Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming 1200 W PSU Review

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Packaging, Contents, Exterior, And Cabling

Packaging

The large box features a photo of the PSU with its orange fan on display up front. The 80 PLUS Platinum badge is fairly prominent, and a series of icons convey the single +12V rail, the temperature-controlled fan, the Japanese capacitors, and the modular cabling. On one side of the box, there are technical and power specification tables, along with two graphs depicting the fan noise and efficiency curves.

Around back, a photo shows the PSU's modular panel. More pictures and diagrams provide information on the available connectors and cable length. Gigabyte again highlights the Japanese caps it uses, in addition to the double ball-bearing fan. Both components facilitate more reliable operation.

Contents

The contents of the box are nicely arranged. The PSU itself is protected by two thick pieces of packing foam, though it isn't stored inside the velvet bag we so often find covering expensive power supplies.

The bundle includes a nylon pouch, a set of Velcro straps, fixing bolts, a user's manual, a case badge, an AC power cord, and a cloth wristband that might appeal to sporty builders.

Exterior

The orange fan is definitely eye-catching; it makes this otherwise plain-looking PSU stand out from the crowd. Gigabyte's matte finish exudes quality, too.

Up front, a power switch is installed below the AC receptacle, with the fan facing upwards.

The decals on the sides look nice, and the power specifications label on the bottom is very large.

Around back, the modular panel includes a large number of sockets, two of which are dedicated to the EPS connectors. Although you cannot attach a PCIe cable to one of those EPS sockets, with a little effort you can definitely plug an EPS cable into a PCIe socket. That's definitely a problem since the two cables aren't electrically compatible (the ground and voltage pins are in different positions). Enhance should either use color-coded sockets or, even better, different shapes to prevent builders from making an incorrect connection.

The XP1200M is sized normally for its capacity, and the PSU's external design looks good enough for our tastes.

Cabling

The cable quality is good. They all use dark wires and are flat, reducing clutter and improving airflow. Flexibility isn't an issue either; you'll have no trouble routing the cables around inside your case.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

  • turkey3_scratch
    Yawn. It's loud. Might not be too loud in most people's cases where the unit is sucking cool air from underneath the computer, and where they overestimate their power requirements, but it's still way too loud. If they're going to make the fan that aggressive, they should give it a longer warranty. Give it an ol' 11 year warranty to beat the competition at least.

    The only way Gigabyte is going to sell this at whatever price is if they do some marketing. "Nvidia Gigabyte GPUs work best with Gigabyte PSU" and people will buy it.
    Reply
  • powernod
    Enhance continoues its mediocre performance!!
    The only series i can remember, in which Enhance showed some very good results were the Thermaltake's GRAND Platinum line.
    Besides that,..... just mediocre !!
    Reply
  • Vorador2
    When i saw that it used the word "xtreme" (ugh) and "gaming" together in the name of the product i knew it was going to be either overpriced or underperforming. Or both.
    Reply
  • DotNetMaster777
    Built by enhance electronics but only five years warranty !
    Reply
  • Sam Hain
    In the 1.2kw range... The EVGA SuperNOVA 1200 P2 is a great buy @$230 (or so), awesome specs and performance across-the-board and some of the highest customer ratings to back it's build quality.

    Reply