Asus ROG Thor 1200W PSU Review: Asus Brings a Screen to the PSU Party

Bottom Line

The overall performance of the ROG Thor might be not on par with the Seasonic SSR-1200PD, and its registered efficiency levels are definitely not among the best in this category. But the ROG Thor 1200W has a very strong weapon in its arsenal: dead silent operation. With a LAMBDA-A+ certification by Cybenetics, this unit is the quietest 1200W PSU that money can get you today. Making such a strong PSU so quiet is no easy feat. Asus had to ask for several modifications in the original Seasonic Prime Platinum platform, including larger heat sinks, which lower air flow demands.

Another interesting fact: The cooling fan uses double ball-bearings, which are noisier compared to fluid dynamic bearings. This means that with a FDB fan, the Thor unit would be even quieter! Nonetheless, DBB fans cope better under tough operating conditions, so they are preferred in PSUs destined for enthusiast users. With such a high over power protection triggering point, the Thor 1200W clearly shows that it is ready to feed heavily overclocked systems with power, like those used by professional overclockers to break world records.

All that said, there are several things here that I would like to see improved. For starters, higher efficiency especially under light loads, and 16AWG gauges on the ATX, EPS and PCIe cables. Given the huge amounts of power that this unit can deliver, the 18AWG gauges are not ideal. With thicker wires, the voltage drops will be lower, providing a small efficiency boost under high loads as well. Moreover, it would be great if the highly accurate OLED screen also provided output power information, aside from the power that the unit draws from the socket. This way users could be informed about the unit's real-time efficiency, which I find the most important information.

This collaboration between Asus and Seasonic resulted in an impressive outcome. The PSU market is very tough to break into successfully, and even huge and experienced brands like Asus need proper guidance in order to produce noteworthy products. I am confident that Asus will remain on this path and I expect much more, including a strong competitor to the Corsair AX1600i, which still dominates my performance charts. Toppling the likes of  Corsair and EVGA at the ultra-high-capacity level will be no easy task. But Asus has the resources, and this initial offering proves the company is on the right track.

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Disclaimer: Aris Mpitziopoulos is Tom's Hardware's PSU reviewer. He is also the Chief Testing Engineer of Cybenetics, and developed the Cybenetics certification methodologies apart from his role on Tom's Hardware. Neither Tom's Hardware nor its parent company, Future PLC, are financially involved with Cybenetics. Aris does not perform the actual certifications for Cybenetics.