Who really makes your Power Supply?

Most PC power supplies are not designed by the brand on the box. Instead, they are built by specialized OEM manufacturers that develop the electrical platform, choose components, and handle production. Retail brands define targets (price, efficiency, noise, features), but the OEM determines the core quality.

When buying a power supply, most users focus on the brand name on the box. In reality, the most important factor sits behind the scenes: the OEM (Original Design Manufacturer) that designed and built the platform.

Many well-known PSU brands do not manufacture their own units. Instead, they work with specialized OEMs that handle electrical design, component selection, validation, and production. The brand defines targets (price, efficiency, noise, warranty), but the OEM determines the core engineering quality.

Understanding this relationship explains why two PSUs with similar specs can perform very differently — and why the same brand can offer both excellent and mediocre units across different series.

The PSU OEM ecosystem in brief

• Several OEMs might have their HQs in Taiwan, but in essence, most factories are in other countries, including China, Vietnam, India, and even Thailand. There are, of course, factories in Taiwan that have seen a resurgence in production since the US tariffs on Chinese-made products went into effect, raising the prices of affected products.
• Most large brands use multiple OEMs, depending on product tier and cost targets.
• The Cybenetics certification database reveals the true manufacturer of most products.

At Hardware Busters, OEM identification is a key part of PSU analysis — because performance, protection behavior, and acoustic tuning all start at the platform level.

OEM/ODM → Brand Mapping (consumer PC power supplies)

Below is a concise overview of the major PSU OEMs shaping today’s market, from enthusiast-grade platforms to high-volume mainstream designs.

The Evidence field is a quantitative indicator showing how often a specific OEM/ODM appears across independent PSU datasets, after all name normalization and alias merging.

The Evidence value is built from two independent sources:

SPL PSU Tier List (Full List)

• Source: SPL’s PSU Tier List – Full List (with Limited Confidence Ratings)
• Granularity: Per-row
• Each row represents:
  • A PSU series or family
  • With an explicitly listed OEM / ODM
• Contribution: SPL count

📌 If the same OEM appears in 10 different PSU rows, it contributes SPL = 10.

Cybenetics OEM / ODM List

• Source: Cybenetics PSU database (OEM / ODM disclosures)
• Granularity: Per evaluated PSU
• Each entry represents:
  • A specific PSU model tested by Cybenetics
  • With an identified OEM (from teardown/part analysis)
• Contribution: CYB count

📌 If 7 different Cybenetics PSU reports list the same OEM, it contributes CYB = 7.

OEM vs ODM — what’s the difference (in PSU terms)?

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

An OEM designs and manufactures the product itself, then sells the design to a brand.

In practice (PSUs):

• Designs the electrical platform (topology, protections, component choices)
• Builds and assembles the PSU
• The retail brand mainly:
• Sets targets (wattage, efficiency, noise, price)
• Applies branding, packaging, warranty, and support

Example:
Seasonic designs and manufactures a PSU that Antec or another brand sells under its own name.

ODM (Original Design Manufacturer)

An ODM both designs and manufactures products, but the designs are usually customized or adapted specifically for the brand requesting them.

In practice (PSUs):

• Start from a reference or semi-custom platform
• The manufacturer adjusts the design to brand specs (cost, efficiency tier, features)
• Manufactures the PSU exclusively for that brand

The brand may influence:

• Component grades
• Protection tuning
• Cable layout
• Acoustics

Example:
A PSU built by CWT, Great Wall, or XWY, where the internal design is tailored specifically to Corsair, Lian Li, Montech, etc.

Why it’s safe (and correct) to use OEM and omit ODM in PSU discussions

In PSUs, OEMs almost always also act as ODMs

In theory:

• OEM = manufactures a product
• ODM = designs and manufactures a product for a brand

In practice, every serious PSU OEM designs the platform as well:

• Electrical topology
• Protection circuitry
• PCB layout
• Magnetics and thermal design

That means companies like CWT, Great Wall, Seasonic, Super Flower, XWY, RSY, and Zhong Yuan are both OEMs and ODMs. There is no meaningful separation.

So writing OEM already implies:

“This company designed and built the PSU platform.”

ODM is not a stable or verifiable label

For a reviewer or reader:

• You can prove the OEM (via teardown or Cybenetics).
• You cannot reliably prove ODM status without internal contracts.

Example:

• Corsair RMx series (CWT) → OEM is known
• Whether Corsair dictated 30% or 60% of the design? Not public

Using OEM is fact-based.
Using ODM is often speculative.

Hardware Busters rule of thumb

If a company designs and manufactures the PSU platform, we call it an OEM.

• No loss of accuracy.
• No hidden assumptions.
• No reader confusion.

In this article, the term OEM refers to the company responsible for the design and manufacture of a power supply platform. While distinctions such as ODM or joint-design arrangements may exist contractually, these details are rarely public and do not materially affect the technical evaluation of a PSU. For clarity and accuracy, Hardware Busters refers to all platform designers and manufacturers as OEMs.

Why OEM knowledge matters

Two PSUs with identical wattage and efficiency labels can behave very differently under load. Transient response, protection thresholds, fan control, and long-term reliability are all platform decisions made by the OEM.

That’s why Hardware Busters evaluations focus not only on:

• Efficiency and noise (Cybenetics),
• Electrical performance and protections,

but also on the platform origin and design philosophy.

Final takeaway

Brand reputation alone is not enough.
To understand a PSU’s real quality, you must know:

• Who designed it
• Which platform does it use
• How strictly it was specified and validated

Follow the OEM, and the rest usually makes sense.