EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G5 Power Supply Review

Bottom Line

Because of the problems that all manufacturers with production lines in China face due to U.S. tariffs, EVGA found alternative option to the excellent Super Flower platforms that it used in its G3 models. The Leadex platforms that the G3, P2, and T2 EVGA lines use are among the best, so it is tough to find something better or even of equal performance.

Unfortunately, the FSP design that the 1000 G5 utilizes cannot reach the performance levels of a similar capacity G3 unit. It is not that the 1000 G5's overall performance is low, but mainly that the 1000 G3 is among the best units in this wattage category. To make matters even worse, EVGA decided to go with an ACRF platform which has a significant disadvantage when it comes to transient loads. Finally, so far we measured two G5 models, and both of them had high vampire power consumption, especially with 230V input, so they are off Cybenetics charts since they fail to meet even the entry-level, ETA-S, standard's requirements.

In real-life conditions, the loads are not static but continuously change. This is why the performance in our advanced transient tests is of immense importance and plays a significant role in the calculation of the overall performance score. With a deviation close to 1% at +12V and a 3.3V rail that cannot keep its voltage above 3.2V, things don't look so good for the 1000 G5. Some of you will also be bothered by the lousy ripple suppression results with 110% of the PSU's max-rated-capacity. Nevertheless, we don't take into consideration the 110% load results in the performance sum, since no power supply should operate above its nominal capacity. We only conduct the overload test to check on the platform's capabilities and to see how close it is to its limits. According to our test results, the 1000 G5's platform shouldn't be overloaded, and this is why FSP set the OCP at +12V and OPP thresholds at 108.28% and 116.69% respectively.

We would select the 1000 G3 over the 1000 G5 on any day of the week, but as it seems EVGA is not willing to continue its close cooperation with Super Flower, so sooner or later the G3 models will not be available. This means that you better grab one now that the G3s are still available. Till the stock of the 1000 G3 clears out, there is no point in getting a G5 unit. Finally, EVGA, along with FSP, should do something about the highly aggressive fan profile, which makes this PSU loud under high loads.

Image Credits: Tom's Hardware

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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.