If you're planning to build the baddest rig on the block, one that's so chock full of high-end components that you're afraid a single power supply won't do the trick, Phanteks has a possible solution. It's the Power Combo, a little plug-and-play card that serves as the in-between for two PSUs and your system components.
We can't imagine there are many setups that could use such a thing, especially in that type of scenario since there are PSU options above 1000W available for the home consumer. EVGA and others even offer 1600W models. The other selling point from the perspective of Phanteks is that you could run two less expensive power supplies rather than breaking the bank on a single, higher end PSU.
"A higher end power supply can cost a fortune, but the Power Combo is cost efficient and provides maximum power and efficiency. With the ability to combine two power supplies, the Power Combo can give you a higher maximum power output than all the power supplies in the market while still maintaining stability and performance," Phanteks claims.
The Power Combo is compatible with mini ITX, micro ATX, ATX, and Extended ATX motherboards. It features a redundant PSU architecture so that if one PSU fails, your system will keep running (assuming the single PSU has enough wattage).
It's an interesting concept, but can you really save money with this approach? That depends on which specific PSU models you're looking at. Here are a few examples:
- Corsair CX650M 650W: $50 (after mail-in-rebate) x 2 = $100
- Phanteks Power Combo: $45 (€39.90)
That's 1300W of power for $145. That's about the same as you can get a 1200W PSU on Newegg, though from a different brand (Rosewill). If you stick with Corsair, the least expensive 1200W model is the HX1200i at $219 (after MIR). At the same time, we're looking at two 80 Plus Bronze PSUs compared to a single 80 Plus Gold PSU, so there are other benefits to consider.
You also have to make sure you have somewhere to put two power supplies, as they're not going to fit in your typical mid-tower and even many full-tower cases aimed at gamers. But there are a few niche use cases where the Power Combo makes sense, and the redundancy option is interesting. Phanteks says the Power Combo will be available sometime this month.
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