The Andyson Platinum R 1200W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on April 24, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- 1200W
- 80Plus Platinum
- Andyson
Cold Test Results
For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox and various other bits and parts. For a thorough explanation of our testing methodology and more details on our equipment, please refer to our How We Test PSUs - 2014 Pipeline post.
Note: As the Andyson Platinum R 1200W cannot follow the test protocol guidelines without overloading its 3.3V/5V lines, the load derating factor DV of these two lines is being reduced to 50%. To explain why, we will be putting up a pipeline post shortly to explain the matter, as it applies to several other units.
Even if its low load efficiency is not much to look at, the Andyson Platinum R 1200W meets the 80Plus Platinum certification requirements with ease. It manages a maximum conversion efficiency of 94.2% at 40% load and an average of 92.8% within the nominal load range (20% to 100% of the unit's capacity). When the load is reduced below 20%, the efficiency plummets, dropping to 81.7% at 10% load and further down to just 74.7% at 5% load. This was to be expected, as this is how SMPS PSUs operate. A 5% of a unit this powerful corresponds to an output of 60W, ample to power a modern system while it is idling, so higher low-load efficiency would be more than welcome.
Due to the very high efficiency and the presence of adequately sized heatsinks, the Andyson Platinum R 1200W maintains very low internal temperatures without overworking its cooling fan. The temperature of the heatsinks barely surpassed 65°C under maximum load, when 100 Amperes were flowing from the transformer to the distribution PCB. The cooling fan displays a "stepping" behavior, staying entirely quiet up to 40% load and then stepping up each time that the load increases. Even with a load of 1kW, the noise levels are tolerable for daily use, with the fan pushing the borders of comfort only at maximum load.
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TurboTastic - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
80 Plus isn't marketing if you're paying the electric bill!DanNeely - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
At the 10-15 cent per kWh electric rates common in most of the US the price premium for a platinum PSU only pays off over a gold one if you're running 24/7 at full load; and even that takes several years. If you only game a few hours/day and leave your PC at idle/off the rest of the time you might as well go with a sanely sized cheaper one. If you're unfortunate enough to be paying several times that then even casual gaming will push the payback period to a reasonablish timeframe.Laststop311 - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
Unless you want your PSU operating in its fanless mode as the high end semi fanless psu's dont kick then fan on till around 30% load. 30% of 1500 is 450 watts of fanless operation while a 500 watt supply only has 150 watts of fanless operation. Some people care about noise.CrazyElf - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
80 PLUS actually means very little for real world efficiency. They usually send their best units to ECOS. It's real world efficiency that counts under load and often the ones with the stickers are overrated.As far as the costs - it's only a few dollars per year because we're talking single digits. The purchase price vastly overshadows that. I'd go with voltage, ripple, and reliability any day over advertised efficiency.
meacupla - Sunday, April 26, 2015 - link
I haven't really seen any 80+ Bronze or higher PSU suffer from voltage, ripple or reliability issues.Usually the makers skimp on the fan first.
I prefer 80+ Gold/Platinum, because I can count on makers to stuff the very best they have into those units, which means happy ears and reliability.
TurboTastic - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Also, the efficiency is directly correlated to the heat produced by the PSU, and that is inversely related to both the quietness and the speed of your computer, which are qualities everyone cares about.der - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
A Wise man once said: "A Great gaming computer comes with a great Power Supply/PSU".etamin - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
I only click on these PSU reviews to read the comments about irrelevantly powerful PSUs. Maybe AT will listen eventually. But the sponsors are to blame as well...I would think a review on lower wattage units would have greater impact on sales.Mickatroid - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
LOL, I am here for the comments too. The claws are out, loving it.Laststop311 - Saturday, April 25, 2015 - link
I've been waiting for a nice 600-800 watt 80+ titanium unit to come out.There are some good reasons to get larger power supplies now that they have semi fanless mode. Now most psu's have no fan mode that works up to about 30% of the PSU's output. So if you have a 1000 watt unit you can draw up to 300 watts before the fans need to kick on. Almost all single GPU systems nowadays stay under 300 watts at most normal loads. Sure you could just get a 500 watt PSU but the fans come on at 150 watts or more so you end up with more fan noise. Surely an i7-7960x 8 core skylake overclocked to the maximum efficient overclock of 4.2ghz (if the oc power response curve is the same as haswell after 4.2ghz on the 8 core power use rises sharply 14nm could possibly make it 4.3 or 4.4ghz before power use risies sharply) and a nice EVGA classified GTX 980ti will only draw 250-280 watts on most normal workloads and gaming and someone that is an absolute freak about having the quietest powerful pc possible will want a 80+ plat or even titanium 1kw unit to make sure their psu rarely spins up a fan.
I will be sparing no expense on my skylake-e build and will be picking every component with noise as a top priority as my pc is in my bedroom and I am looking for a 1kw or higher 80+ titanium unit. Currently I think 1500 watt is the lowest titanium available which gives you 450 watts of fanless operation. I will be going all air cooled as I prefer the dead silence of noctua fans over the hum of water pumps. I go the route of maximizing case fans in every available spot usually like 12 fans which allows you to use the ULNA adapters to keep the max PWM speed below audible levels and the sheer huge quantity of them makes up for the loss of airflow from reduced rpm's. It's less efficient money wise but with all the right parts picked the only time the pc can be remotely heard is when gaming and the graphics card kick on tho even this noise can be drastically reduced with a triple slot artic accelro extreme IV with the front and back heatspreaders and 3 front fans and 2 rear fans and the best performing liquid metal ultra tim applied to it.
Since it will have been 6.5 years since I built a PC I am able to spend way more money than usual when I'm building a PC as I got a nice little egg saved. And I think a lot of people will be in similar situations because of how slow CPU performance upgrades have been. And for people like us going to these extreme lengths for top performing quiet PC's we need the huge unites so we can stay in fanless mode.