Why you can trust Tom's Hardware
Protection Features
Check out our PSUs 101 article to learn more about PSU protection features.
OCP (Cold @ 26°C) | 12V: 102.2A (122.64%), 11.927V 5V: 29A (131.82%), 5.046V 3.3V: 28.4A (129.09%), 3.311V 5VSB: 4.8A (160%), 4.993V |
OCP (Hot @ 44°C) | 12V: 101.4A (121.68%), 11.906V 5V: 28.8A (130.91%), 5.057V 3.3V: 27.4A (124.55%), 3.324V 5VSB: 4.7A (156.67%), 4.989V |
OPP (Cold @ 28°C) | 1223.42W (122.34%) |
OPP (Hot @ 43°C) | 1223.42W (122.34%) |
OTP | ✓ (168°C @ 12V Heat Sink) |
SCP | 12V to Earth: ✓ 5V to Earth: ✓ 3.3V to Earth: ✓ 5VSB to Earth: ✓ -12V to Earth: ✓ |
PWR_OK | Proper operation |
NLO | ✓ |
SIP | Surge: MOV Inrush: NTC Thermistor & Bypass relay |
The OCP triggering points are correctly set at 12V and the same goes for OPP. It is a pleasant surprise to find proper OCP triggering points on the minor rails, too.
DC Power Sequencing
According to Intel’s most recent Power Supply Design Guide (revision 1.4), the +12V and 5V outputs must be equal to or greater than the 3.3V rail at all times. Unfortunately, Intel doesn't mention why it is so important to always keep the 3.3V rail's voltage lower than the levels of the other two outputs.
No problems here since the 3.3V rail is always lower than the other two.
Cross Load Tests
To generate the following charts, we set our loaders to auto mode through custom-made software before trying more than 25,000 possible load combinations with the +12V, 5V, and 3.3V rails. The deviations in each of the charts below are calculated by taking the nominal values of the rails (12V, 5V, and 3.3V) as point zero. The ambient temperature during testing was between 30 to 32 degrees Celsius (86 to 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Load Regulation Charts
Efficiency Graph
Ripple Graphs
The lower the power supply's ripple, the more stable the system will be and less stress will also be applied to its components.
Infrared Images
We apply a half-load for 10 minutes with the PSU's top cover and cooling fan removed before taking photos with a modified Fluke Ti480 PRO camera able to deliver an IR resolution of 640x480 (307,200 pixels).
The 12V board exceeded 100 degrees Celsius without active cooling and a half load for ten minutes. The FETs on this board can handle the heat, but up to a point, which is why active cooling is required at increased loads.
MORE: Best Power Supplies
MORE: How We Test Power Supplies
MORE: All Power Supply Content
Current page: Protection Features, DC Power Sequencing, Cross-Load Tests and Infrared Images
Prev Page Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time, Inrush & Leakage Current, Efficiency and Noise Next Page Transient Response Tests, Timing Tests, Ripple Measurements and EMC Pre-Compliance TestingAris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
Nintendo Switch 2 design seemingly leaked by carrying case maker — similar aesthetics but with a larger screen and Joy-Cons
Elon Musk reportedly wanted OpenAI to be a for-profit entity but has now sued to block the move
PlayStation 5 transformed into a laptop for $2,750 — Chinese modders made Sony's console more portable with a 17.3-inch 4K display weighing over 9 pounds
-
tummybunny Thanks for a fantastic and very detailed review. Something that isn't mentioned though is one of the really interesting new features of ATX 3.0.Reply
https://www.techpowerup.com/292563/intel-atx-3-0-16-pin-power-connector-for-pcie-gen5-is-smart-has-four-power-delivery-variants?cp=2
"The 12VHPWR connector has 12 electrical pins and 4 side-band pins, for a total of 16 pins. The side-band pins enable low-fi communication between the power-supply and the graphics card, and two of these pins, labeled "SENSE0" and "SENSE1," let the graphics card know what kind of connector is plugged in, so it can accordingly adjust its power-management."
What difference does this make to GPU performance? Perhaps you could argue it's something better discussed in a GPU review but I would like to hear about it one way or another. -
Hresna Great PSU coverage… although the standard formula I think misses some aspects of a complete review…Reply
For instance this model offers an MSI feature they all “gaming intelligence” via the USB connector… no mention of this in the article or how it works, what it does.
I’ve been a longtime fan of Corsairs ‘i’ series which also use USB as the enabler, for the simple fact that it gives power output readings in hwinfo64 which is a fanstastic tool for dialing in power budgets, overclocks/undervolts, or just… those of us who like numbers and data. I can do without the iCUe software, which thankfully isn’t needed for this.
Does MSI’s GI do that also?
It’s extremely difficult to find PSU models with these sorts of features. At least the ‘i’ thing seems to be catching on and might serve as a semi-reliable indicator between manufacturers. -
halfcharlie Hresna said:For instance this model offers an MSI feature they all “gaming intelligence” via the USB connector… no mention of this in the article or how it works, what it does.
What's this on the first page then?
"there is compatibility with the MSI Gaming Intelligence application, through which you can adjust several settings, like the fan's speed and toggle on/off the single +12V mode while monitoring the PSU's vital functions and power delivery. " Also google exists. -
CheckYourFacts The Author asserts: "The four main FETs are installed into a full-bridge topology. " Where does he get that information from when the vendor says its a "LLC Half Bridge Topology with DC-DC module design "Reply
https://www.msi.com/Power-Supply/MEG-Ai1000P-PCIE5 -
bignastyid
Considering Aris is one of the top experts/reviewers in PSUs and he did a teardown. I'd believe him over the advertised specs any day.CheckYourFacts said:The Author asserts: "The four main FETs are installed into a full-bridge topology. " Where does he get that information from when the vendor says its a "LLC Half Bridge Topology with DC-DC module design "
https://www.msi.com/Power-Supply/MEG-Ai1000P-PCIE5 -
CheckYourFacts bignastyid said:Considering Aris is one of the top experts/reviewers in PSUs and he did a teardown. I'd believe him over the advertised specs any day.
This is not about the authors reputation, which i know nothing about. It is about journalistic work ethics, his claim is in clear contradiction to the vendor claims. -
bignastyid
He opened it up and wrote what he found. If anything that would put the companies ethics in question not the reviewers.CheckYourFacts said:This is not about the authors reputation, which i know nothing about. It is about journalistic work ethics, his claim is in clear contradiction to the vendor claims. -
Lutfij
You might want to do a bit of digging and see what Kingston did within the last decade. If you can't find it, I'll help you;CheckYourFacts said:This is not about the authors reputation, which i know nothing about. It is about journalistic work ethics, his claim is in clear contradiction to the vendor claims.
Kingston sent out SSD's to practically every reviewer known to the (tech)community and once sales drove up to remove practically all units off the shelves, people all stated how the speeds weren't the same as seen by reviewers in spite of the advertised material stating otherwise. A further digging by TekSyndicate/Level1 found out about how cherry picked samples were handed out to help garner a better image.
That being said, please stop with the needless jabbing, the question falls onto the brand that sent the review sample out, not the person who opened up the unit to report what he'd seen. You're also talking about Aris, here. You're sneezing towards the wind.
If you believe everything that the brand's marketing material states, then AIO coolers MSI released were the best coolers in the world, not the market, the world. -
Hresna
Okay so I missed that brief description.halfcharlie said:What's this on the first page then?
"there is compatibility with the MSI Gaming Intelligence application, through which you can adjust several settings, like the fan's speed and toggle on/off the single +12V mode while monitoring the PSU's vital functions and power delivery. " Also google exists.
And yes google exists, but my point was, in a review for something, if you’re going to mention a unique feature - something that sets it apart from its competition - might be worthwhile including a fulsome description and reviewing its functionality.
So I retract that it wasn’t described at all.