Early Verdict
The Quark 1000 is a high-quality PSU that offers very good performance and enough power to feed a very strong gaming system with multiple VGAs. The PSU is offered at a good price, and its fully modular design, five-year warranty and Platinum efficiency are its key features.
Pros
- +
Delivered full power at 47 C • Load regulation • Efficiency at normal loads • Ripple suppression • Price • Fully modular • Japanese capacitors • Warranty
Cons
- -
Noisy at higher loads • Efficiency at light loads
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Rosewill Quark 1000 Power Supply Review
The big advantage of Rosewill's PSU portfolio comes from the company's affordable prices, which allow it to achieve high performance-per-dollar ratios. The Quark series, however, isn't a stand-out value contender compared to the PSU market's tough competition; this shows that Rosewill isn't afraid of having its PSUs do battle with products from well-established companies in this market segment. The truth is that when you invest in a good platform and quality components, you cannot lower the price of the product below a certain point without taking a loss.
Today we're reviewing the second-strongest unit in the Quark series, which offers 1kW max power along with a fully modular cabling design and 80 PLUS Platinum efficiency for $200. Many PSUs with similar specifications cost a little more than the Quark 1000, and this means that Rosewill's PSU will have a small advantage in the price/performance ratio category. However, the price difference is small, so the Quark still has to perform pretty well in order to keep up with its tough competitors like Corsair's HX1000i, Seasonic's Snow Silent 1050W and EVGA's SuperNOVA 1000 P2.
Since Titanium-rated units aren't very popular yet, the prices of Platinum PSUs remain high enough to make them less appealing to many users, especially those on a tight budget. Rosewill tries to offer good deals on its PSUs, but Gold-class models with similar capacity cost significantly less, making them look like a better deal (especially since the efficiency gap between a good Gold PSU and its Platinum counterpart isn't very big). Having clarified this, we can take a better look at Rosewill's Quark series, which consists of six units with capacities ranging from 550 to 1200W. With this line, Rosewill covers most users and systems, from mid-range to high-end ones.
Specifications
Again, the Quark 1000 meets the 80 PLUS Platinum requirements and can deliver its full power continuously at up to 40 degrees Celsius, according to Rosewill. Of course, we plan to crank up the temperature inside our hot box above that. Rosewill includes all relevant protection features, including OTP (Over-Temperature Protection). A Riffle bearing fan handles the unit's cooling without the support of a semi-passive mode. The PSU's dimensions are normal for its capacity, while the warranty is long enough and the price tag is a little lower than what competitors offer for similar specs.
Power Specifications
| Rail | Header Cell - Column 1 | 3.3V | 5V | 12V | 5VSB | -12V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max. Power | Amps | 25 | 22 | 83 | 2.5 | 0.3 |
| Watts | 120 | 996 | 12.5 | 3.6 | ||
| Total Max. Power (W) | Row 2 - Cell 1 | Row 2 - Cell 2 | 1000 | Row 2 - Cell 4 | Row 2 - Cell 5 |
The single +12V rail can deliver the PSU's full power on its own. The minor rails can deliver enough power for the needs of a contemporary high-end system; however, we would like to see a stronger 5VSB rail in a 1kW unit.
Cables And Connectors
| Modular Cables | |
|---|---|
| ATX connector (700mm) | 20+4 pin |
| 4+4 pin EPS12V (600mm) | 2 |
| 6+2 pin PCIe (600mm+150mm) | 8 |
| SATA (500mm+150mm+150mm+150mm) | 12 |
| Four-pin Molex (550mm+150mm+150mm) | 3 |
| Four-pin Molex (550mm+150mm) / FDD(+150mm) | 2 / 1 |
The PSU has enough cables to deliver its full power efficiently. There are two EPS connectors along with eight PCIe connectors, all of which are available at the same time. The number of SATA and four-pin Molex connectors is more than adequate, and there is even a rarely-used FDD connector. Strangely enough, the main ATX cable is longer than the EPS cables (usually it's the other way around), though in general, all connectors are installed on pretty long cables. In addition, the distance between connectors is sufficient, even if some of you would prefer a shorter distance between the SATA plugs. After all, HDDs are typically installed close to each other. Finally, the 24-pin ATX connector along with the EPS and PCIe connectors use thick 16AWG wires for lower voltage drops, while all the rest of the connectors use standard 18AWG wires.
Power Distribution
Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on about its power distribution.
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