Gigabyte XTREME GAMING XP1200M PSU review - Introduction

Gigabyte XTREME GAMING XP1200M PSU
Atomic number 78 - Platinum Certified

Today we peek at the XP1200M Platinum edition power supply series from Gigabyte. This unit lagged under the  Xtreme gaming series comes Platinum certified (seriously efficient), fairly silent, is modular and can be spotted for just $279 / 259 EUR. Platinum certified means it can offer up to 92 per cent energy efficiency at 50% load which prevents wasted power.

Since the PSU oozes quality, Gigabyte will even throw in a 5 year warranty. All factors combined offer value, heaps of features and lifespan for your enthusiast PC build. The trend lately is making the most energy efficient models. Platinum is what you want, however it's often expensive if you stick to the top brands like Enermax, Cooler Master, SuperFlower, Corsair, and so on. Today we're testing probably what is among the better power supplies we have had in our hands, and it comes from a bit of an underdog, Gigabyte. You all know them, you probably owned a product or two from them, but likely never a power supply. The PC hardware and component manufacturer this outs the XTREME GAMING XP1200M power supply delivers up to 1200W of 80 PLUS Platinum efficient power. This rather sizable power supply will remain relatively silent thanks to the inclusion of a 140mm Smart Fan.The Smart Fan is also extra durable (anything durable has written Gigabyte all over it) due to a double ball bearing construction. The PSU is ATX form-factor and yes, is based upon one massive single +12V rail. Though multi-GPU is on its return, it certainly would be a great match for a massive SLI/Crossfire setup. You'll notice that  cables are flat, connectors are black and the forms, shapes and sizes simply have been made aesthetically rather pleasing. The PSU is rated with an MTBF of over 100,000 hours, and has been fitted with Japanese capacitors that should last a lifespan of 20 years, or four times longer than a 'conventional' capacitor, Gigabyte states. Gigabyte didn't shy away on anything, the PSU has embedded any safety you can thing of including OVP/OPP/SCP/UVP/OCP/OTP. The XTREME GAMING XP1200M power supply is not even huge in size either, D180 x W150 x H86mm. Even more beautiful is the length of the cables, we'll show you that in the review but I can tell you already, it's done right. A couple of years ago a new trend picked up, the consumers all created a demand for modified PCs. The dull beige painted PCs had to go. We wanted nicely shaped, cooled and preferably lit PCs with side windows so we could actually look at the inside of the PC. Really cool to look at but that created another issue. We now had the beautiful looking cases where you could look inside, but that resulted in pulling the hairs out of your head as there were yellow, red, and black wires coming from the PSU everywhere. So the power supply received another function; aesthetics. It needs to look nice. By organizing cables and by giving you the option to actually choose the wires you want to use, another problem was solved. We call it cable management these days, and this PSU certainly delivers.

So today we peek at the XTREME GAMING XP1200M Platinum series. A PSU loaded with features and top notch efficiency, it certainly surprised us in a very good way. Have a peek at the product and then let's head on-wards into the review.