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Tagan BZ 1300W PSU

Tagan delivers some impressive features in this 1300 watt powerhouse of a PSU. It is advertised as future proof and guaranteed to last, but does it deliver the full 1300 watts of advertised power under our test conditions?

Introduction

The Tagan brand in the US is one of the newer brands out there having only gained a direct US subsidiary from Maxpoint in 2006. Maxpoint and Tagan are far more familiar to our European based readers as Maxpoint and its subsidiaries are responsible for the distribution in Europe of a number of brands including Seasonic and Etasis along with their brands Tagan and Silverpower. Tagan and SilverPower are produced in conjunction with their partner OEM's (Topower or Impervio for Tagan and Enhance or Solytech depending on model for Silverpower). Previously, all of the Tagan units we have looked at have been sold through Newegg's former parent company, now subsidiary ABS but that arrangement seems to have come to an end. Those two previous units were split between very good in our tests for the lower powered BZ800 and just plain bad for the ITZ1300. So today's BZ 1300W leaves us with an interesting positioning as it is from the BZ.

Today’s Tagan power supply is actually built by longtime Tagan OEM provider Topower, though Tagan gets the UL certification for the unit. Topower has been a large supplier of PSUs under both their own label and through contract production for other brands since 1986. Topower can be found providing OEM services for a number of brands including various Tagan, BFG, Mushkin, ePower, and Spire products among a number of others. When new higher wattage power supplies start hitting the market, Topower units can usually be found among them. However, early to market isn't always a blessing. At times Topower units have struggled while others have been successful.

Turbo Piped at 80%

Previously, we have seen two Tagan power supplies both being co-branded and distributed by ABS. Of those two the ITZ1300 was not a good value while the BZ800 was a definite improvement. Today, we have an interesting unit to look at in the BZ 1300W as it comes in at the same power output level that the ITZ1300 did but it comes from the same line of units as the BZ800. As such, we are hopeful that this unit has taken more from the BZ line than the ITZ and can provide another good 1300 watt power supply for users to consider. Before moving on though, let's see what Tagan has to say about the BZ 1300W:

The Tagan BZ 1300-watt high performance power supply is an perfect combination of power and innovation. With greatest quality of material and components in PSUs, these PSUs come with the industry’s first six independent rails for optimum DC output. A “Turbo” switch mode automatically combines the six +12 rails into a single rail for uninterrupted stability. Patented “PipeRock” connectors ease installation and cable management. Tagan Silent Control Technology (TSCT) allows the unit to perform normal operations under 25dB. The Tagan BZ series PSUs are designed for extreme gamers looking for ultra performance, stability and aesthetic design. The anti-scratch black coating, an over voltage and over current protection, and a unique ground wire with gold pin to release electricity to avoid damage. The BZ1300 will outlast and outperform any other PSU in its class today.

The BZ1300 is tested to achieve over 80% efficiency. Its two 6 pin PCI-E 2.0 connectors, two 6+2pin PCI-E 2.0 connectors, 7 x Molex 4 pin connectors and 12 x SATA connectors provides for more than enough output for any current configurations with enough to spare for future builds. This PSU is not only future proof but guaranteed to last.

BZ1300 and the whole BZ series were carefully chosen to use the best quality of components and material to have the perfect build as a PSU. Which provides the best performance and stability also the usability to every user in the greatest experience.

Like both Tagan units before it, the BZ1300 has a list of catchy marketing speak and really nifty sounding features that could sell freezers to Eskimos. But does any of it really mean anything to the user? Certainly in those lists some very common features get cool names, and in the past these really cool names and sounding features have not stopped products from being cold as ice.

Moving on let’s see what we can expect when a user purchases the Tagan BZ 1300W supply in retail in terms of documentation, accessories, cable count, rail layout, output characteristics, and general build quality.