Cooler Master has been in the PSU business for years and it made its mark on the industry. However, in keeping with the times and the competition that is always getting better, it is constantly revamping its PSU lineup. The new V-series is its latest high-end refresh.

The V-series consists of  700W, 850W and 1000W power supply units, and each boasts 80 PLUS Gold efficiency. This means that these PSUs come with over 90% efficiency under a 50% workload.

It can be quite frustrating to buy a powerful and pricey PSU only to be disappointed by a subpar fan, which are quite common even in higher end units. However, the V-series features a high-quality 135mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDR) fan that promises good performance and exceptionally low noise levels.

We had a chance to test the top V-series PSU, the fully modular RS-A00-AFBA-G1.

The box is slightly bigger than what we’ve come to expect, but the PSU itself is not oversized, it features practically standard dimensions. The cable bag takes up quite a bit of room in the box since it’s packed with a wide range of cables. It can be also practical for storage, to keep unused cables from getting lost.

Package contents for model RS-A00-AFBA-G1:

  - Cooler Master RS-A00-AFBA-G1 power supply unit packed in a velvet bag
  - Modular cable set x1
  - Quick installation guide
  - AC power cord x1
  - Mounting screws x4
  - Cable carry bag x1

V 1000 features one rail design with up to 83A.

There are plenty of cables to choose from and they are long enough for even the biggest chassis out there. We appreciated the decision to include 725mm long 12V CPU cables, as they can be on the short side with many PSUs. Many vendors still ship 550m long cables and they don’t offer nearly as much flexibility as we’d like. Most enthusiasts like to keep their rigs tidy and the ability to nicely tuck the cables somewhere where they don’t interfere with other components is always welcome. Our only gripe is the relatively tight spacing of peripheral connectors.

Only the thick ATX cable is wrapped in a non-transparent mesh, while all the others are flat. The cables feel sturdy, but they are flexible enough to handle with ease.

The V1000 measures 150 x 86 x 170 mm and it will fit in all regular cases. It weighs just over 1.9kg. Since it’s a modular design we can say that the V1000 is very compact for its class. The modular approach also allows users only to use the cables they actually need, keeping the chassis uncluttered.

As far as the exterior goes, we should commend the quality of the black finish and the rigidity of the metal chassis, which is 0.9mm thicks. The metal skin of the V1000 features a nice matte finish and won't catch dust and prints. It looks and feels like a quality product.

All the cable connectors are properly laid out and marked, so even less experienced users should have no trouble with it.

The spec sticker is on top and it features the 80 PLUS certificate. The V1000 also features a +12V singel rail that can take up to 83 amps.

Another eye pleasing feature is the aluminum-look mesh used on the bottom of the unit, which looks quite nice but you won’t get to see much of it once it is installed.

The ON/OFF switch feels very robust and it has a telltale click.

A look inside the V1000 reveals some high quality components and that should be appreciated by any enthusiasts. It is easy to see that the interior resembles the Seasonic  KM3, which is a good thing since Seasonic is synonymous with high quality PSUs and we’re glad to see their components inside Cooler Master’s latest PSU.

The 135mm comes from Protechnic. Its designation is MGA13512XF-025 and it utilizes a 2-pin connector.

Cooler Master V1000 is a 1000W power supply. To be honest, 1000W is quite a lot but today’s high-end hardware leaves a mark on power bills.

V1000 is 80 PLUS Gold certified, which means that it has to churn out 87%, 90% and 87% efficiency for respective workloads of 20%, 50% and 100%. This also means that it's efficient and won't waste energy. Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to professional PSU testing equipment, so we'll have to rely on 80plus.org's data. In fact, 80plus.org gave the V1000 a platinum certificate, which is as good as it gets. The following graph shows that efficiency is above or around 90% most of the time. You can find out more here.

Practical application tests prove that this is a quality PSU. Three Geforce GTX 780 graphics cards in SLI will helped us place a lot of strain on the V1000, so that we could test fan loudness and stability of the entire rig.

One of the problems faced by quite a few high-end PSU users is that their powerful PSUs can cause the fuse to switch off as soon as the PSU is switched on. This shouldn’t happen, but it can happen if the PSU draws too much power, a high inrush current. As for the V1000 we can confirm that we did not experience any such issues and that it draws 40 amps on startup.

In standby mode the power consumption was just 0.2W. Our test rig featured an EVGA X79 FTW motherboard, Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 3820 (4.2GHz) and three Geforce GTX 780 cards in SLI. Under full CPU and graphics card load, V1000 ran like a charm. Maximum consumption was 872W.

The fan (Protechnic MGA13512XF-O2) was inaudible in idle mode. According to the spec sheet, the fan can run at up to 1800RPM but our unit was willing to spin up to 1930RPM under full load. At loads between 600W and 800W the fan is very quiet, but beyond 900W it gets quite a bit louder in order to prevent components from overheating. This is normal and we found that the fan was relatively quiet in everyday use.

The Cooler Master V-series of PSUs consists of three models ranging from 700W to 1000W and all of them come with an 80 PLUS Gold certificate. The V1000 impressed us with good build quality and rock solid performance. Efficiency is rated at more than 90% and the PSU comes with a single fat +12V rail up to 83A, which should meet most users’ needs.

What’s more, the V-series employs Seasonic’s new KM3 platform and other components used in its design are top notch. All V-series PSUs feature a modular design with flat cables, which are pretty practical as they’re more flexible than standard cables. Although it’s a 1000W modular PSU, the V1000’s dimensions are standard and it will fit into virtually any standard chassis.

Now that graphics cards are not as loud as vacuum cleaners, users tend to notice other noise sources in their rigs. However, the V1000 proved very quiet regardless of load.

Although 1000W is not enough for ultra-high-end configurations such as a quad-SLI with Geforce Titan cards, it should be more than adequate for standard Crossfire or SLI setups. We gave it a go with three GTX 780 cards and it worked just fine.

Prices start at €167 and all things considered the V1000 is well worth it, hence we can recommend to anyone looking for a quality PSU.