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NZXT Precise PRC-1000 (1000W PSU)

NZXT’s first high end power supply, the Precise 1000W, pakced with a lot of great features, such as modular design, the ability to swtich between combine and split +12V, six +12V rails that will power even the most demanding system on the market. What’s more, the power supply comes with 6 PCIe connectors that will power not only 3 8800GTX cards but also have the ability to power next generation of graphic cards. What’s more amazing is that this PSU’s size is standard ATX PSU size rather over-sized PSUs like some other 1000W PSU. It looks promising but can it performs as good as it seems, check out our review as we test this PSU out.

INTRODUCTION

 
The power supply can be the one component that often gets overlooked when shopping for computer components. In the industry where bigger numbers usually means better, people often forgot that the power supply is a tricky thing as the specifications can often be misleading. A higher wattage power supply may sound like the better choice, yet if the rails don’t have the amperage to back it up or is not being divided evenly among the components, then it could actually do more damage than a slightly lower wattage power supply built with high quality and stable rails. The latest nForce chipset and G80 graphics cards have put a huge demand for quality power supplies and that’s why you see many manufactures are starting to enter into the already competitive market of high end power supplies, ranging from 800W and even higher. Today, we will take a look at yet another new player in the power supply market, NZXT, who has just introduced their latest 1000W rated power supply.
 
Most readers probably are well aware of NZXT makes some of the coolest looking cases in the industry but many people might not realize that NZXT actually makes power supplies as well. In fact, NZXT really has not pushed too much with their power supplies and many of them are being bundled into their cases. This is no longer the case now as NZXT is trying to expand their product line up and getting into the high end system with their latest release of the Precise lines of the power supplies and the latest products: the Precise 850 and the Precise 1000. We will be looking at the Precise 1000 in this review and see if this power supply is able to help NZXT break into new territory.
 

THE COMPANY

 

NZXT probably does not need too much introduction. Established in 2004, they have quickly becoming a company that makes excellent looking cases with affordable pricing, some of which are quickly being adopted by many computer builders.
 

NZXT, a company built upon gamer’s dreams, hopes to create products that put consumers first. Our objective is to provide every gamer with a case that they can identify with. Combining unique design and case performance, consumers will finally be able to find a quality case that will represent their own style and personality.
 
In the future, NZXT wishes all gamers who desire a personalized case to find it at NZXT. With the unveiling of every product, NZXT improves upon on weaknesses and strives for excellence. Achieving perfection is not an easy task, however, NZXT is determined to meet and surpass consumer expectations.

SPECIFICATION AND FEATURES

 
The Precise line of the power supplies has the power wattage ranging from 550W, 650W, 850W and 1000W. The 850W and the 1000W are targeted toward high end computer users as both power supplies shares a lot of similar features.  On the image below, you can see the specification and the difference between the two PSUs.

PRECISE 1000W Specification

 

Voltage

 Minimum (Amps)

Maximum (Amps)

+3.3V
0.5
28
+5V
0.5
28
+12V1 
0.5
20
+12V2 
0.5
20
+12V3 
0.5
20
+12V4 
0.5
20
+12V5 
0.5
20
+12V6 
0.5
20
-12V 
0.1
0.8
+5VSB 
0.1
6
 
  1. The maximum continuous total DC outputs power shall not exceed 10 00W for PRC-1000W
  2. The maximum continuous load on +5V and +3.3V outputs shall not exceed 180 W.        
  3. The maximum combined current for the +12V outputs shall be 75 A for PRC-1000W      
  4. The 5V standby output shall remain on while the AC input power connected,whether
  5. DC outputs are disabled (Off) or enabled (On) by the remote on control signal, but when the 5V Standby output remained on with the AC input power turn off , the remote on control will be disabled.                            
  6. When the combined current for the +12V outputs is 75 A the+5Vminimum load is 6 A.
  7. The peak load of PRC-1000W is 1100 w for 6 0 second.                                   
 

DC Output

 Load Regulation

 Line Regulation

Ripple and Noise
+12V1~12V4 DC 
±5%
±1%

120mV (pk-pk)
+5V DC
±5%

±1%

50mV (pk-pk)
+3.3V DC
±5%

±1%

50mV (pk-pk)
-12V DC
±10%

±2%

120mV (pk-pk)
5VSB 
±5%

±1%

50mV (pk-pk)
 
 
 

Factor

Rating
Efficiency
80% at full load, normal line
Hold Up Time
Minimum 16ms at full load, 115Vac
Rise Time
Maximum 25ms at full load, normal line

Power Good Signal

TTL compatible
MTBF
Minimum 250,000 Hours at Full load, 25oC ambient
 

Cables and Connectors

 

Cables and Connectors

Present/Number
12V-8Pin
YES
12V-4Pin
YES
PCI Express VGA 6pin
4
SATA Power Load
12
Floppy Disk Connector
2
Molex
6
SATA to Molex
4
 

Features:

 

  • 1000 Watts Load Ratings- Four +12V Rails for processor Power)
  • Six +12V rails dedicated to your video cards and other components
  • SATA and PCI-E Connectors
  • Low noise power supply with thermal controlled 120mm Ball bearing fan
  • Modular design for an easy and clean install, use only the cables you need
  • Standard ATX Size, will fit any standard computer chassis
  • Support for up to 8 hard drives
  • Four PCI-E Connectors for the newest 8000 Series NVIDIA cards
  • Sleeved cables for a cleaner and better appearance
  • Power Factor Correction
    • Active mode.
  • Output Voltage
    • Table 1 below summarizes the minimum DC output voltages and associated power requirements for each output. PRC-1000W
  •  
  •  Output Protection
    • Each DC output is protected from over voltage, over current and short circuit. The following sections include the details for these protection mechanisms.
  • Over Current Protection :
    • When output power is generated between 110%~150%, except of 5VSB output,
  • Over Voltage Protection
    • +5V output is between 5.8V to 6.3V
    • +12V output is between 13.5V to 16.0V
    • +3.3V output is between 3.6V to 4.2V
  • Short Circuit Protection
    • On all output rails
  • Safety / Agency Approval
    • UL 1950
    • CSA C22.2
    • ICE 950
    • TUV EN60950 -1
    • CE EN 61000-3-2/1995, EN 61000-3-3/1995
    • EN 55024/1998, EN 5022/1994+A1: 1995+A2: 1997

EXTERIOR VIEW

The Precise PRC-1000W comes in a really nice looking shrink wrapped black box. The box is not too flashy with whole bunch of pictures but the black color sure will grab your attention. On the box, you will see a lot of the information about the power supply as well as all the features being clearly printed outside of the box.

 
Open up the box, you will first see a white box sitting on top of the power supply which contains the accessories (more on this later). Underneath the box, you will see the power supply is well protected with bubble wrap inside the box along with the power chord.

Here you can see that the contents in the box: the PSU, a white accessory box, a power cable.

 
The power supply is black with shiny, reflective mirror coating and it looks really nice. One thing that will immediately stands out is the size of the unit, the Precise 1000W is a standard ATX size 1000W power supply.  Putting it next to the Enermax Galaxy 850W and you will see that the Precise 1000W is much smaller than the Enermax Galaxy 850W PSU that was reviewed few month ago. I am actually quite surprised with the size as all the 800W plus PSU that I have reviewed so far are all larger than standard ATX size. It’s really nice to see a standard size PSU because it means that it will fit in any case on the market without any trouble.

 
The PSU has plenty of ventilation holes both on the front and back and on the left side. In addition, it has a thermal controlled, low noise, 120mm fan with fan grill on the bottom to help cool the internal components.  Unfortunately, the fan grill is outside of the PSU, so it may pose some slight problem if the area around the PSU is a little crowded.

 
On the back, you see the normal power connector and the on/off switch and like many newer Active PFC PSUs, this power supply will automatically adjust the input voltage from 90VAC to 264VAC.  In addition, you will find something interesting which I have not yet seen in any PSU, a switch which allows you to either split the +12V into multiple rails or combine them into a big +12V.  The latest ATX specification mandates a single rail should not exceed 240VA (12V x 20A) and often manufactures will design a power supply with +12V not exceeding 18A to allow a little headroom.  Thus, a multiple rails is needed in order to supply more than 240VA on the +12V.  Such design is meant to guarantee the transistor (often the cheap ones) is able to supply the needed efficiency when the demand for the +12V is high and it will help to prevent cheap transistors from blowing up (you never want it to happen).  Unfortunately with the demand of the +12V on many of today’s high end graphics cards and quad core CPU, they could easily draw quite significant power off the +12V rails, and if the multiple +12V rails are not being distributed evenly among these power hunger components, users can suffer from insufficient power on one of these split +12V rails.  That’s why some people prefer to have a large amperage on one single +12V rail and forget about having multiple +12V rails.

 
The design on the Precise 1000W will virtually satisfy both camps and allows users to choose either combining the +12V for a large Amps or split them into different rails for slightly more stable PSU.  On the specification of the Precise 1000W, you will notice that it comes with 6 +12V rails each with 20A and the combined +12V is 75A.  Either combining the +12V or splitting the +12V, 75A on the 12V should be more than enough for any user with a quad core CPU, 8800GTX SLI, and multiple hard drives.  In addition to the 75A on the +12V, the PSU is able to output 28A on both the +3.3V and +5V with a combined wattage of 180W, 6A on the +5VSB, and 0.8A on the -12V. 
 
Looking at the front of the PSU, you will see the bundled cables coming out of the PSU are protected with a plastic ring to prevent the metal case from scratching and breaking the cable.  Also, notice that the cables are fully sleeved. I like that the NZXT is not bundling too much cables into the unit as it leaves cable organization fairly easy. The 8-pin modular connectors are used for the various included cables but apparently there is no cable included that fits into the 4-pin modular connector.

Here you get a better view of teh modular connectors.  Note the 4 pin connector above teh bundled power leads.

 

CABLES AND CONNECTORS

 
As we have seen on the previous picture, this is a modular design power supply with a few basic cables attached to the power supply.  The attached cables are: a 24-pin ATX power connector, an 8-pin ATX auxiliary power connector, a 4-pin ATX auxiliary power connector, three 4-pin molex connectors, and one floppy connector.  I like that the attached leads come with enough connector for a basic system setup but I would like to see a few SATA connectors possibly one PCIe connector for the graphics card.  All the cables are fully sleeved all the way to the end of the connector to help increase the air flow and free from cable clusters.

 
In addition, here are the modular cables that are included with the PSU:

  • 1 lead with 3 4-pin molex connectors and a floppy connector
  • 3 leads with 4 SATA connectors
  • 2 leads 6-pin PCIe connector
  • 1 leads with 2 6-pin PCIE connectors
  • 2 leads with 2 8-pin (2+6-pin) PCIe connectors

The modular cables are also fully sleeved just like the attached cables.  What is worth mentioning is that the PSU comes with the 8-pin PCIe connectors that will support the next generation of the graphics cards, such as the upcoming AMD R600 and future cards from NVIDIA which all are rumored to have the 8-pin PCIe connector. The connector actually can be used as regular 6-pin PCIe by simply detaching the two extra pins off the 8-pin connector.

 

On the left, you can see the difference between the 6-pin PCIe and the 8-pin PCIe connectors.  On the right, you can see that the 8-pin PCIe connector can be used as 6-pin PCIe connector by detaching the 2 extra pins.

Just a note on the 8-pin PCIe connector, although it uses the same 8-pin design as the 8-pin auxiliary ATX power adapter, the connector is not inter-changeable with the ATX power adapter as the pin-out is different.  You won’t be able to mess up with the connectors as the ATX power adapter won’t fit the PCIE connector’s plug.  Comparing the newer 8-pin PCIE connector with the 8-pin auxiliary power connector and you can see the difference:
 

It’s not easy to see from the picture above but the pinout on the 8-pin PCIe is different from the EPS12V.

     

The connector of the EPS12V (left) and the 8-pin PCIe (right).

 
If you think that the PSU only comes with 3 molex connnectors for the peripherals and you wish that NZXT includes more of the molex connectors, well you will be glad to hear that NZXT has included 4 SATA to molex adapter that snaps onto the SATA power connector to convert the SATA power connector into the molex connector.  I believe that NZXT really designs this power supply for the next generation of components where the SATA DVD-ROM and SATA hard drive will be the predominant components, hence the lack of native molex connector.  Still, all together the PSU will have 7 molex connectors, more than enough for most of us who may have multiple case fans and peripherals that takes power from the molex connector.
 
  
 
In addition to the cables, the PSU also comes with the power cable, a bag of screws, and Velcro cable straps, typical NZXT package which comes with all the needed accessories and more.

 

INTERNAL VIEW

 

Let’s open up the unit and have a look at inside of the power supply. For a 1000 W power supply, the unit looks quite simple in my opinion. From the top, you will see the two rows of black heatsinks covering the components, they are not overly large but they are positioned directly next to the ventilation holes and above the 120mm intake fan so they should help to cool the components fairly well. The primary caps (two large black round things on the upper left of the picture) are hard to identify as there’s no marking on them.

Turn to the side where the cables from the connectors are routed, you will see that the PCB on the PSU actually has two fan connectors, but only one is used on the PSU. You can also see the where the 12V1, 12V3, and 12V4 are connected to the PCB board. A little digging into the cables reveals the secondary caps are Asia-X brand. Not that there’s anything wrong with Asia-X brand but for a 1000W PSU and the price of this PSU, you kind of expect to have a slightly more well-known manufacture as the price of caps may not be that much difference.

On the front of the PSU, you will see how the rails are connected to the modular connector’s PCB. It seems to me that two connectors next to each other are sharing the same 12V rails.

 
We can get a better view on the fan once the PSU is opened, here you can see the fan is made by Sanyo Denki model 9G1212H401, a 120 mm x 25mm fan. I couldn’t find too much information about the rpm or the noise level on Sanyo Denki’s site, nor could I find the bearing of the fan.  According to the information provided by NZXT, the fan should be thermal controlled ball bearing.

TESTING

System Configuration

Processor

Intel E6600 Core 2 Duo (overclocked to 3.2GHz)

Motherboard

EVGA nForce 680i SLI (BIOS P26)

Memory

Team Group TXDD2048M800HC4DC-D

Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda Barracuda 7200.10 SATA ST3400620AS (16MB cache) 

 Western Digital WD2500KS-00MJB0 SATA (16MB cache)

Graphics Cards

2 x EVGA 8800 GTX (SLI)

Sound Card

Creative X-FI

Operating System

Windows XP SP2

Before we take a look at the result, let me comment on my general impression on the Precise 1000W.  I installed the NZXT Precise 1000W into my NZXT Zero case without any trouble at all.  The standard ATX size of the power supply really makes installation process a breeze as oppose to some other large size PSUs on the market.  I have mentioned the placement of the modular connectors’ placement in the past when I review the Enermax Galaxy 850W that they should be placed on the right side of the bundled cable so they can be easily accessed.  The Precise 1000W’s placement of the modular connectors on the left side of the bundled cable makes installating modular cables slightly cumbersome once the PSU is inside the system.

As for the noise level of the power supply, it’s absolutely whispering quiet.  Unfortunately, the PSU does not come with any temperature or RPM monitoring connector to connect to the motherboard, so I can’t really report the rpm, but it’s really quiet.

Since the Precise 1000W has the ability to split the +12V into 6 different rails or combine them into a single rail with 75A, I tested the PSU with both settings.  The idle is tested after Windows has finished loading for about 5 minutes (and the hard drive disk activity light has stopped blinking).  The load condition is achieved with the system running 3DMarks06.

Let’s take a look at the performance.

Rails

+3.3V

+5V

+12V
Setting: Commbined
 
 
 
Idle
3.42V
5.09V
12.28V
Load 
3.44V
5.10V
12.29V
Setting: Split 
 
 
 
Idle 
3.44V
5.10V
12.26V
Load 
3.44V
5.10V
12.27

All three rails are within the expected ATX specification of 5% tolerance. As you can see, the rails are absolutely stable.  During the testing, I didn’t notice much fluctuation among the rails; in fact, the +3.3V and +5V rails hardly changes at all.  When the power supply is set in the combined mode, the +12V rails stayed at 12.29V during the majority of the test except during the Canyon Flight test where it jumps to 12.32V for a few seconds in the middle of the test and in the CPU test, the +12V rails actually runs at +12.25V.  When the setting is set at split mode, the power supply actually fluctuates between 12.27V and 12.29V once again during the Canyon Flight test and the lowest voltage that was observed during the test is 12.25V.

Once again, I use Everest to monitor the voltage fluctuation.  Do keep in mind that the reading in the Everest is not accurate but once again, I merely present this data so we can get an idea on the stability of the rails.  What’s nice about the Everest is that it will show the maximum and minimum voltage and in addition, it will calculate the average voltage based on the data points that are taken, so if the average is closer to the maximum or the minimum, then we can conclude that the voltage is fairly stable.

Rails

+3.3V

+5V

+12V
Minimum
3.26V
4.99V
11.83V
Maximum
3.26V
4.99V
11.99V
Average
 3.26V
4.99V 
 11.96V

Once again, the Everest reflects what we have observed with the Multmeter that the +3.3V and the +5V are rails are absolutely stable.  We see a small fluctuation in the +12V but it stayed predominantly in the 11.99V.

CONCLUSION

I was extremely surprised by the NZXT’s Precise 1000W power supply since this is the first high end power supply coming from a company whose name is primarily being associated with good quality cases but NZXT has taken their tradition of designing a good reliable cases into their power supply and the end result is a very good product.  Not only that this power supply has the aesthetic, the function, the ability to provide stable power, and modular connectors, the fact that it is a standard ATX size means that you don’t ever have to worry about crammed space when you install it in any case.  In addition, the ability to switch from multiple +12V rails or combine the +12V rails into a single rail is also an excellent idea as it provides the ability to use either setting as users please.

With the price tag of $334.99 over at Newegg, the Precise 1000W is far from a cheap power supply, but the price is comparable with any other high quality 1000W power supply, so at least it’s not overpriced.  What you do get in this power supply is the stable power that is able to power even the most power demanding system on the market today (three 8800GTX graphic cards with the included six PCIe connector and quad core processor) but also the ability to power the next generation of hardware (with the two 8 pins PCI Express graphic cards, such as R600 in Crossfire).  Furthermore, NZXT is keeping with industry’s standard warranty on the high end power supply by offering a 3 year warranty.  It’s really nice to see NZXT has done well with their first entry into the high end power supply market with the Precise 1000W.

 

NZXT’s Precise 1000W will receive a score of 9 out of 10 (Extremely Good) for their excellent performance, great features, and looks and will be awarded Bjorn3D’s Seal of Approval.

 

Pros:

     + Modular connectors
     + Good performance
     + Ample amount of cables included
     + Split +12V rails or combined +12V rail
     + Supports next generation of PCIe graphics cards (two 8-pin PCIe connectors)
     + Cables are fully sleeved
     + 3 year warranty
     + 80% efficiency
     + Quiet
     + Standard ATX PSU size 

Cons:

     – Expensive
     – No temperature monitoring ability
     – Better quality/brand caps would have been nice
     – Modular connectors to be placed on the right side of the bundled cable to allow easy access
     – Include some SATA connectors and at least 1 PCIe connector to the bundled cable would be nice

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