1000W-1200W Roundup: Five High-End PSUs
by Martin Kaffei on December 9, 2010 1:20 PM ESTCougar GX G1050
Cougar is a retail brand from HEC, and they sell some cases as well as many PSUs in EMEA. To export their products to the USA they started a marketing campaign a few months ago, which is why various tech sites have seen samples of late. AnandTech received their newest 80Plus Gold PSU from the GX-series (G for Gold). This series has PSUs rated at 600, 700, 800, 900 and 1050 watts; our test unit is the highest rated G1050 model. Cougar has two designs, one with a single transformer and two transistors, the other with two transformers (one switcher each) and an interleaved PFC; we will be looking at the latter.
In the GX G1050 box we find some mounting screws, cable ties, a power cord, a manual, and the modular connection cables. Besides the high efficiency, their robust case and special cable sleeving are the most interesting features. Moreoever Cougar told us that ripple and noise is low because of the CLC filtering; we'll test that claim shortly. The PSU case has a length of 18cm.
| Cables and Connectors | ||
| Fixed/Modular | Main | 24-pin 60cm |
| ATX12V/EPS12V | 8-pin 60cm + 4+4-pin 30cm + 4-pin 30cm | |
| PCIe | 6x 6/8-pin 50cm | |
| Peripheral | 4x SATA 50-95cm + 1x Molex 15cm / 4x SATA 50-95cm + 1x Molex 15cm / 4x SATA 60-110cm | |
| 3x Molex 50-95cm + Floppy adapter 15cm | ||
Two peripheral cables have SATA and Molex connectors; overall Cougar offers 12x SATA and 5x Molex. There is a very long cable with three different types of CPU connectors. This is good for just about any kind of mainboard, but three separate cables would be better. Most readers don't need more than one 4+4-pin connector and want to disconnect the other cables.
The GX fan has seven thin fan blades and comes from Power Logic, with the product number PLA14025S12M. It's a 140mm fan with a fluid dynamic bearing to provide increased longevity.
We have dismounted one part from the heatink on the secondary side to show more of the circuit. This Cougar design has DC-to-DC, synchronous rectifying, and more components than the smaller design used for the GX 600W. The main caps are from Japan while the other ones come from Teapo, a standard choice for HEC. There are many similarities to the AeroCool unit, largely because of the same EMI- and output-filtering. The rectifier bridge from Diodes Incorporated has its own heatsink and the wire cross-section of most cables is big.
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Marlin1975 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
How about more reviews on items that most would use, not a very small subset.I have a 600wat power supply and only bought that due to sale/coupon over the 500watt. My HTPC has a 380 etc...
Test the PS's that are lowwer priced but still 80% rated and see if they really hold up for most builders.
Minion4Hire - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
It has been a while since they did a large mid-range PSU roundup, but different people are in the market for different products.The thing is that the vast majority of mid-range power supplies ARE perfectly adequate for the vast majority of users in that market segment. Some are better, some are worse, but everything will generally come out okay. But if you're going to drop +$200 on a power supply it BETTER damn well perform! Of course if someone is looking to spend $20 on a 500W PSU for a gaming rig then they'll get what they're paying for.
Taft12 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
If modular is a requirement (and it should be for mid-range+) Seasonic M12II 520W or 620W is probably the best you can do in the $75-100 range.michaelheath - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Minion, Taft, those are good responses but don't really address Martin's point: Why would I, a reasonable enthusiast who has a quad core CPU, a decent single GPU, a hard drive or two and a DVD burner, really care about what's going on in the 1000w+ PSU market? Other than pure curiosity? I need a 550w power supply at worst, and I too would like to see more reviews reflect the need of the majority of users. This article was interesting, but it's ultimately useless for ~95% of the readers viewing it.MeanBruce - Friday, December 10, 2010 - link
Useless is right!AnandTech for SSDs and Smartphones and Applegear.
JonnyGuru.com for Power Supplies.
Tom Logan at Overclock3D for cases, cooling, and motherboards.
Experience is Everything!
Experience is Everything!
poohbear - Sunday, December 12, 2010 - link
Totally agree. Xmas is coming n we're all shopping, n they do a 1000wt psu review? This review is for da .01% of users out there, by da reviewers own admission, why even bother?Martin Kaffei - Monday, December 13, 2010 - link
3x 550http://www.anandtech.com/show/3985/three-550w-psus...
1x 460
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3962/seasonic-x460fl...
1x 380
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3902/antec-earthwatt...
1x 300
coming soon
RagingForces - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Thanks for the article. I am in the market for these type PSUs and am glad to see a roundup article. This is why I come to Anandtech :)Vicey - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
I'm surprised that the AX1200 by Corsair wasn't included as to be honest that is the only PSU in the 1200W range I'd consider buying.dajeepster - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
I'm surprised too... I have both the Corsair AX1200 and the OCZZ1000