 750W PSU Review: A New Challenger Emerges

Conclusion

The release of the new Steampunk series from 1STPlayer is interesting in several ways, perhaps most of all because it introduces a new OEM into the American and European markets. There are only a few known PSU OEMs in the market today – and they have been established for decades – making it very difficult for any newcomer to manufacture and market a profitable product. 1STPlayer’s development and manufacturing teams obviously are experienced, as the Steampunk PSU that we reviewed today was clearly developed by a very competent team of engineers. It is apparent that they gained most of their experience while establishing a foothold within the Chinese/Asian markets, as this is the first time that we have encountered any of their designs.

In terms of performance, the 1STPlayer Steampunk 80+ Gold 750W PSU does very well overall. The performance aspect that stands out the most is its unexpectedly high efficiency at low and medium loads, which reaches figures that would have easily met 80Plus Platinum requirements if the efficiency did not plummet at very high loads. As we mentioned before, that was a missed opportunity on behalf of the company, as they could have simply reduced the maximum output rating a little and qualified for 80Plus Platinum certification instead. The power quality also is good for an advanced modern PSU, with excellent figures coming from the 12V line. We received less impressive readings from the minor 3.3V/5V lines, yet their performance remains acceptable for a product of this class.

One disadvantage that the Steampunk 80+ Gold 750W PSU has is the powerful cooling fan and aggressive thermal profile. Clearly, the company opted to favor reliability over acoustics, programming the thermal control circuitry to maintain relatively low temperatures. That comes at the expense of noise, and the Yate Loon cooling fan will easily reach clearly audible levels when the PSU is heavily loaded. It is quiet when the system is idling though, so that should work well for the majority of users; it's just something to watch out for if you're planning a system that is going to be under a high and sustained load day-in and day-out.

When it comes to quality, the Steampunk 80+ Gold 750W PSU is acceptable for a product seeking to combine value and high performance. The primary parts are all premium products coming from known manufacturers, the platform is well designed, and the assembly job is exceptional. Our primary concerns lie with the sleeve bearing fan and the mediocre secondary capacitors. 1STPlayer covers the Steampunk 80+ Gold 750W PSU with a 7 year warranty, meaning that the MTBF ratings of all these parts should be at least near that time frame, but we have no reliable data on the failure rates that (genuine) ChengX/AsiaX capacitors actually have. As 1STPlayer is a company that is trying to expand overseas, it would be downright foolish for them to jeopardize their reputation with their very first products, therefore they obviously are confident regarding the quality of their product.  

If anything, the real disadvantage that the Steampunk 80+ Gold 750W currently has is rather mundane: availability. At the time of this review, the PSU is readily available only in Asian markets. This is obviously because global shipping has been greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but it makes it very difficult for us to reach a solid conclusion without knowing the retail price of the product, as the price tag ultimately is the decisive appraisal factor for almost every product on the planet. If 1STPlayer manages to retail the Steampunk 80+ Gold 750W at a meaningfully lower price than competitive products, it would severely damage their opposition. Otherwise, we believe that it is unlikely for consumers to move from established and familiar to them manufacturers without a serious incentive, as the Steampunk 80+ Gold 750W is a very good PSU but does not technologically stand out when compared to what the competition has to offer.