1000W-1200W Roundup: Five High-End PSUs
by Martin Kaffei on December 9, 2010 1:20 PM ESTCooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200W
The 16cm long Silent Pro Gold is Cooler Master's latest creation. The package comes with flat modular cables with gold colored connectors, a manual, some screws, and a power cord. Cooler Master told us that there are some special technical features like the transformer core mounted to the heatsink. They have reduced some power loss from terminal pads because many components have direct contacts. Cooler Master offers a 5-year warranty.
| Cables and Connectors | ||
| Fixed/Modular | Main | 24-pin 50cm |
| ATX12V/EPS12V | 4+4-pin 60cm / 4+4-pin 60cm | |
| PCIe | 4x 6/8-pin 60cm + 6-pin 10cm | |
| Peripheral | 3x SATA 50-70cm / 3x SATA 50-70cm / 3x SATA 50-70cm | |
| 2x Molex 50-60cm /2x 50-60cm + Floppy adapter 15cm | ||
The two 8-pin CPU connectors and eight PCIe connectors are satisfying. However, the peripheral cables are very short and there are only four Molex connectors for fans and other peripherals. This is not the best solutions for large cases, but it's good enough for triple-SLI and quad-CrossFire setups.
The 135mm fan from Young Lin, model number DFS132512H, is the same one like in the AeroCool V12XT--not very silent nor professional. It's a typical sleeve bearing type spinning at up to 1800RPM with eleven fan blades.
On the right side you can see both DC-to-DC VRMs. This PSU has two main caps from Nippon Chemi-Con, a very small transformer, and a clean soldered cable management PCB. The L-shaped heatsinks should help to increase airflow. Cooler Master has no real single rail for +12V and OCP to protect their multi rail design. The active PFC circuit allows Cooler Master to sell and use this power supply in countries with 90-264VAC input voltage. The placement of parts near the power inlet seems to be very chaotic.
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Marlin1975 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
How about more reviews on items that most would use, not a very small subset.I have a 600wat power supply and only bought that due to sale/coupon over the 500watt. My HTPC has a 380 etc...
Test the PS's that are lowwer priced but still 80% rated and see if they really hold up for most builders.
Minion4Hire - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
It has been a while since they did a large mid-range PSU roundup, but different people are in the market for different products.The thing is that the vast majority of mid-range power supplies ARE perfectly adequate for the vast majority of users in that market segment. Some are better, some are worse, but everything will generally come out okay. But if you're going to drop +$200 on a power supply it BETTER damn well perform! Of course if someone is looking to spend $20 on a 500W PSU for a gaming rig then they'll get what they're paying for.
Taft12 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
If modular is a requirement (and it should be for mid-range+) Seasonic M12II 520W or 620W is probably the best you can do in the $75-100 range.michaelheath - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Minion, Taft, those are good responses but don't really address Martin's point: Why would I, a reasonable enthusiast who has a quad core CPU, a decent single GPU, a hard drive or two and a DVD burner, really care about what's going on in the 1000w+ PSU market? Other than pure curiosity? I need a 550w power supply at worst, and I too would like to see more reviews reflect the need of the majority of users. This article was interesting, but it's ultimately useless for ~95% of the readers viewing it.MeanBruce - Friday, December 10, 2010 - link
Useless is right!AnandTech for SSDs and Smartphones and Applegear.
JonnyGuru.com for Power Supplies.
Tom Logan at Overclock3D for cases, cooling, and motherboards.
Experience is Everything!
Experience is Everything!
poohbear - Sunday, December 12, 2010 - link
Totally agree. Xmas is coming n we're all shopping, n they do a 1000wt psu review? This review is for da .01% of users out there, by da reviewers own admission, why even bother?Martin Kaffei - Monday, December 13, 2010 - link
3x 550http://www.anandtech.com/show/3985/three-550w-psus...
1x 460
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3962/seasonic-x460fl...
1x 380
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3902/antec-earthwatt...
1x 300
coming soon
RagingForces - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Thanks for the article. I am in the market for these type PSUs and am glad to see a roundup article. This is why I come to Anandtech :)Vicey - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
I'm surprised that the AX1200 by Corsair wasn't included as to be honest that is the only PSU in the 1200W range I'd consider buying.dajeepster - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
I'm surprised too... I have both the Corsair AX1200 and the OCZZ1000