At least, it sure looks like it.
- The cable attachments on the first one are funky circular metal things with screw locks and pointlessly pretty LED's surrounding them, and rubber endcaps for unused ones; the PipeRock II instead has boring and cheap looking plastic connectors.
- PipeRock I has selectable combined/separate rails via a switch on the back, and has a nice fat power switch you can't miss, II just has a titchy power switch that'll be more awkward to find.
- PipeRock I came in a fabric bag, with another bag for storing the cables. PipeRock II comes in a plastic bag with the cables already attached.
- PipeRock I came with a rubber endcap to dull vibration, PipeRock II comes with nothing, and you can't use one because it lacks a fucking earthing cable. Woe be to you if your case insulates your PSU by itself.
- PipeRock I came with gloves, a chunky sticker, and an 45 page A5 manual with a textured facade and 8 languages. PipeRock II comes with a 21 page A6 manual in 4 languages and no texture.
- PipeRock II is an inch deeper than PipeRock I. Good thing I got a deep case.
I can take this any of two ways:
- Tagan care about quality of the PSU, the insides are great and well worth the £115, and while it may feel cheaper, they're more practical (those screw locks were bit of a pain, after all, and they made the cables awkwardly rigid, even if they look better).
- Tagan are in oh-my-fucking-god-we're-running-out-of-money mode, cutting back on perks and on quality.
Hmmm, which one is more likely, I wonder.