It is a great time to be a gamer. Direct X 11 finally came to bless us with tessellations and dynamic lighty goodness. There is a down side too all this wonderful graphical goodness. You need to pump some serious wattage into your gaming rig just to get things rolling. This is where we begin our review today, Sparkle has bestowed a 1250W PSU upon us and I for one could not be happier. With all the influx of high wattage Nvidia cards popping up left and right it can be hard to stay on top of things. Let’s take a look at this behemoth of a PSU and see if this is the right choice for your next custom gaming rig.
Provided by: Sparkle
Price: $349.99
Closer Look:
Specifications and Features:
• 1250W Modular Power Supply
• 80 Plus Gold Certified
• Double Ball Bearing Fan
• All connector AU coating to keep Ultra high efficiency
• Full Thermal Control with super silent fan
• 12V peak at 120A
• Temperature control design mode
• Active PFC design
• Keep PSU fan running for 5-10 seconds after shut down to dissipate the remaining system heat and prolonging system lifetime.
• Ultra-quiet 13.9cm Fan with intelligent RPM control guarantees cool performance and silent operation.
• 99.9% 12V Power
• EPS12V PSU with 99.9% 12V output capability
• SYNC TRANSFORMER ARRAY
• Double main electrolytic capacitors
• DC to DC circuitry design with solid capacitors
• Forward Safe Guard Circuitry design
• Dual Layer main PCB 2.0mm thickness
• Sextuple 12V Rails
• 100A Mosfet 12V Rectifiers
• 30k µF low ESR secondary 105℃ electrolytic capacitors
• Triple AC EMC Filtering stage
• Dual capacitors design to protect system safety when sudden shut down
Series
|
Gold Class | |
Intel Specification
|
ATX12V / EPS12V | |
Energy Efficiency
|
80Plus Gold | |
Modular Cabling
|
Yes | |
Fan
|
139mm Fan | |
Fan Type
|
Double Ball Bearing | |
+12V Rail
|
6 | |
AC Input Range
|
Full Range: 90~264Vac | |
Frequency
|
50/60Hz | |
Input Current
|
15-8A | |
+5V
|
30A | |
+3.3V
|
30A | |
+12V1
|
20A | |
+12V2
|
20A | |
+12V3
|
20A | |
+12V4
|
20A | |
+12V5
|
20A | |
+12V6
|
20A | |
-12V
|
0.6A | |
+5VSB
|
3.0A | |
Total Power
|
1250W | |
24P Mainboard Connector
|
X 1 | |
4+4P CPU +12V Connector
|
X 1 | |
6+2P PCI-E Connector
|
X 6 | |
SATA Connector
|
X 12 (Max.) | |
4P Molex Connector
|
X 9 (Max.) | |
4P FDD Connector
|
X 3 (Max.) | |
Dimension
|
175mm X 155mm X 86mm |
Conclusion:
I have reviewed a lot of power supplies over the years but I gotta say this is the first one I have used with 6 12v rails. The Sparkle 1250W Gold Series Power Supply is by far one of the best PSU’s I have ever used. The features in themselves are more than just a little impressive but what is most impressive is the almost zero fluctuation between load and idle.
Granted this power comes at a price but they have eased the pain a little by including $100 voucher for some killer games which should ease your pain a little. Considering most power supplies in this class are around this price point and higher I think the people at Sparkle are pretty smart to toss in a little bonus for the gamers out there. If I am looking at two PSU’s with similar specs and one is tossing extra swag the decision is easy.
Would I recommend this power supply? Yes, maybe not to everyone, but if you are a serious gamer in need of serious power I strongly suggest picking up one of these for yourself. On the other hand if you are still sporting your grandmas hand me down emachine then I would suggest saving your $349+ for some better hardware upgrades.
Pros:
- 6 – Count Them – 6 12v Rails
- 3 Stage AC EMC Filtering for That Clean Power Smell
- Modular
- 80+ GOLD Certified Means a Less Painful Power Bill
- Post Shutdown Cooling Will Prolong Your PSU’s Life
- Fan is Actually Quite Quiet for a 1250W
- Bonus Goodies
- 20A Per 12V Rail
Cons:
- None
