Conclusion

It's clear that some PSUs should never see retail shelves in Europe. The Codegen P-Case 460W belongs in this classification if you want a 460W PSU. In fact, the Codegen is a ~230 watts power supply without power factor correction--not to mention the fact that the efficiency is always below 74%. If you just need a cheap power supply that will function at loads under 250W, perhaps budget products will fit the bill, but we'd suggest looking elsewhere as long-term power costs (and the risk of damaged components) makes this a gamble at best. In our case, the PSU died at 50% load.

Codegen offers nothing more than a few short cables and no PCIe connector. Moreover a cable sleeving would be a nice extra, but we'd like to see better electronics first. Overall the PSU provides two SATA and two HDD connectors on two 20 AWG cables. Additionally, you get a 4-pin CPU connector and a 30cm long 24-pin cable. With 45-60cm the peripheral cables are short too.

Internally, the PSU has a single-layer main PCB. Codegen only uses cheap capacitors and the main caps are common types with only average endurance at 105°C. Most components are undersized. Transient filtering is inadequate and there's no MOV (as an AC overvoltage protection). The SD6109 IC has some important safety functions including OVP and SCP but this is not enough since OCP is missing. +5V and +12V are connected to the same controlling and share one output choke which gone into saturation during our test. Overall, the component selection and build quality make this a low-end offering.

+12V is always higher than 12.31V (12.60V is the ATX limit) while the other rails are lower. The voltage regulation is bad--even for such an affordable product. While efficiency is only 73% at high load, the ripple results could have been worse. The power factor is very low on 230VAC since there is neither a PFC choke nor an active PFC circuit. Another disadvantage is the high fan RPMs at 50% load. The PSU is relatively silent from 5 to 10% load and still quiet at 20%. However, it does get too loud at higher loads--nothing unusual for a PSU like this, but you'll want to ensure your PC doesn't reach high loads if white noise bothers you (and that your PC won't die).

In summary, the Codegen P-Case 460 from Q3335-A2 bundle is one of the worst PSUs we have seen so far. It doesn't have any special features beyond an acceptable noise level (at low load). We can hardly recommend a 460W PSU with 230W real power and no power factor correction. In addition the PSU died during our test. The whole bundle costs about 30 EUR in Europe.

You get what you pay for!

Cables, Connectors and Test Results
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  • Belard - Saturday, April 28, 2012 - link

    There is junk like this all over the world, *cough* raidmax. Or even worse no name brands. Its bad enough they low quality, but the fake labels don't do anyone favors. If they slap on a 200 Watt label, a customer will be less likely to blow something up. 200w is okay for a bottom end system.

    They also fake rating tests by running the psu in a frig room.
    Geez... spend the extra $10 bucks. Cheapest good psu I buy sometimes is the 430w thermaltake. None have failed. Usually $35 before rebate.
  • Movieman420 - Saturday, April 28, 2012 - link

    If your budget is that tight it's fine to go for a cheap psu, just try your best to research before you buy...find out who builds the low end units for brands like Corsair, Antec, Ocz etc and try to locate a no-name version. I agree with an earlier post...anything much under $50 is probably gonna be questionable.
  • knedle - Saturday, April 28, 2012 - link

    In Poland, people usually call it not Codegen, but Coedsh***.

    Right now it's pretty hard to find their PSUs in stores, but few years ago they were used in some low end builds in which customer wanted "something to browse internet and really cheap case + PSU". I have helped many customers that had real problems because of those cheap PSUs - not only computer not turning on, but also damaged motherboard or hard drive due to PSU supplying 7V on 5V lane, or even 14V on 12V lane.

    Buying that it's total waste of your money.
  • ZippityZoopBop - Saturday, April 28, 2012 - link

    Yeah, somehow I'm not surprised that Codegen is still pushing out shitty products. They were terrible a decade ago, and it's a real shame that we don't have some form of international governing body to stop these fire hazards from making it to market.
  • WT - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link

    At 30 EUR, it seems like you do get what you pay for, but a hot deal does help every now and then.
    Currently, Best Buy is selling an Antec 450w PSU for $30 + FS, making this a very attractive PSU for a mid range system build. Check out the thread in the Hot Deals forum for a link and more info.
  • dj christian - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link

    Martin while you are at it are you going to review a Hantol PSU with fake 80-plus certification and with a fake pfc made of cement? Just for laugh i mean : )

    http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/blog/Hantol-PSU-Fak...
  • frontwing - Thursday, December 26, 2013 - link

    Used this PSU in a Codegen case icw a budget gaming system for almost 3 years
    without any problems.

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