The Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 PSU Review: Testing the Limits of SFX
by E. Fylladitakis on February 22, 2023 10:00 AM ESTHot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)
Many performance indexes of the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 are greatly affected when the ambient temperature is very high, suggesting extreme thermal stress. The average efficiency degradation is greater than 2% across the nominal load range, one of the worst figures we ever recorded. Furthermore, the degradation of the unit’s efficiency near or at maximum capacity is extremely high, reaching a maximum of over 5.1%, suggesting extreme thermal stress.
Regardless of the fan’s valiant efforts, the internal temperatures of the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100 reach extremely high figures while the unit operates heavily loaded inside our hotbox. The PSU was either operating extremely close to the thermal shutdown limit, or it was just a matter of time until it was triggered, as we recorded surface temperatures of over 120°C. Such temperatures easily justify the thermal stress that the unit is exhibiting on electrical performance figures.
The 92 mm cooling fan starts at a relatively low speed but it now will be audible even if the load is just 100 Watts. Still, the noise figures are not high and the PSU would be tolerable for daily use. However, the fan quickly increases its speed as the load increases and even reaches its maximum speed when the V SFX Platinum 1100 is operating at just 60% capacity. After that, the fan is powerless to do anything else and is the reason why the internal temperatures of the unit climb so high. The designer of this unit clearly did not mean it to be used inside very hot environments and/or heavily loaded for prolonged periods of time, something also hinted by the number of connectors it has.
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meacupla - Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - link
I am surprised they managed to get 1100W out SFX size constraints.Asus and Silverstone use SFX-L for their 1000~1200W range, and those already look cramped on the insides.
ZoSo - Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - link
I'm looking at this one and the Asus Loki 1000 to power a 4090FE and 13900k.TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - link
It looks great, but the cases that support SFX are so limited. Everyone is hung up on building oversized ITX boxes with ATX PSU support.Techie2 - Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - link
This looks like a decent 800w PSU design crammed into an SFX case. Without a 125mm fan it runs hopelessly hot and isn't practical for more than 800w max load. The excess ripple is also a concern. I personally would not buy this if I actually needed over 800w sustained power. I'm surprised Cooler Master didn't have the OEM work out a slightly better design even if they needed to use the SFX-L length. It's almost an excellent PSU but not at near max power.erinadreno - Thursday, February 23, 2023 - link
CoolerMaster IS the OEM for many other name-branded PSUs. It's either them or Greatwall for Tier 1 Chinese PSU OEMs.Techie2 - Thursday, February 23, 2023 - link
Quote from the review: "This is the first time we have encountered Sysgration as the OEM of a computer PSU..."Maksdampf - Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - link
Such a shame they did not go for the vastly superior SFX-L format. For 1,1KW it would have really made a difference and most SFX cases do support these the same way as short SFX PSUs. 120mm Fans do push 70% more air at the same speed and the slightly lengthened PCB would open op more airflow alleys.I got a good deal on a fractal Design Ion SFX (Seasonic Focus SGX clone) and even though it is a cheaper gold rated unit it has excellent noise and thermals. I could have gotten a more efficient corsair with its 92mm Fan, but i deliberately chose this one for the better thermals and noise.
lemurbutton - Thursday, February 23, 2023 - link
Anandtech will review power supplies, which are mostly all the same. But Anandtech still won't review M1 Ultra which is the most interesting piece of silicon to come out in decades.PeachNCream - Friday, February 24, 2023 - link
Have we been reading the same site? Anandtech is, at best, a shambling zombie of a website. There is news, but none of it is reported here. I have been waiting the past couple of months for the URL to redirect to Toms Hardware and I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.