Cooler Master V1200 Platinum Power Supply Review
by E. Fylladitakis on November 21, 2014 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Seasonic
- 1200W
- Cooler Master
Cold Test Results
For the testing of PSUs, we use 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.
The Cooler Master V1200 Platinum performs very well at room temperature, with its efficiency peaking at 94.5% at 50% load. The average energy conversion efficiency within the nominal load range (20% to 100% of the unit's capacity) is 93.4%. As with all switching PSUs, the efficiency of the V1200 Platinum takes a dive at very low loads, dropping down to 79.6% with a load of just 60 Watts. The energy conversion efficiency climbs at such an extraordinary rate as the load increases that the energy losses do not increase at all within the 60 to 120 Watts output range.
Following the same pattern as Seasonic, Cooler Master optimized the V1200 Platinum for maximum reliability and low operating temperatures, sacrificing the acoustic performance of the unit. With the fan in Hybrid mode and with an ambient temperature of 25°C, the fan starts at just 20% load and its speed quickly climbs up as the load increases. Although the noise is endurable up to 40-50% load, the fan speeds up so much after that point that the noise output is already beyond typical tolerable levels. If the V1200 Platinum is running at nearly maximum load for a prolonged period of time (a few minutes or more), then the noise output goes above 52dB(A), an unreasonably high figure for typical consumer use.
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refin3d - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
No, users with a <800W system would be better off going with a different PSU that is semi-fanless. As stated in the review even at 800w the sound level is 50db, dropping 600w which would be near typical you get about 44db. You would be better off getting a model such as the corsair hx1000i whose fan doesnt even spin below 500w, and costs $60 less. Hell, you dont even need a 1kw PSU for most builds that arent sli or cfx, you could even get a 800 watter that is semi-fanless and you'd be better off, in price and performanceFriendlyUser - Saturday, November 22, 2014 - link
Great review, as usual. I would really like to see more reviews of units in the 700-800W sweet-spot. You can already imagine SLI/Crossfire and some decent overclocking in that range. Situations that require anything over 1000W are less frequent, even in tech sites like this one.Pork@III - Saturday, November 22, 2014 - link
Too noisy. Bad work!Valantar - Saturday, November 22, 2014 - link
It's fascinating to see reviews of these massive PSUs, but personally I'd be more interested in seeing reviews of lower powered units as well - exactly to see how the mentioned high end features trickle down. Also, with the launch of Maxwell 2, it seems to me that low powered PSUs would be more relevant than previously - a GTX 970 should be able to run off a 400W (or even smaller!) PSU. How about a round-up of ~450W units?The Von Matrices - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link
For the people wondering about the who uses these huge power supplies, one large market for these >1000W power supplies is Bitcoin/Altcoin ASICs. Many of the boxes require 90A on the 12V rail, all supplied through the PCIe connectors.The Von Matrices - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link
Also worth mentioning that people with ASICs have noise as one of their lowest priorities since the ASICs themselves generate 70-80dB.NithinJoji - Monday, November 24, 2014 - link
Found something amazing (400W PSU with TITANIUM Certification!!!!!!!!)http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/psu_reports/FSP%2...