INTRODUCTION

   PCIe 5.0 seems to be the "hottest" thing in the PC market right now thanks to not only the latest graphics cards released by NVIDIA (GeForce RTX 40xx) and AMD (Radeon RX 7900 XT/XTX) but also the latest AMD B650/X670 and Intel Z790 motherboards. Of course, building a brand new PCIe 5.0 system should also be accompanied by one of the latest ATX v3.0 (PCIe 5.0) power supply units but just like with every new standard/specification introduced this is where things actually get a bit tricky cause you can't rely on every single manufacturer out there to get everything just right. Luckily for professionals and enthusiasts alike there are manufacturers out there who always live up to our expectations and have been leading the market for decades now. Seasonic is clearly among them and today with me i have the 1KW variant of their very first ATX 3.0 line, the VERTEX GX-1000.

   Sea Sonic Electronics Co., Ltd was founded more than 40 years ago by engineers. Since its early beginnings the company has rigorously maintained its focus on the research, development and production of technologically advanced, high quality products. In 1981 Sea Sonic expanded into the production of PC power supplies to become one of the first manufacturers in this market. Soon after, the manufacturing of high quality and performance PC power supplies became the core identity of Sea Sonic.

   The brand new VERTEX GX line of power supply units by Seasonic includes 750/850/1000/1200W output models all of which support the latest ATX v3.0 and PCIe v5.0 standards (improvements include up to 2 times total power excursion, 3 times GPU power excursion, 5 times higher slew rates for transient loads on the +12V rail and up to 200% rated power), are fully modular and sport the 80 Plus Gold certification (up to 90% electrical efficiency). The VERTEX GX-1000 also features a single 12VHPWR power connector (600W), single powerful +12V rail (83A) capable of delivering over 99% of the units’ total power output (996W) and a peak power output of no less than 1142W (according to the new ATX 3.0 specification peak should now be up to 2KW for up to 100ms - this however is not something i can test with such high wattage models). Seasonic has once again used high-quality Japanese capacitors certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius and has shielded the VERTEX GX line with a full array of electrical protections including over-current (OCP), over-voltage (OVP), under-voltage (UVP), short-circuit (SCP), over-temperature (OTP) and over-power (OPP). Last but certainly not least Seasonic covers the entire VERTEX GX line with a rather generous 10 year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The VERTEX GX line is shipped inside a black and gray box that has the company logo, product line name and some of the main product features at the front.

Seasonic has placed the specifications table on the left side of the box just over the bundled power cables.

Moving at the rear we find a small product picture, an efficiency graph and the product features.

The PSU is placed between two pieces of black foam.

Aside the VERTEX GX-1000 power supply unit inside the box you'll also find the power cord, modular power cables, carrying/storage pouch (for the modular cables), PSU tester, 12 cable ties, 5 cable straps, case sticker, 4 mounting screws, sweepstakes paper, installation guide and the user manual.

THE VERTEX GX-1000 EXTERIOR

All of the modular cables shipped with the VERTEX GX line are individually braided/sleeved.

Measuring 160mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height the VERTEX GX-1000 is a regular sized unit.

The 135mm fluid dynamic bearing fan sits under a unique looking black grille.

On both sides Seasonic has placed their logo and the product line name.

Once again, we find the electrical table along with numerous certifications at the base of the enclosure.

Moving at the front we find the 13 modular power connectors which are all grouped and tagged.

At the rear we find the usual perforation, on/off power switch, hybrid mode on/off button and the power port.

THE VERTEX GX-1000 INTERIOR

Hong Hua is the manufacturer of the 135mm fluid dynamic bearing fan used with the new VERTEX GX series.

Once again, the interior is very clean and has numerous heatsinks in it (initially i thought this design was from CWT but according to Seasonic this is their very own production).

The two primary capacitors are manufactured by Rubycon and are rated for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are manufactured by nichicon and are also certified for use up to 105 degrees.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However, it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a test rig. Certainly, limitations do apply and so you can't really push a 1000W power supply to its limits if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why over the years we saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact much closer to real world usage. So as always, we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

   Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say, in order to get 100% accurate readings, you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate, nor realistic for that matter). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

* After well over 10 years of testing PSUs the Intel Core i7-920 CPU of this rig failed and so we replaced it with a Xeon X5660 (we also swapped the GA-X58A-UD7 for the G1. Assassin).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   Seasonic is one of those few companies that have never let me down and their latest VERTEX GX-1000 power supply unit is no exception. Performance is really impressive with probably the tightest rails I’ve seen in a long time. Noise levels may not be the lowest ever but the unit is pretty much inaudible until it reaches 60% load in which case it’s a safe bet that noise coming from your CPU and GPU coolers will effectively mask it. The 80 Plus Gold efficiency certification may not be the highest available possible (especially since the competition has already introduced ATX 3.0 Titanium and Platinum units) and it’s honestly not something I’d care much about when faced with such an high quality and performance model (besides ATX 3.0 models already offer higher electrical efficiency) but if that’s a defining factor for you then Seasonic should have their first 80 Plus Platinum models following the latest ATX 3.0 specification out by May.

   With a current price set at around USD249.99 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and at 333.81Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the VERTEX GX-1000 by Seasonic is priced extremely well on the other side of the Atlantic. Of course, as expected consumers have also noticed just how good the latest VERTEX GX line is and so it’s currently out of stock in the USA and in many parts of the EU for that matter. Pricing and availability aside the Seasonic VERTEX GX-1000 is an excellent power supply unit and even though the 80 Plus Gold certification may not satisfy everyone the entire package is still well worth our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Rock Solid Rail Stability
- ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0
- 80 Plus Gold Certified
- 12VHPWR Connector (600W)
- Electrical Protections (OCP/OVP/SSP/OPP/UVP/OTP)
- Hybrid Fan Mode
- Powerful Single Rail (83A)
- 10 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (USA)

CONS

- Price (EU)
- Current Availability