X-bit labs

Ten Kilowatts of Power: 1000W+ PSU Roundup (page 17)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 01/18/2008 | 09:40 AM ]

Conclusion

The manufacturers are getting ever higher with their PSUs, reaching the 1500W milestone already. I still cannot grasp the purpose of such a large reserve of power – because even a very top-end gaming configuration needs only half as much at best – but 1000W power supplies have in fact become ordinary products while the manufacturers are rushing towards new goals.

Alas, not all of them reach the goals they set. There are four PSUs in this review (grouped in pairs according to the same platform) with wattage ratings much higher than 1000W, two from Tagan and two from Thermaltake, but none of them would be a very good purchase as they have high price, noisy fans, too-high output voltage ripple, and (the Thermaltake models) not very good stability of the output voltages.

The 1010W FSP Epsilon is no good, either. My earlier tests indicated that this platform was only good for 400-500W models and not higher. The Epsilon 1010 proves the point: high voltage ripple, a noisy fan, and very unstable voltages. All of this makes it impossible for me to write a positive review of it.

So if you do want a 1000W power supply, you should consider the models from Antec and Enermax as well as from Floston and Ultra Products, but I want to note that none of them has proved to be better overall than the Cooler Master Real Power Pro (tested in my previous review) that boasted stable operation at a surprisingly low (for such a high wattage) level of noise.