Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/8728/cooler-master-v1200-platinum-power-supply-review



Introduction

Even though 1200 Watts is ludicrously excessive for the typical modern PC, such PSUs are necessary for very advanced or application-specific systems, such as quad-SLI gaming computers and cryptocurrency mining rigs. The market for such equipment is small and very demanding, but succeeding at the top can also affect the reputation of the manufacturer, increasing the sales of their mainstream equipment. This desire to have the best halo product results in strong competition between manufacturers, and it also moves the industry forward as the new technologies developed at the top eventually make their way into mainstream offerings. We had a look at FSP's and Seasonic's offerings, the Aurum PT 1200W and the Seasonic's SS-1200XP3 respectively, a few weeks ago. Today we are reviewing Cooler Master's contender for the 1200W PSU market, the V1200 Platinum.

The main difference between FSP/Seasonic and Cooler Master is that the former are ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers) -- they design, manufacture, and sell their own products. Cooler Master on the other hand has no such capability; their products are generally based on someone else's design (with tweaks and component choices made by Cooler Master), and this ODM also undertakes their manufacturing. This includes the V1200 Platinum, which the company hopes will compete in the top segments of the PSU market.

As its name suggests, the V1200 Platinum is an 80 Plus Platinum certified power supply capable of 1200W of continuous output. However, any advanced user knows that these figures alone mean little regarding the actual quality and performance of a PSU. We are going to closely examine the efficiency, power quality, and thermal performance of the Cooler Master V1200 Platinum in this review and, more importantly, see where it stands in relation to the competition.

Power specifications ( Rated @ 50 °C )
AC INPUT 100 - 240 VAC, 50 - 60 Hz
RAIL +3.3V +5V +12V +5Vsb -12V
MAX OUTPUT 25A 25A 100A 3A 0.5A
125W 1200W 15W 6W
TOTAL 1200W

Packaging and Bundle

The packaging of the V1200 Platinum is simple and effective, with a serious, professional artwork theme. The front of the box notes only the most important features of the unit, but more information can be found on the sides and rear of the box. On the back of the box Cooler Master claims that this unit can save you over $450 compared to an 80 Plus Bronze equivalent -- if you have a 1000W system at maximum load powered on 24/7 for five years, that is.

The bundle of the V1200 Platinum is very minimalistic for a top tier product. Cooler Master only supplies the fan profile switch bracket, a few cable ties, and four black screws. There are no cable straps, thumbscrews, or even stickers to be found. Not that this generally matters, as most users looking at buying a top tier PSU typically have plenty of extra thumbscrews around, but it is a bit barebones.

The modular cables are supplied in two separate nylon bags. All of the cables and wires are black and, with the exception of the sleeved ATX cable, all made using ribbon-like "flat" wires. The cables are packed using wire ties, meaning that there are no cable straps to be found here either.



External Appearance

The Cooler Master V1200 Platinum sports an aesthetically pleasing yet not extravagant design. Experienced eyes will recognize the ODM of this unit by its external appearance alone, even though it is not exactly the same as the original design. Parallel line engravings and the model logo decorate the sides of the black chassis, applied so that they will appear properly from a windowed side panel, regardless if the unit has been installed with the fan facing upwards or downwards. The typical fan guard has been replaced with a grey plate forming a honeycomb mesh and with the company badge over the fan motor. Cooler Master placed the sticker with the electrical specifications of the unit at the top side of the chassis.

The rear side of the chassis is as usual relatively uninteresting, with a typical C14 receptacle next to an oversized switch. The front side however is littered with the numerous connectors for the modular cables. The PCI Express and CPU connectors are in line across the edge of the unit, but the connectors are keyed and there is no risk of inserting a cable into the wrong connector. There also is a small connector for the hybrid fan switch, which goes to the bracket that can occupy an expansion slot of the case.

Internal Design

Cooler Master installed a high speed 135mm fan from Protechnic Electric inside the V1200 Platinum. It is a high quality fan with a dual ball bearing engine and a maximum speed of 2300RPM. The company reports a maximum airflow of 115.8CFM, which is close to the airflow that our instrumentation displayed, as we measured it at 109.4CFM.

If the external design of the Cooler Master V1200 Platinum was not enough of a hint regarding the OEM behind it, the removal of its cover instantly reveals that this is a Seasonic XP3 platform, the same platform Seasonic used to create the Platinum SS-1200XP3. Cooler Master did not perform any notable changes on the design of the unit, with the exception of the Active PFC capacitors. There are two 330μF capacitors and one 390μF capacitor supplied by Hitachi in the V1200 Platinum, where Seasonic had three 390μF capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con installed. All of the secondary capacitors however, electrolytic and solid-state alike, are still supplied by Nippon Chemi-Con.

The filtering stage begins on a shielded PCB attached to the back of the AC receptacle and continues on the main PCB. There are six Y capacitors, four X capacitors, and three filtering inductors inside the V1200 Platinum, forming a very strong AC filtering stage. It has two primary rectifying bridges attached on a sizable heatsink, right before the large APFC inductor.

The active components of the PFC stage, one diode and three FETs, are attached to the larger heatsink near the edge of the PCB. The smaller heatsink near the center of the unit cools the four transistors that form a full-bridge primary inversion stage. Two square heatsinks cool the active components of the secondary conversion stage, which are not directly attached to the heatsinks but are on the rear of the main PCB instead.

As the Cooler Master V1200 Platinum is manufactured by Seasonic, it shares the exceptional design and soldering quality as the SS-1200XP3 as well. Cooler Master also kept the very high quality passive and active components. However, the V1200 Platinum also shares the messy assembly job that we encountered in our review of the SS-1200XP3­­­. It is not a bad assembly job, but it is not up to the standards that Seasonic has us used to. There are cables pressing against components and many electrolytic capacitors appear to have received mechanical force after they have been soldered on the board, tilting them left and right, while the glue appears to have been spilt carelessly and purposelessly, as there are spots where it does not even touch the components it is supposed to.



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.



Hot Test Results

As shown in the following tables, the Cooler Master V1200 Platinum offers excellent power output quality. Our instrumentation recorded a maximum ripple of 38mV on the 12V line under maximum load, which is no small feat for a line supplying over 85 Amperes. The severe cross-loading of the voltage lines has little effect on the output stability, and it hardly affects the voltage lines any different than a very heavy balanced load. It also displays excellent voltage regulation, at 0.75%, 0.8% and 1.0% for the 3.3V, 5V and 12V line respectively.

Main Output
Load (Watts) 242.22 W 604.62 W 903.35 W 1199.57 W
Load (Percent) 20.18% 50.39% 75.28% 99.96%
Line Amperes Volts Amperes Volts Amperes Volts Amperes Volts
3.3 V 4.26 3.35 10.66 3.34 15.99 3.33 21.31 3.32
5 V 4.26 5.08 10.66 5.07 15.99 5.06 21.31 5.04
12 V 17.05 12.1 42.63 12.08 63.94 12.03 85.26 11.98

 

Line Regulation
(20% to 100% load)
Voltage Ripple (mV)
20% Load 50% Load 75% Load 100% Load CL1
12V
CL2
3.3V + 5V
3.3V 0.75% 12 16 18 20 14 22
5V 0.8% 16 18 20 24 14 26
12V 1% 12 22 30 38 34 18

High ambient temperatures have little impact on the performance of the Cooler Master V1200 Platinum, even smaller than that of the almost identical SS-1200XP3. The average nominal load (20-100%) efficiency drops to 93.0% and the maximum efficiency is 94.1% at 50% load. Technically, this unit would maintain its 80 Plus Platinum certification even if the test took place with an ambient temperature of >45°C. (Note that the 80 Plus certification tests take place with an ambient temperature of 25°C.)

As expected, the cooling system maintains a similar profile with the PSU inside the hot box -- the higher ambient temperatures just make it even more aggressive. The fan once again starts at 20% load, but the speed of the fan is now rapidly increasing as soon as the load increases any further. Even at 50% load, our instrumentation was reading over 44dB(A), a sound pressure level that would surely be rated as uncomfortable by the vast majority of consumers. If the load is over 800 Watts for prolonged periods of time, the sound pressure level goes over 50dB(A), creating a hostile environment for any typical consumer/commercial users.



Conclusion

Being the most powerful and advanced unit that Cooler Master currently offers, the V1200 Platinum has clearly been developed to be the company's pinnacle power supply. A 1200W 80 Plus Platinum certified unit is a good selection for a top-tier product nowadays, as more powerful 80 Plus Titanium certified units are either too pricey or come with special requirements (e.g. specific cases or higher amperage household plugs). There is very limited market potential for such units, so their sales are a mere fraction of the overall income that Cooler Master will receive from their entire PSU division. Nevertheless, their influence on the reputation of the manufacturer is very significant, which is probably why Cooler Master chose one of the most reputable OEMs for their forerunner product, Seasonic.

Although the performance of the V1200 Platinum looks outstanding, it actually would be problematic for a rather large number of users. On one hand, the V1200 Platinum has excellent energy conversion efficiency and outstanding power quality output, as well as very low operating temperatures. Due to the behavior of its cooling system however, the V1200 Platinum tends to become very loud when heavily loaded for prolonged periods. This makes it virtually unsuitable for users with very advanced gaming systems that try to keep them as quiet as possible, as the V1200 Platinum will greatly contribute to the overall noise of the already numerous coolers and fans present in such a system (or it will generate a significant amount of noise on its own with a quiet water-cooled rig).

Ironically, the V1200 Platinum is entirely silent when the load is low, making it a very good (and overpriced) choice for a less powerful gaming system that will not draw over 800 Watts. On the other hand, the high quality and low operating temperatures make it ideal for use in systems and environments where acoustic comfort is not a major concern, such as for servers or cryptocurrency mining.

In conclusion, the Cooler Master V1200 Platinum offers great quality, excellent electrical performance and very low running temperatures for advanced users that do not mind the elevated sound pressure levels at high power draw. The modular design adds to its value, as does the outlandish seven-year warranty. There is just one problem - the retail price. The V1200 Platinum can be currently found retailing for about $300. This is not terribly high for a 1200W 80 Plus Platinum certified product, but the nearly identical Seasonic SS-1200XP3 retails for $240.

Cooler Master's minor modifications, the most important of which appears to be the transfer of the fan cooling profile switch to an expansion slot bracket, hardly justify such a price difference. If the price of the V1200 Platinum drops, it could be a good choice for systems that require a lot of power and operate under harsh conditions, as well as for gamers and professionals that do not prioritize low-noise operation over reliability and power quality. Right now, it has the unenviable job of going up against the ODM's own product that has essentially equal performance at a much lower price.

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