INTRODUCTION

    Largely due to the launch of the Radeon RX 9070 / XT graphics cards by AMD many people have been asking about which power supply they should be buying to accompany their latest purchase and well, as I've mentioned in recent reviews there couldn't have been a better time for that. Not only is the market filled with high-performance PCIe 5.1 & ATX 3.1 compliant models by both large and small names but many of those are also guaranteed to outlast your entire systems. Roughly half a month ago FSP officially released their flagship MEGA TI model which arrived in the lab at the same time and with a twist.

    FSP Group is one of the global leading power supply manufacturers. Since its establishment in 1993, FSP Group has followed the management conception “service, profession, and innovation” to continuously fulfil its responsibilities as a green energy resolution supplier. With the combination of its leading role in power supply technology and the cultivation of green energy field, FSP Group now provides more competitive quality products and makes itself the most reliable partner for customers, consumers, and suppliers with joint creation of maximized values.

     The MEGA TI is currently available in just two models (1300/1650W) both of which are fully modular and are both 80 PLUS Titanium certified (up to 94% electrical efficiency) and ATX12V V3.1 & PCIe 5.1 compliant. With me I have the 1650W model (1.65KW) which features a single massive +12V rail (137.5A) capable of delivering 100% of the units’ total power output (1650W), peak power output of no less than 1793W (once again according to ATX 3.0 specs peak should now be up to over 3.3KW for up to 100ms duration – not something i can test however), two 12V-2x6 connectors (2x600W), six PCIe 6+2 connectors, active PFC, LLC Resonant-converter Topology with Synchronous Rectifier, DC-to-DC technology, MTLC (micro tolerance load control) technology, zero RPM mode, conformal coating and 100% Japanese capacitors. It's covered by a 10-year limited warranty and is also protected by virtually every electrical/circuit protection out there including OVP (over-voltage), OCP (over-current), OPP (over-power), OTP (over-temperature), SCP (short-circuit), UVP (under-voltage), SIP (surge and inrush) and NLO (no load operation).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The MEGA TI is shipped inside a black box that has a product picture at the front alongside the company logo and the main product features (the special edition ribbon is probably just for media and/or FSP partners).

All available power connectors are printed on the left side of the box.

At the base of the box FSP asks you to visit their website for more product info and in 34 languages (small product drawing is also available here).

As expected at the rear we find the features list in 10 languages and of course the product electrical table and contact information for FSP.

More and more manufacturers are using recycled materials for their boxes and FSP is among them.

Along with the MEGA TI 1650W it's power cables and power cord inside the box you'll also find a PSU tester, 3 cable straps, 4 mounting thumbscrews, several cable holders, warranty paper and the user manual.

THE MEGA TI 1650W EXTERIOR

All power cables included with the MEGA TI feature individually sleeved cables, 12V-2x6 included.

Measuring just 180mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height the MEGA TI may not be the smallest power supply unit at that output but it's still a compact model.

The 135mm FDB (fluid dynamic bearing) fan sits under a aluminum silver grille.

This silver grille also came with my website's name on it, thus the special edition ribbon (nice gesture by FSP).

Typically, the model name and brand logo are printed on both sides.

Turning the unit over we find an large sticker with the electrical table on it.

All 16 power connectors/ports at the front of the unit are different in shape and tagged.

At the rear we find the zero RPM on/off switch, power on/off switch and the power port.

THE MEGA TI 1650W INTERIOR

Just like with past models FSP has once again used an 135mm FDB fan by PROTECHNIC ELECTRIC.

For a unit that outputs 1650W the interior of the MEGA TI is quite clean.

All three primary capacitors are manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con and are certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are manufactured by both Nippon Chem-Con and rubycon and are also certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However, it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a test rig. Certainly, limitations do apply and so you can't really push a 1000W power supply to its limits if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why over the years we saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact much closer to real world usage. So as always, we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

   Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say, in order to get 100% accurate readings, you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate, nor realistic for that matter). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

* After well over 10 years of testing PSUs the Intel Core i7-920 CPU of this rig failed and so we replaced it with a Xeon X5660 (we also swapped the GA-X58A-UD7 for the G1. Assassin).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

    Lately whenever FSP releases a new power supply model I’m reminded as to the why they’ve been among the top OEM manufacturers for as far back as I can remember. Yes, in some countries their name may not carry the same weight as some other brands, but the funny thing is that FSP has been the one behind numerous models released by those brands. As for the MEGA TI 1650W there’s not much I can say about it, rail stability is superb, noise levels are lower than expected (although I do expect them to get higher when someone squeezes over 1100W from the unit), 94% efficiency at typical loads is great and as for build quality things couldn’t get much better than this. On top of that add the 10-year limited warranty, available electrical protections and also the fact that the MEGA TI is a compact model and the end result is clearly one of the best power supply units in the market today.

   With less than a month in the global market the MEGA TI 1650W ATX 3.1 & PCIe 5.1 power supply unit by FSP is not easy to come by. As a matter of fact, I was only able to find it on the USA based FSP website for USD459.99 so it’s priced along the lines I was expecting and roughly the same as many other similar output units. At the end of the day you can’t go wrong with FSP so when they release a flagship model I strongly recommend paying attention and since it does deliver on everything the Platinum Award is in order.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Superb Rail Stability
- 1650W Output
- 80 PLUS Titanium Certified (Up To 94% Electrical Efficiency)
- Electrical Protections (OVP/OCP/OPP/OTP/SCP/UVP/SIP/NLO)
- Compact Size (180x150x86mm)
- Micro Tolerance Load Control
- Two 12V-2x6 Connectors (2x600W)
- Zero RPM Fan Mode
- Powerful Single Rail (137.5A)
- 10 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Current Availability