14 DAY TRIAL // 80 Plus Platinum may not be the highest efficiency rating in the world, but it's pretty rare as it is, quite a bit more so than 80 Plus Gold, which means that Cooler Master has just scored some points even if its latest product doesn't sell to more than a few hundred or thousand people.
The product in question is none other than the V1200 Platinum, the latest addition to the V Series Power Supplies. Previously, Cooler Master only had 700W, 850W and 1,000W models in the line.
The 80 Plus certification system was invented when it became obvious that the PC industry really couldn't go forward without putting some effort into saving power.
The various components of a PC all have to take energy consumption into account these days, but it's still the PSU that wastes the most energy in most cases.
After all, the 80 Plus Bronze is considered a more than decent rating for a mid-range PSU because “only” 20% or so of the energy that goes in is wasted.
Above 80 Plus Bronze are 80 Plus Silver, Gold, Platinum and Titanium, none of which avoid waste altogether.
The V1200 Platinum is 80 Plus Platinum rated, obviously, because it has an efficiency of 93% at 50% load.
Not only are the printed circuit boards and circuits themselves built with very durable and high-quality components (custom PCB interface, high quality 42mm transformers), but the cooling technology is better than that of most others too.
The 135 mm fan (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) boasts an auto / hybrid easy switch controller, which lets you change fan control modes at any time, without having to restart the PC or use some software or another.
You should even be able to have the PSU work in absolute silence, though only if the system isn't eating too much energy at the time. Useful when you're writing a paper, for example.
On the video side, 4-way SLI/CrossFireX multi-card setups are supported, though monsters like the PowerColor Radeon R9 295 X2 (which has four 8-pin power ports all on its own) will limit your options. It’s a good thing that dual-chip cards are two-way SLI/CrossFireX products all on their own.
Finally, the V1200 Platinum has support for the 4th Generation Intel Core Desktop Processor C6/C7 Power States (which let the CPU go from C0 active to C7 deep power down mode). Cooler Master's V1200 Platinum PSU should be up for sale at €260 / $260.