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.