Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1000W Review

[SKYMTL]

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=114

Great review as always Jonny!!!!

I have one question about this. This Cooler Master has the OCPs set at 18A for the two rails which would (in all likelyhood) power a HD2900XT card. According to the chart, the +12V3 and +12V4 each have one PCI-E 8-pin and one 6-pin on them.

So, with the HD2900XT (potentially) consuming 250W under load and God knows how much when overclocked wouldn't the 18A OCP trip and shut down the PSU?

Or are the 6-pin PCI-E connectors ALSO connected to the +12V5 / 6 rails? If so, wouldn't it have made more sense for Enhance to run the +12V3/5 and +12V4/6 wires to the 8-pin PCI-E connectors instead?

[jonnyGURU]

18A @ 12V is 216W. Although that's not quite what theoretically can be pulled through a pair of PCI-e connectors (one 6-pin and one 8-pin should be able to deliver 225W) with power coming in through the PCI-e slot as well, I'm seriously doubtful that anyone would trip the OCP on those rails.

[madmat]

Seems like a really decent PSU. I for one am shocked, I was expecting far less considering it's lineage. Just goes to show that you can't judge the book by it's cover.

[SKYMTL]

I was under the impression that the HD2900XT has been benched near 230W...supposedly. With the CCC Overdrive tool so readily accessable, power consumption will probably be significanly above that in some cases.

There are some people out there that will plug in their brand new GPU and PSU, overclock the card and wonder what happens when their computer shuts down.

Then again, I am still highly doubtful that the HD2900XT consumes as much power as people say it does....

[jonnyGURU]

Of that 230W, how much is through the slot and how much is through the PEG conns?

Did they bother putting a clamp meter on the PEG conn wires?

[SKYMTL]

Did they bother putting a clamp meter on the PEG conn wires?

No. That is why I said supposedly. ;)

It was more along the lines of a "what if" scenario that I was talking about. :D

On the other hand, I will be getting a clamp meter in a few weeks and hopefully a HD2900XT a few days after that....so I guess we will know a little better when I put that to the test.

[Bbq]

Hmm, does this mean taht the Silverstone ST-1000 could potentially be one hell of a psu?

I love it when a plan comes together.

[Super Nade]

Are Enhance big in the server market? Looks like they might have pulled one of their server units and CC'ed it to CM. No ON/OFF switch seems to indicate that.

If it shuts down on test #9 during both the hot and cold load tests, it seems that the OCP needs to be tweaked a wee bit. Any readily apparent build differences between this unit and the previous avatar of a 1kW Enhance?

[ww2717]

Another out standing review Jonny.

[jonnyGURU]

If it shuts down on test #9 during both the hot and cold load tests, it seems that the OCP needs to be tweaked a wee bit. Any readily apparent build differences between this unit and the previous avatar of a 1kW Enhance?

I don't think it's the OCP because when an OCP is exceeded, a PSU shuts down immediately. Not five minutes later.

[dr4gon]

Hmm, does this mean taht the Silverstone ST-1000 could potentially be one hell of a psu?

I love it when a plan comes together.

I honestly came into this review somewhat pesimistic knowing the typically mediocre performance of Enhance 1000W units. I come out of this review admitting I was wrong. Enhance can build an excellent 1000W that easily stacks up against units from Ultra, SilverStone and Thermaltake.

Great work on the review, as always! I too am interested now into how the ST1000 stacks up against the X3, Hope you do a review on it soon! I remember a couple weeks back I was asking you about the ST1000 enhance unit and you didnt seem to sure about it, but now, you also made me think again. thank you.

[Super Nade]

I don't think it's the OCP because when an OCP is exceeded, a PSU shuts down immediately. Not five minutes later.

I missed the 5 min later part. :)

[jonnyGURU]

Great work on the review, as always! I too am interested now into how the ST1000 stacks up against the X3, Hope you do a review on it soon! I remember a couple weeks back I was asking you about the ST1000 enhance unit and you didnt seem to sure about it, but now, you also made me think again. thank you.

I'm still skeptical about it myself.

If it was as good as this Cooler Master, why bother with SevenTeam? It was probably more expensive than the SevenTeam to OEM. Also, if they could get this performance from simply relabeling an Enhance unit, why not make it a Decathalon? Why just a Strider?

Sorry, but if I were to bet money on it, I'd say the SilverStone Strider 1000W is probably only as good as the SilverPower SP-1000E or Antec True Power Quatro 1000W.

[rugwarrior]

Hi,

really great review :)

BUT I have one question :D

Am I stupid?! -> in the (manual (http://www.coolermaster.com/uploads/support/file1184825635437.pdf)) for the MODULAR version is written 28A on 12V 3+4?! Also see this picture :wtf:
http://www.coolermaster.com/UserFiles/Image/Rating%20Label_640x480.jpg

The "modular" is also described as "ATX 2.3" :p

I thought the "cable" AND the "modular" version are build from the SAME unit?! :confused:

Anyone an idea what's happening here? :rant:

But if it a NEW version could you PLEASE :) review it. Because other sites testing this stuff are lightyears away from your test quality!

TIA
RugWarrior

[jonnyGURU]

Perhaps they updated those two rails because they had an issue with tripping the OCP. Those two rails are for the PCI-e connectors, so maybe they found that with a pair of 2900XTX cards they were overloading the PSU. :D

[Nicepants42]

Here's a link to the hot deal thread. (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=40&threadid=2081452) $189 is freakin' sick for this piece of hardware, but I've never heard of the retailer before.

From one of the responses in that thread, it looks like rugwarrior was on to something when he asked about a new version being released - someone's already posted a QUOTE review UNQUOTE. (http://www.rbmods.com/Articles/Coolermaster/Rs-a00-esba/1.php)

Jonny, if this modular version performs as well as it's predecessor, (while remaining near-silent), my days of dreaming up a way to hack a waterblock onto a good PSU (http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1359) might be nearing an end. Please review this thing! *kneels* Please?

[jonnyGURU]

Oh.. going back to what rugwarrior brought up.... there is a new ATX12V 2.3 that doesn't make 240VA DC output limitation a requirement. You can't find a specific "ATX12V 2.3 Specification" sheet at formfactor's, but if you download the whole PSU guide, you'll see the new 2.3 about half way down and you'll see that even the "requirement" of putting the CPU on it's own rail is now only "suggested."

[rugwarrior]

At first: thanx for all of your thoughts

What my system will look like:
(at the end of the year)

Quadcore Intel QX
(I hope that AMD will get better)
2x 8800 GTX or perhaps 2x "something" from ATI ;)
2x or 3x HDD (1x Raptor / 1x BIG-one)
1x BlueRay/HD-DVD
Some watercool stuff...
Some things for the "lightshow" part :p

I'll post some pics as soon as the "tower" or what I made out of it is ready (~2 weeks) ;)

Ok... all of that won't summ up to 850+ but I'm sure a 750W or 1000W version should do the job (CoolerMaster 1000 or 750 in "modular" version)

Ok... some may think :wtf: ... or he is a bit :crazy: or :wall: or at least had too much of :beer: but I think a silent and good psu with 750+ or 1000W is more :cool: than a lower W psu crying out of my tower rippling my components :D

I hope this is enough stuff to think about...

RugWarrior
PS: Why can I only use 10 smilies?! :rant:

[signmeuptoo]

Thanks for another good review!