Review

Cooler Master V1200 Platinum Power Supply Review

Cooler Master is one of my the favorite brands when it comes to enthusiast computer cabinets, power supplies and cooling solutions. And today we have the honor to review one of the best looking, best performing and lot of features packed PSU, the Cooler Master V1200 Platinum Power Supply unit. With a mind blowing 1200 watts of power handling capability, means more than enough power to handle your ultra high end gaming rigs with ease. The monstrous Cooler Master V1200 Platinum Power Supply, a fully modular power supply with a hybrid fan controller and 80+ Platinum certification. All that too for Rs.22K, nice price for a great product.

Now let's see what this Cooler Master V1200 PSU has for us.

Features

Fully Modular Cable System
Only use the cables you need, no unnecessary cable mess! Building a clean and tidy system with excellent airflow has never been this easy and convenient.

Hybrid Fan Controller
ON / OFF hybrid fan controller - Zero dBA fanless mode silent operation.

Tight Voltage regulation
V1200 manages to keep the +12V rail within ±1% at all times, even better than Digital PSU.The 12V rail is the most important part of a modern power supply. Both the CPU and graphics cards, the two most important and power hungry components in any computer, are powered by the 12V line. Voltage fluctuations can cause anything from high pitch noises, lowered CPU and VGA overclock capabilities, system instability or even damage components.

135mm FDB Fan Design

Thanks to an elaborate design with microscopic tolerances and a detailed channel design, the bearing core and inner case are constantly separated by a thin film of oil - meaning the two metal parts never actually touch. The channels on the bearing core act as a pump, constantly looping it back to the center, giving it no chance to leak. This results in extremely quiet operation and an extremely long life.

Low RPM, High Efficiency

High Grade Components

Erp LOT 6 Ready

Modular Cables

AC Input / DC Output

80 PLUS Platinum

• Fully modular cable design for easy installation and cable management
• 100% high quality Japanese electrolytic & solid capacitors ensure performance and reliability
• 135mm FDB silent fan default as hybrid mode, equipped with hybrid fan controller, easily switch mode (auto / hybrid) by the controller
• Zero dBA fanless mode silent operation
• 80 PLUS Platinum certified: up to 93% efficiency @ 50% load
• Powerful single +12V rail, capable of delivering up to 100A
• Excellent output voltage stability ensures total voltage regulation under 1% (even better than DSP)
• Twelve PCI-E 6+2pin connectors for 4 way SLI & high end solution builds
• 7-year extended warranty

Specifications

Cable Lengths

Package

Cooler Master V1200 comes in a box securely packaged with PSU graphics, Model name and features highlights on front and the back of the box.

Inside the box

Outer box contains a cardboard box includes V1200 within velvet drawstring bag, Module cables within a pouch, Power cable, cable-ties ,Cooler Master Hybrid Fan Controller adapter and Instructions manual

Looks

I really loved the overall looks and design of Cooler Master V1200 PSU. One of the best looking PSU I have came across.

Inside

Cooler Master's V1200 power supply is build using Seasonic's flagship platform for power supply design, the XP3. Cooler Master further tuned the platform by using high quality Japanese electrolytic bulk capacitors and a Dynamic Fluid Bearing fan for longer fan life and low noise.

Cooling of this PSU is handled by a Protechnic Electric 135mm Dynamic Fluid Bearing fan model no. MGA13512XF-025 (135 mm, 12 V, 0.38 A). FDB fans are best known for their long life and low noise.

Component Layout

1. Power Socket, Power Switch and first stage EMC /EMI transient filtering with one coils, one MOV, four Y caps and one X caps. All installed on a small PCB and ground shielded. Thick power cables is then connected with main board using high current handling connectors.

2. Second EMC /EMI transient filtering stage is on the main PCB and include two pairs of X and Y caps, two CM chokes, and an MOV. Beside it you see a thermistor and isolation relay to protect against large inrush current when mains AS is plugged into the PSU. This process is known as soft start.

3. Two bridge rectifiers B2560 in parallel on a heatsink. Each bridge is capable of handling 25A.

4. 6. The Main PFC converter uses three Infineon IPP60R125CP MOSFETS and a single SCS110AG boost PFC diode. Alongside there are three electrolytic bulk capacitors by Hitachi.

The original Seasonic's XP3 power supply platform used three identical Nippon Chemi-Con 390 µF/ 420v caps, whereas Cooler Master has used two Hitachi HU series 330 µF/ 420v and one 390 µF/ 420v caps in parallel giving total of 1050 µF of capacitance. Anyone with electronics background will straight know that here Cooler Master has done some serious work.

So changing the original specs and using two smaller value caps is cost cutting? NO WAY.. . this is the Cooler Masters flagship product no chance of quality compromise. Let me explain a little.

Every DC to DC converter needs certain amount of capacitance and equivalent series resistance (ESR) requirement to run on a particular load with specified efficiency. So same Seasonic's XP3 power supply platform also have some minimum/ maximum range of ESR value to meet in order to provide such a high load and efficiency. So by paralleling different valued capacitors Cooler Master has tried to reach closest of the ESR range, so that their users get the best performance from the product. Great job Cooler Master.

5. 7.Main switching is handled by four Infineon IPP50R199CP MOSFETs and a Champion CM6901 controller IC.

8. Main power transformer for 12 v and feedback and 5v stand-by transformer .

9. Second daughter board on right holds holds a Weltrend WT7257V supervisor IC and an AS393 dual-voltage comparator chip.

10. Two large heatsinks provide cooling for eight Fairchild FDMS015N04B MOSFET for 12v rails, surface mounted on the other side of the PCB. This 12v rail is further divided and filtered with array of coils and Nippon Chemi-Con capacitors.

11. Modular cable connector board hols +5v and +3.3 V DC to DC Convertor, each having three Infineon BSC0906NS MOSFETs and a common APW7159 PWM controller. PCB also have two coils and several polymer caps to improve ripple suppression.

Testing

Test system configuration -

Custom made DC Active dummy load PSU tester.

Load Test

To test the PSU on my Active load test, I have manually increased the load in Amps on 12v first rail, 12v second rail, 5v and 3.3v rail to simulate 100%, 80% 50% and 20% load. Since this PSU is having only single 12v rail, so divided the load in half on both 12v loads on my tester.

5V stand-by and -12V supply was left at a constant 0.5amp load throughout the test run.

Maximum theoretical load handling capacity of my tester is somewhat around 1500W, but due to MOSFETs safe operating area (SOA) characteristics and thermal load handling capacity of the heatsinks, this tester can handle Max 1300W.. For safety reasons I have also installed a thermal controller which turn OFF the attached PSU if temperature exceeds SOA specifications.

During test the tester turned OFF the PSU after approx 12 sec at 100% load.

Pros

• Modular cables
• Great Design
• 80PLUS Platinum
• High Quality fan and Japanese Caps
• 7 years warranty

Cons

• Little expensive than the same Seasonic's XP3 variant, but don't forget Cooler Master had incorporated some great research along with higher quality caps and fan.

Conclusion

Cooler Master V1200 PSU proven itself to be the flagship power supply from Cooler Master, satisfying enthusiasts and gamers with their SLI or Crossfire needs and full fills 1200W and 80PLUS Platinum specifications very well.

Cooler Master has invested great deal of time and research in customizing and fine tune the product, so that their users get the best performance from the Cooler Master V1200 PSU. Great job Cooler Master.

Finally Cooler Master V1200 PSU is one of the best and great priced 1200W 80PLUS Platinum PSU in the market and has all the credentials to be the first chose if you are going for a high end / gaming rig build.

Manufacturers Info

Thanks.

Comments