Gigabyte UD1000GM PG5 Review: The First PCIe Gen 5 Compatible PSU

The Gigabyte UD1000GM PG5 is the first PSU available on the market with a 12+4 pin PCIe connector.

By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published
Gigabyte UD1000GM PG5
(Image: © Shutterstock, Tom's Hardware)

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Gigabyte is the first to introduce a PCIe 5.0 PSU to the market, with the UD1000GM PG5, an updated version of the UD1000GM model featuring a 12VHPWR connector, able to deliver up to 600W. Besides this connector, there are other requirements in the ATX v3.0 spec which we couldn't verify in this PSU. 

We conducted the new transient response tests, and although the PSU passed the 200% (100μs) and 120% (100ms) with success, it kept on shutting down with 180% and 160% transient loads, with 1ms and 10ms, respectively, transient load apply time. Since this is the first PCIe 5.0 PSU that we have evaluated, we will have to wait until more units become available to check how they will perform in the new transient tests, which are way more demanding than the ones that we have conducted far. 

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

We pushed the PSU extra hard, but we didn't encounter any issues during testing. Given the problems with Gigabyte's PG-M line, we wanted to ensure that the UD1000GM PG5 wouldn't have any issues, so stressed even more than the typical, it didn't budge. There are several areas that Gigabyte could fix along with MEIC, the manufacturer of this product, and if they do, it will be more competitive. There are no other PCIe 5.0 compatible PSUs at the time of the review, but soon enough, there will be plenty of choices, and there is no need to rush your purchase since the new generation GPUs are not available yet. 

Nvidia ships the RTX 3090Ti with 3x PCIe 6+2 pin to 12+4 pin adapters during this transition phase in PSU design. If you plan on purchasing one of Nvidia's upcoming, high-end 4000 series cards, you might want to avoid buying a non-ATX v3.0 compatible PSU right now, but if you don't need one, good choices in this category are the MSI MPG A1000G, the EVGA 1000 G6, and the Corsair RM1000x (2021).

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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.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Tom Sunday
    Greetings from LA. I love the idea in buying one of these when the time or my ship finally arrives! Another new PSU. Out with the old and in with the new! But when I 'tanked-up' this early morning at $7.95 per gallon in Beverly Center…I did not even have enough cash in completely filling-up! Next payday is a week away! Even my daily lunchbox meal increased by about 50% and I already gave-up drinking Mountain Dew all-together. Before all of this inflation mess started I regularly came to visit most of the major tech-channels to dream about all of the fine and newly proffered hardware. About the absolute "must haves." It appears that my dreams are now over and perhaps a nightmare is settling-in for the man on the street like me! I cannot help thinking that there must be many more people like me in the same boat facing a new reality!
    Reply
  • Udyr
    So this is a 4 star product with 1, 2, 3, 4... 12 cons?

    The cons are somewhat consistent with the review on TPU, but over there it was not a recommended product.

    Maybe there's something more my ignorant self is not seeing here.
    Reply
  • DRagor
    Udyr said:
    So this is a 4 star product with 1, 2, 3, 4... 12 cons?
    The Gigabyte UD1000GM PG5 is the first PSU available with a 12+4 pin PCIe connector, so practically, it doesn't have any competitors yet.
    How it was? In the land of blind one eyed is a king?
    Reply
  • WrongRookie
    No thanks. I'd rather wait for Seasonic do one than get another one that could end up exploding
    Reply
  • Udyr
    DRagor said:
    How it was? In the land of blind one eyed is a king?
    I understand the reference, but in this case, a unit with these many downsides doesn't justify a recommendation, unless there's something else besides being the only one available (for now).
    Reply
  • thisisaname
    Udyr said:
    So this is a 4 star product with 1, 2, 3, 4... 12 cons?

    The cons are somewhat consistent with the review on TPU, but over there it was not a recommended product.

    Maybe there's something more my ignorant self is not seeing here.
    Some of the positives are not that great either.
    +Full power at 47 degrees Celsius
    +Most protection features are properly set
    Reply
  • watzupken
    Once beaten, twice shy. After the shady practice and persistent denial of critical flaws with their product by Gigabyte, even if this is a 5 stars PSU, I will not bother to consider it. There are much better options out there. I rather pay more than to deal with shady companies. In my opinion, it is not the product that we need to be mindful because every company will at some point produce bad product. It is how they take steps to resolve the issue and maintain that goodwill. Gigabyte basically burned that goodwill in the PSU fiasco. So no more Gigabyte products for me since the company can’t be bothered.
    Reply
  • Tom Sunday
    A few thoughts to catch-up! Most of the PSU’s are made by a small group of manufacturers, and resellers simply buy those manufacturers PSU's and then rebrand them as their own products. I usually buy SeaSonic because pure and simple they are a manufacturer. They make all their own PSU’s and sell them to consumers besides the best RMA service in the industry! So going with a SeaSonic PSU is almost certainly to be a safe bet. I also found that resellers generally offer three to five-year warrenties on their PSU's, and Seasonic offers in many cases five to twelve-year waranties. This alone tells the story and in how much confidence the reseller usually has towards its selected manufacturer.

    In turn CORSAIR as an example is a true reseller, not a manufacturer. This can be a big deal. They buy their PSU’s from their original manufacturers so the quality of their products ultimately depends on their original manufacturers or perhaps those manufacturers which returned the lowest fabrication bid on a large CORSAIR factory order. It can be difficult to find out where CORSAIR’s PSU’s come from as CORSAIR has routinely been using 3-5 different manufacturers and in diffrent countries. In time likes these where high wattage and or premium PSU’s (1200W-1600W) may easily exceed $400 plus to especially feed the upcoming 4000 series GPU craze, picking the right PSU becomes important! As one of the dealers at the recent computer show noted: “SeaSonic principally specializes in PSU’s while CORSAIR markets and sells hundreds of different products. “Go take your pick!”
    Reply