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Even though 1200 Watts is ludicrously excessive for the typical modern PC, such PSUs are necessary for very advanced or application-specific systems, such as quad-SLI gaming computers and cryptocurrency mining rigs. The market for such equipment is small and very demanding, but succeeding at the top can also affect the reputation of the manufacturer, increasing the sales of their mainstream equipment. This desire to have the best halo product results in strong competition between manufacturers, and it also moves the industry forward as the new technologies developed at the top eventually make their way into mainstream offerings. We had a look at FSP's and Seasonic's offerings, the Aurum PT 1200W and the Seasonic's SS-1200XP3 respectively, a few weeks ago. Today we are reviewing Cooler Master's contender for the 1200W PSU market, the V1200 Platinum.
The main difference between FSP/Seasonic and Cooler Master is that the former are ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers) -- they design, manufacture, and sell their own products. Cooler Master on the other hand has no such capability; their products are generally based on someone else's design (with tweaks and component choices made by Cooler Master), and this ODM also undertakes their manufacturing. This includes the V1200 Platinum, which the company hopes will compete in the top segments of the PSU market.
As its name suggests, the V1200 Platinum is an 80 Plus Platinum certified power supply capable of 1200W of continuous output. However, any advanced user knows that these figures alone mean little regarding the actual quality and performance of a PSU. We are going to closely examine the efficiency, power quality, and thermal performance of the Cooler Master V1200 Platinum in this review and, more importantly, see where it stands in relation to the competition.
After the hype from Corsair's K70 RGB since its announcement early this year, mechanical RGB keyboards became all the rage. Several companies even managed to beat Corsair to the punch and release an RGB mechanical keyboard first, such as the tenkeyless Rosewill RGB80 that we reviewed several weeks ago. However, what about users that like the prospect of customizable lighting but are either unwilling to spend a lot of money for a keyboard or simply prefer membrane to mechanical keyboards?
SteelSeries has the answer to that question in the form of their Apex Gaming Keyboard. The Apex is a keyboard developed especially for gamers that want customizable lighting and advanced features but would like to stick with classic rubber dome switch keys. It has a very impressive list of features, which we will go through in detail in this capsule review. However, it also retails for $87, placing it dangerously close to the league of good mechanical keyboards.
As most technology enthusiasts already know, the number of the actual power supply unit (PSU) manufacturers is far smaller than the number of the companies that ship PSUs. Most companies use their own engineering teams to improve/modify an existing platform originally developed by the Original Design Manufacturer (ODM). A few examples from our recent reviews are Antec's EDGE 550W and Corsair's RM1000, which are based on Seasonic and CWT designs, respectively. The modifications that such companies perform on the original platform can be significant but the changes are frequently limited to aesthetic adjustments, essentially copying the original unit in everything but form (or even just color).
Most ODMs have their own retail divisions as well. Perhaps the best examples of such companies would be Seasonic and FSP Group. We reviewed two of Seasonic's newest designs recently, the sensible S12G 650W and the potent Platinum SS-1200XP3, but we have not had a look at a PSU from FSP since the Xilenser, well over two years ago.
Today we are going to look at their most recent and advanced unit, the Aurum PT 1200W power supply. It is an 80 Plus Platinum certified PSU designed with enthusiasts in mind, and it appears to be a direct competitor to products such as Seasonic's Platinum SS-1200XP3, Cooler Master's V1200, and Corsair's AX1200i. Can it hold its own against the very best units that the industry has to offer? We'll find out in this review.
With the exception of the Raptor K40 and a few HTPC options, all of the keyboard reviews we've posted this year are advanced to top-tier mechanical keyboards. Today we are going to look at something fundamentally different: a budget mechanical keyboard. Nixeus supplied us with a sample of the MODA, a tenkeyless USB keyboard that has been designed with simplicity and economy in mind. Even though the notion of calling a $70 keyboard a "budget" product appears rather controversial, the Nixeus MODA is one of the cheapest mechanical keyboards that money can buy. What kind of a mechanical keyboard can $70 get you?
I must confess that until recently, I wasn’t well-versed in semiconductor physics or technology. While it’s rather easy to understand what a transistor does and some of the terminology thrown around, going deeper was tough. A great deal of the information on the internet is simply too cryptic to understand, even for those that want to learn. Seeing as how this site is all about the results of semiconductor physics and technology, this was the best place to share the knowledge that I've acquired.
Even though there are plenty of >1kW consumer power supply units available today, it is well known that these represent a very small portion of the actual market, as the power requirements of a typical home or office PC are far lower than that. After reviewing several top-tier products, such as the efficient Seasonic Platinum 1200XP3 and the ruthless Corsair AX1500i, today we will have a look at something a lot more sensible and appealing to the average user. In this review we examine the newest PSU series from Antec, the EDGE.
Antec is a company that has always been focused on efficient and practical products rather than developing numerous high output units. They do have one 1.3kW high performance PSU available but that's about it; the bulk of their PSU products exist in the 550W to 750W power range. This is the exact range of the newest EDGE series as well, which consists of three units starting at 550W and going up to 750W. We're looking at the least powerful model today, which still has ample power for the vast majority of home users and casual gamers.
<p><span style="font-size: small;">It has been twenty years since Corsair's first retail products hit the shelves and the company has undoubtedly come a very long way since then. What started as a small memory manufacturer is now a major global supplier of advanced computer components and peripherals. Today is the dawn of a new era for Corsair, as the company announced the establishment of their own gaming brand. The new division has been christened "Corsair Gaming", and with the name comes a new department and logo. The focus will be on the development of high performance gaming peripherals.</span></p>
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<div><span style="font-size: small;">Alongside the announcement of their new department, Corsair is also releasing several new products, with the much-anticipated RGB keyboards being among them. The company dropped the "Vengeance" series name and the new keyboards are just called by the brand name and model. That means we're now looking at the Corsair Gaming K70 RGB (and not the keyboard formerly known as Vengeance K70 RGB or some variation on that theme).</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: small;">This keyboard has probably had more hype between its announcement and release date than any other keyboard in the history of humankind. Ever since the first demos of the keyboard found their way into pictures and videos back in January, there have been myriad rumors about the capabilities of the keyboard and the new Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software. Some people even suggested that this is "just a Vengeance K70 with RGB LEDs", which could not be further from the truth. The truth is that the new Corsair Gaming K70 RGB introduces many new functions and far greater customizability than any previous Corsair mechanical keyboard.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: small;">Today we finally have a chance to go hands-on with the shipping hardware. Join us as we examine the keyboard, its capabilities, and the new CUE software.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://anandtech.com/show/8556/corsair-gaming-k70-rgb-mechanical-keyboard-review" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<p><span style="font-size: small;">Rosewill is a known brand name in the North American markets. Although they started as a small company mainly focused on marketing budget-friendly products, today they have a large selection of technology-related products, including products that have been designed with advanced users in mind. One such example is their mechanical keyboard series, which stands out from the many non-mechanical keyboards that they also offer. In this capsule review, we will look at the Apollo RK-9100 and the RGB80, two of their most recent mechanical keyboards. Are they worthy successors of the famed RK-9000? We are about to find out.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/8500/rosewill-apollo-rk9100-rgb80-mechanical-keyboards-capsule-review" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></p>
A decade ago, the 80 Plus program was introduced with the aim of promoting the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly computer power supplies units (PSUs). When it was officially included in the Energy Star 4.0 specification requirements in 2007, the program really took off, with every manufacturer who had not already certified their units sprinting to do so.
In 2008, it was already easy and fairly cheap to produce 80 Plus certified PSUs, making the original 80 Plus program somewhat obsolete, but the original standard was revised to include differing tiers of efficiency, starting with the 80 Plus Bronze, Silver, and Gold certifications. Two more levels, Platinum and Titanium, were introduced later. These "badges of honor" drove the manufacturers to funnel money into research in order to create better and more efficient units, and they significantly helped their marketing departments as well. Today, users can easily find 80 Plus Gold certified units at very reasonable prices for their home computers, and 80 Plus Titanium certified units for servers have already been available for a couple of years.
The race for more powerful and more efficient PSUs continues to this date, as every manufacturer is trying to get ahead of the competition by either developing more efficient units, or by producing cheaper units with the same level of efficiency. Today we will look at Corsair's attempt to show us who's the true king of the hill, as we are going to review the AX1500i, a fully digital 1500 Watts PSU with an 80 Plus Titanium certification and an impressive list of features.
The AX1500i is one of the first 80 Plus Titanium certified consumer PSUs, as well as one of the most powerful units currently available. These facts do help explain the rather insane retail price of $450, perhaps, but there's no question that this is a very niche product. With such a price tag and power output, the AX1500i is intended only for very advanced users and hardcore gamers who are willing to pay as much as a small home/office PC costs just to get the best PSU possible. However, this segment of the market is very demanding as well – does the Corsair AX1500i has what it takes to please such users? We will find out in this review.
The 80 Plus program was introduced a decade ago with the aim of promoting the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly computer PSUs. Since then, it has undoubtedly become one of the favorite subjects of PSU marketing teams. Not long ago, an 80 Plus Bronze certification was more than adequate for a mainstream product, with 80 Plus Gold certifications reserved for premium product ranges. Today, 80 Plus Gold certified units can be found retailing at very reasonable prices, slowly but surely making the 80 Plus Bronze certification fit only for low-range products.
There also are numerous 80 Plus Platinum certified products available and even a few 80 Plus Titanium certified units, such as the Corsair AX1500i, are making their appearance, albeit their ludicrous price tags. Meanwhile, the pricing of 80 Plus Platinum certified PSUs has become more reasonable, allowing the manufacturers to effectively implement the technology in their medium and high-end units. Today we have a couple more 80 Plus Platinum PSUs on our test bench.
Seasonic is a very well-known manufacturer of high quality PSUs, so they hardly need an introduction. Today, we are going to look at two of the new additions to their Platinum series, the Platinum SS-1050XP3 1050W and the Platinum SS-1200XP3 1200W. The name of the series is obviously linked with the 80 Plus Platinum efficiency certification of the units and it is their top-tier series, so these two new models also are the best consumer-grade PSUs that Seasonic currently offers. The 1050W and 1200W versions currently retail for $230 and $250 respectively, which are fairly reasonable prices considering their class and power output. How well can they perform though? We will find out in this review.