Cooler Master MasterWatt Maker 1200 MIJ PSU Review

By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

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Protection Features

Check out our PSUs 101 article to learn more about PSU protection features. Our protection features evaluation methodology is described in detail here.

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Protection Features
OCP12V: ✗ 5V: 32.25A (129%) 3.3V: 25.82A (103%) 5VSB: 6.9A (197%), 3.3 V
OPP1408.8W (117.4%)
OTP✓ (133°C @ +12V heat sink)
SCP12V: ✓ 5V: ✓ 3.3V: ✓ 5VSB: ✓ -12V: ✓
PWR_OKOperates properly
NLO✓
SIPSurge: MOV Inrush: NTC Thermistor & Bypass Relay

The 5V rail has OCP that's set pretty high, while the opposite is true for the 3.3V rail, given that its official maximum current output is 25A. The 5VSB rail can go sky-high, which we consider to be a problem. With 6.9A, its voltage drops to a worrying 3.3V! Murata's engineers totally missed this, as did Cooler Master's. Careful: the 5VSB circuit can easily be fried if you apply such a high load for a long time.

The OPP limit is set reasonably, given this PSU's capacity. Moreover, the power-good signal is accurate and the inrush current protection does a really good job. For added protection, this PSU is equipped not with one, but three fuses. There's one right after the AC input, one on the 5VSB circuit, and one before the DC-DC converters' PCB.


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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, 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