Cooler Master Announces a $1K PSU, The MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ
The project lasted for quite long and its main purpose was to build the best PSU ever. Today the wait is finally over since CM announced the MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ, a PSU which was designed and manufactured in Japan by Murata Manufacturing.
Cooler Master spent years on the MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ. At first the project was supposed to result in a fully digital PSU, but when the company showed off the almost-finished platform at CES in January, it revealed that its goals had changed. Despite our initial disappointment--we're big on digital platforms--we decided to wait and see how the platform performed. Two of the best PSU OEMs, Seasonic and Super Flower, still haven't released a digital platform, after all, and instead continue to use the more affordable and reliable analog platforms.
For the MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ (Made In Japan) Cooler Master decided to cooperate with a new name in this field, Murata Manufacturing, a giant company that designs, manufacturers, and supplies in large quantities advanced electronic materials and various electronic components in general. Murata was already into the AC-DC power supply market, however it previously only manufactured server type, open frame, LED lighting power modules and enclosed front-end PSUs. This is the first time Murata designed and built a normal desktop PSU, and we're anxious to see the final result. We just hope that this won't be a single effort and Murata will enter the desktop PSU market with more models, and cooperate with more companies in the future. Needless to say that the more PSU OEMs, the more choices companies will have, and the increased competition might also push down prices. (Although in Murata's case the offered prices seem to be really high, judging by the huge price tag that its first desktop PSU carries.)
Rail | 3.3V | 5V | 12V | 5VSB | -12V | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Max. Power | Amps | 25 | 25 | 100 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
Watts | 130 | 1200 | 17.5 | 6 | ||
Total Max. Power (W) | 1200 |
According to Cooler Master, over 160,000 hours were spent with 40 Murata engineers to create this PSU. This shows how large this product was and with 40 engineers devoted on the design of a single PSU, we expect the result to be flawless. What we cannot understand, still, is why the final project didn't follow the digital path but ended up using an analog platform in the end. For us digital is the only way to create a really future-proof PSU, leaving analog platforms for the vintage lovers. We may sound harsh, but the king of our charts is still the several-year-old Corsair AX1500i, which is based on a second-generation fully digital platform made by Flextronics.
Model | MPZ-C002-AFBAT |
---|---|
Max. DC Output | 1200W |
PFC | Active PFC |
Efficiency | 80 Plus Titanium |
Modular | Yes (fully) |
Intel C6/C7 Power State Support | ✓ |
Operating temperature | 0°C ~ 50°C |
Protections | Over Voltage Protection Under Voltage Protection Over Current Protection Short Circuit Protection Over Temperature Protection Over Power Protection |
Cooling | 135 mm Silencio FP Fan |
Semi-passive operation | ✓ |
Dimensions | 150mm (W) x 86mm (H) x 224mm (D) |
Number of Connectors | EPS: 2 PCIe: 12 SATA: 16 4-Pin Molex: 12 FDD: 1 |
Compliance | ATX12V v2.4, EPS 2.92 |
Warranty | 10 years |
Price at time of review (excl. VAT) | $999 |
The MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ's number of available PCIe and SATA connectors is very high. The same goes for the 4-Pin Molex ones. Another thing worth noticing in the table above is the unit's extended depth, which reaches 224mm. With such large dimensions you'll need a full-tower chassis for this PSU: With 1.2kW capacity it would be pointless to install this unit in a small chassis, powering only a few components instead of 3-4x graphics cards along with a dozen HDDs and other devices.
The MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ naturally uses many Murata-made components, which offer increased reliability as well as high performance. Cooler Master said that many of those components are rated to operate at up to 150°C temperatures. This may sound impressive, but the truth is that such high temperature tolerant components are used in all quality PSUs. A major difference with this unit, however, is the special Murata-designed planar transformer, which means with a first look this PSU's platform seems completely different to the ones we've encountered before.
This by far is the most expensive desktop PSU to date, with a retail price of $999 or 999€ in the EU market. It will be available worldwide this month, according to Cooler Master. In a snap, this product's highlights are:
- 80 PLUS Titanium efficiency
- Fanless operation up to 600W load
- 80% Japanese components (with 20 components being special designed by Murata especially for this platform)
- 10-year transferable warranty
- Fully modular cable design
We have a MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ which will meet our load testers in the following days. We plan to push it really hard, because simply there's no room for downsides in a $1,000 PSU.
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Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
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WRXSTIGuy I don't like products like these because it will give an excuse to other manufacturers to follow suit. Next thing you know, a decent 1000W power supply now costs $500+. This happened in the digital audio player market. About 10 years ago a good sounding digital player cost $300 and was the flagship product. Now the flagship product from the same company is $1600.Reply -
dstarr3 Now that 3- and 4-way SLI is on the way out, how many people are really going to need 1200W PSUs anymore?Reply -
jaber2 I can't wait to be the first one in my neighborhood to have one of these babies, we're gona be roasting some marshmallows on them, woooweeReply -
JackNaylorPE The big unanswered question is why one would spend $800 more as compared to getting a Seasonic prime series with 12 year warranty.Reply
But, as far as the marshmellows go, if ya wanna toast something you'd wanna avoid a high efficiency PSU as, by their very nature, they give off less heat :) -
bignastyid Wow. That's 5x what I payed for my AX1200i. Maybe it's just me but the only market I see for this are the people who light money on fire for fun.Reply -
Kilowatt_is_worth_it I base my needs not just on raw required watts, but on longevity, silence and efficiency. If a PSU isn't "pushed" by it's usage, it should last longer. If it generates less heat, it's wasting less power, and creates less cooling-induced noice. Lower capacity PSUs tend to be made cheaper, and their components' capacity and tolerances are stretched a little more.Reply
- Lower efficiency = more heat
- More heat = more fan noise.
- More heat = Compounded loss of efficiency by electrical resistance increase, and powering of active cooling device.
- Less fan usage = Less bearing wear
- Less fan usage = less noise increase with age.
- Less fan usage = Less dust and micro contaminant buildup
I stronly believe that a quality kilowatt PSU around 250~350$ is well worth the investement on many fronts. It's not just about wattage and amperage. -
turkey3_scratch Jonnyguru review http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=508Reply
Highest build quality OklahmomaWolf has ever seen. So that's what you get for $1000 - the best build quality of any PSU. In this case it's not about the price it's about someone who wants the best built PSU.
19395149 said:- Less fan usage = Less dust and micro contaminant buildup
Not entirely sure about this last one. For exmaple, intake fans on a desktop puts positive air pressure inside and pushes out the dust. The intake fan on a PSU likely does the same. Exhaust fans are what cause dust, the intake fans help prevent dust. -
dstarr3 19395149 said:I base my needs not just on raw required watts, but on longevity, silence and efficiency. If a PSU isn't "pushed" by it's usage, it should last longer. If it generates less heat, it's wasting less power, and creates less cooling-induced noice. Lower capacity PSUs tend to be made cheaper, and their components' capacity and tolerances are stretched a little more.
- Lower efficiency = more heat
- More heat = more fan noise.
- More heat = Compounded loss of efficiency by electrical resistance increase, and powering of active cooling device.
- Less fan usage = Less bearing wear
- Less fan usage = less noise increase with age.
- Less fan usage = Less dust and micro contaminant buildup
I stronly believe that a quality kilowatt PSU around 250~350$ is well worth the investement on many fronts. It's not just about wattage and amperage.
A PSU's efficiency isn't just a constant number, it fluctuates based on load, and it's rated based on peak efficiency. Which is to say, PSUs have different efficiencies at different loads. Typically a PSU's peak efficiency is around 60-80% load. If you buy an overkill PSU, just because you're only using 20% of a PSUs total output doesn't mean you're being any more efficient. You're most likely wasting power (and money) by doing so. If your system draws 300W of power, a 450W PSU in all likelihood delivers that power more efficiently than a 1200W PSU, even if both those PSUs have the same efficiency rating.
It is a shame that lower-wattage PSUs tend to be much less well-built, but that is changing lately as SuperFlower and SeaSonic are releasing more PSUs in the 300-400W range. But anyway, my main point is that buying a PSU that's four times the power you need doesn't mean you're getting any more efficiency out of it, and in fact you're likely getting less. And the best PSU to buy is one that delivers only as much power as your system needs, not one that delivers 3 or 4 times more.