INTRODUCTION

    Largely thanks to both AMD and NVIDIA power supply unit sales have peaked since last year and for someone who's seen countless people over the years skip on getting a good model watching people now place far more weight on that specific hardware component than ever before is quite satisfying. MSI in particular has done very well with their latest ATX 3.2 & PCIe 5.1 compliant power supply units and today I'll be testing yet another such model of theirs, the latest MPG A1000GS PCIE5.

    MSI is a leading provider of hardware solutions for gaming, content creation, and business productivity. Known for its innovation and reliability, MSI develops products that enhance user experience and improve efficiency in a wide range of applications.

    The AxGS PCIE5 is part of MSI's MPG (MSI Performance Gaming) lineup and is currently available in 3 different output models (850/1000/1250W) all of which are fully modular, ATX 3.1 & PCIe 5.1 compliant and 80 PLUS Gold certified (up to 90% efficiency). The 1000W unit which landed in the lab a while back features two 12V-2x6 power connectors (dual color, 600W), single 6+2 pin PCIe power connector, single strong +12V rail (83.3A) capable of delivering almost 100% of the units’ total power output (999.6W) and a peak power output of no less than 1138W (peak should now be up to around 2.25KW for up to 100ms - once again however this is not something i can test). The AxGS PCIE5 line also sports half bridge LLC topology with DC to DC module design, active PFC, zero fan mode for its 135mm fan (starts spinning after a specific load), embossed jacket modular cables, high-quality server grade Japanese capacitors certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius and a full array of electrical protections including over-current (OCP), over-voltage (OVP), under-voltage (UVP), short-circuit (SCP), over-temperature (OTP), no-load (NLO), surge and in-rush (SIP), and over-power (OPP). Finally, MSI covers the entire AxGS PCIE5 line with a very generous 10-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The front as always is taken by a large product picture, company logo and some certifications.

Moving at the rear we find the main product features, electrical table and the available modular cables.

Typically, the unit is placed between two pieces of foam while the modular cables are placed inside a storage pouch.

Along with the A1000GS PCIE5 power supply unit and its power cord inside the box you'll also find the modular cables with their storage pouch, 4 mounting screws, EU regulatory notes paper and a giveaway paper.

THE A1000GS PCIE5 EXTERIOR

MSI has used dual-colored 12V-2x6 power connectors with the entire AxGS PCIE5 line.

Once again, we have a compact model here that measures just 150mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height.

The 135mm fan is placed under a very nice looking grill that also has the line logo on it.

Both the company logo and the MPG line are printed on both sides.

As usual you can find the electrical table on the belly of the enclosure.

All 10 available modular ports at the front of the A1000GS PCIE5 are tagged and grouped.

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

THE A1000GS PCIE5 INTERIOR

The 135mm brushless fan is manufactured by ZETA and yes, it's not a model we've seen a lot to date.

I was quite happy to see that the OEM behind the MPG A1000GS PCIe 5.1 model is CWT (Channel Well Technologies).

Primary capacitor is manufactured by Rubycon and is certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are manufactured by both Rubycon and Nippon Chemi-Con and are again certified for use up to 105 degrees.

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 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

    The A1000GS PCIE5 may be part of MSI’s mid/high-end MPG line but just like with several other hardware components from that line it produced very good overall performance. Rail stability is tight, build quality is very good (as expected by CWT), the dual 12V-2x6 power cables are certain to come in handy, it’s covered by a full industrial array of electrical protections and the zero fan mode is always good to have under certain scenarios. Unfortunately, noise levels emanating from the Zeta fan are slightly higher than expected and I also need to point out the lack of PCIe 6+2 pin cables (I know people can use 12V-2x6 to 6+2 pin power adapters but it’s always better to have native ones). Yes, I don’t expect these to be game breakers for many, but they may stand out for some.

    Currently retailing for just USD164 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 215.69Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the MPG A1000GS PCIE5 power supply unit by MSI is priced well (better than expected on the other side of the Atlantic). Overall there’s not much else to say about the A1000GS PCIE5, yes, it may not be perfect but it delivers on everything most modern users will look for in a power supply unit and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality (Japanese Capacitors)
- Solid Rail Stability
- ATX 3.1 & PCIe 5.1 Compliant
- Two 12V2X6 600W Power Cables
- Strong Single Rail (83.3A)
- 80 PLUS Gold Certified
- Electrical Protections (OCP/OVP/OPP/UVP/SCP/OTP)
- 10 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Noise Levels (For Some)
- Single PCIe 6+2 Pin Power Cable