Cooler Master MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ PSU Review

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Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time & Inrush Current

To learn more about our PSU tests and methodology, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units.

Primary Rails And 5VSB Load Regulation

Load Regulation testing is detailed here.

Hold-Up Time

Our hold-up time tests are described in detail here.

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The hold-up time we measured is pretty long, and the power-good signal is accurate. 

Inrush Current

For details on our inrush current testing, please click here.

The inrush current is very low. That large NTC thermistor does an excellent job.

Load Regulation And Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ's efficiency. The applied load equals (approximately) 10 to 110 percent of the PSU's maximum load in increments of 10 percentage points.

We conducted two additional tests. During the first, we stressed the two minor rails (5V and 3.3V) with a high load, while the load at +12V was only 0.1A. This test reveals whether a PSU supports Intel's C6/C7 power states or not. In the second test, we determined the maximum load the +12V rail could handle with minimal load on the minor rails.

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Test # 12V 5V 3.3V 5VSB DC/AC (Watts) Efficiency Fan Speed Temps (In/Out) PF/AC Volts
1 8.174A 1.954A 1.972A 0.981A 119.773 91.028% 0 RPM 45.19°C 0.701
12.017V 5.104V 3.343V 5.078V 131.578 41.14°C 115.11V
2 17.383A 2.929A 2.963A 1.180A 239.611 92.922% 0 RPM 46.02°C 0.977
12.011V 5.104V 3.336V 5.076V 257.863 41.85°C 115.09V
3 26.973A 3.427A 3.479A 1.379A 359.871 93.693% 0 RPM 46.52°C 0.980
12.005V 5.103V 3.329V 5.070V 384.095 42.46°C 115.08V
4 36.546A 3.917A 3.971A 1.575A 479.634 93.635% 0 RPM 47.50°C 0.984
11.998V 5.102V 3.322V 5.066V 512.238 43.52°C 115.07V
5 45.794A 4.902A 4.975A 1.776A 599.608 93.142% 640 RPM 42.33°C 0.988
11.991V 5.102V 3.314V 5.065V 643.757 45.13°C 115.06V
6 55.047A 5.879A 5.983A 1.974A 719.505 92.648% 850 RPM 42.79°C 0.991
11.985V 5.101V 3.307V 5.062V 776.603 45.20°C 115.06V
7 64.308A 6.864A 7.001A 2.169A 839.352 92.057% 975 RPM 43.52°C 0.993
11.978V 5.100V 3.298V 5.060V 911.777 45.75°C 115.08V
8 73.579A 7.849A 8.020A 2.370A 959.301 91.243% 1140 RPM 44.38°C 0.994
11.972V 5.100V 3.291V 5.059V 1051.365 46.39°C 115.06V
9 83.296A 8.335A 8.553A 2.369A 1079.306 90.355% 1320 RPM 45.62°C 0.996
11.966V 5.099V 3.285V 5.061V 1194.516 47.60°C 115.06V
10 92.564A 8.826A 9.063A 3.481A 1199.151 89.243% 1500 RPM 46.99°C 0.996
11.959V 5.099V 3.277V 5.020V 1343.695 48.70°C 115.07V
11 102.655A 8.826A 9.078A 3.484A 1319.120 88.076% 1500 RPM 47.32°C 0.997
11.952V 5.099V 3.271V 5.020V 1497.699 49.53°C 115.07V
CL1 0.099A 16.026A 16.006A 0.003A 135.999 83.196% 1015 RPM 45.78°C 0.693
12.021V 5.096V 3.319V 5.200V 163.469 47.80°C 115.13V
CL2 99.928A 1.003A 1.003A 1.002A 1208.249 89.251% 1500 RPM 45.79°C 0.996
11.956V 5.104V 3.295V 5.074V 1353.760 47.75°C 115.07V

Load regulation is quite good at +12V, next to perfect at +5V, and satisfactory at 5VSB. The 3.3V rail performs the worst, although it's still close to 2%. Then again, we aren't talking about your average power supply. This is an incredibly expensive one, so we're not going to be satisfied with anything short of exceptional.

The MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ's efficiency is very high; it has no problem delivering full power under high ambient temperatures. Moreover, the fan spins fairly slowly, keeping noise output low as well.


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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.

29 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Dark Lord of Tech
    Can you say not worth it ? Not even close.
    Reply
  • SoFlaWill
    Quit reading at the price tag. Can I have some of what you're on?
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    A THOUSAND DOLLARS?! What on Earth would a desktop PSU have to do to be worth $1,000? Clearly nothing that this PSU in particular is doing.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    Like, seriously, you could build an entire gaming PC with a different 10-year-warranty PSU for the cost of this one PSU. Simply MUST be targeting the more-money-than-sense crowd here.
    Reply
  • jcwbnimble
    What was CM thinking with this product? Are there really people out there that would drop $1K on a power supply that was inferior to units that cost half as much? This sounds like a product that CM agreed to just to get Murata in bed with them for future projects.

    Murata to CM "Sure we'll start making products for you, just agree to buy our first effort regardless of price point, quality, and technological compromises".

    I'm now waiting for the CM case made by Gucci that uses external laptop power supplies, has room for only one 7mm SSD, and can't even accommodate a 7" GPU. I'd pay $1k for it as long as everyone knows it's made by Gucci.
    Reply
  • jcwbnimble
    Oh, and I forgot to mention that it comes with ribbon cables. How did CM "spare no expense" when it includes basic black ribbon cables? Come on guys, you should have blasted this PSU the second you opened the box and saw ribbon cables on a $1000 power supply.

    AND this thing is huge. Seriously CM?!!! The PSU on my original IBM PC/AT wasn't this large, and that had capacitors the size of D batteries in it.

    Total fail by Murata and even bigger fail by CM for putting their name on it.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    lol Someone in the comments is actually trying to defend this product with downvotes. I'm sorry, but at this pricepoint, this product is indefensible.
    Reply
  • drwho1
    Like everyone is saying, NO Thank You, anyone can build an entire system for $1000 or less WITH a powerful/trusted PSU included.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    19609320 said:
    Oh, and I forgot to mention that it comes with ribbon cables. How did CM "spare no expense" when it includes basic black ribbon cables?
    What is the problem with "basic black ribbon cables"? Personally, those are my favorite. I much prefer that over individual loose wires and braiding that snags on every somewhat sharp corner, screw and anything else that might stick out a bit.

    @Arris: the "some other way" to rectify AC without a bridge is bridge-less APFC where the boost diodes and the APFC FETs effectively replace the input bridge.
    Reply
  • TheFuzzz
    the box and packaging are nice. $1,000.... It should have a lifetime warranty
    Reply