Power supply reviews here at the online portion of HWZ are few and far in-between, for the simple reason that we cannot borrow a load/test power unit that can adequately stress a high-end PSU too often. And the item in question can’t get much higher than this: the Gigabyte Odin Pro 1200W PSU is the highest-rated power supply unit to pass through our hands, ever.

Most of us know that many local buyers usually end up just plumping for the cheapest parts they can get away with, hence the proliferation of computer flea-bargain-type areas like Gilmore, V-mall and the like. Even one of the biggest user-base local websites has a name of “Tipid PC”. Increasingly, this penny-pinching attitude is not as harmful as before because of the constant improvements of motherboards, memory, videocards and other “core” components (never mind processors, since they’ve been pretty decent for a long time). The problems start when these buyers treat PSU – shopping with the same casual disregard laded on the core components.

                                             No shortcuts in this Gigabyte's build - the whole unit feels hefty and solid, like a product from Honda or Toyota.

Most PSUs bought are the “tin-can”, super-lightweight variety, with outlandish claims of wattage prowess and a mess of wires that seem able to connect and power a whole roomful of components. Others are blank metal boxes with no indications of its capabilities. The Odin Pro 1200W is obviously none of the above – one heft of the package tells you immediately that you are dealing with a solid-packed PSU, and a look at its sleek design and its modular design indicates that low-cost does not factor into this equation at all.

                                             The 140mm fan is transparent and lit by blue LEDs. Hiding behind it are the copper heatsinks and oversized capacitors.

                                             Tested "OK" indicators and a warning not to throw away your new PSu line the periphery of the unit.

Power supplies are after all pretty simple contraptions mechanically, yet on the other hand they have a nearly unlimited number of component configurations that will affect its load capability, efficiency, performance, and durability down the road. Short of full-on testing of the unit with a full suite of heavy-duty testing equipment, there are some details we can study to determine quality or at least competence in power-providing. A notable example is the capacitors – various levels of quality directly affect the PSU’s ability to control flow and leakage of power, to put it simply. Good craftsmanship, pride of workmanship and excellent ergonomic design are all subjective points to consider, especially since power supplies are essentially big blank boxes with wires attached.

                                             All the modular connections are color-coded and marked lucidly for utmost assurance during installation.

The Odin Pro 1200 boasts of oodles of connectors which we will come back to later, a large, transparent, blue LED-kitted 140mm fan, and a massive casing that’s roughly half again as long as a “regular” PSU. A solid actuating main switch in blood-red, hexagonal black mesh at the rear, a Gigabyte badge at its side which gives a touch of class, the black-netting sleeves sealed with black heatshrink material at the ends for all cables combine with the black visage of the Odin to give the package lots of sinister appeal. Aside from its looks, its capabilities are obvious from the connectors, which includes a total of 10 removable cables, plus the main 24-pin ATX, two (attachable) 4-pin power and a single 8-pin power connector. The 10 removable cables include a total of 6 PCI-E videocard power connectors, consisting of six-pin connectors with included snap-on 2-pin extenders for the utmost flexibility when connecting to videocards, and 4 “Periphery” connectors, two cables (with 5 SATA connectors per cable), and the another two cables with 4 IDE connectors and a single FDD connector each.

                                             Power ratings outlining power distribution over the two internal 600W units line the other side of the PSU.

The Odin is composed of two 600W units combined into one casing, which is significant especially considering the importance of rail capacities and specific component power requirements. In this case, the most significant item to take note of is/are the videocard/s, which places a great strain on the 12V rail of a power supply. Older 1000W PSUs which has multiple, low-capacity 12V rails cannot run modern, high-end videocards like the 4870 X2 due to these and similar card’s minimum 30+ A requirement. The Odin pushes out a combined 50A on two 12V rails, and there’s another 12V pair to handle another high-end videocard when running SLI.

                                             The section connectors for videocard power comprise of 6 total plugs - even more than for the component connectors. Cables, which boast bisected 4/6-pin connectors for flexibility are shown below.

So, laying it all out, we can potentially connect up to 10 SATA drives, 8 IDE devices, 2 high-end videocards (GTX200 or 4870 and above series) or up to 4 mid-range cards (Radeon 4850), plus a power-hungry processor through the ATX and supplementary power connectors. Some research into typical power consumption tables and benchmarks online show power consumption of an enthusiast’s rig to be very high, though not quite reaching the 1200W of juice the Gigabyte is capable of. To wit, a Core 2 Duo E8400 Processor @ 3.0 GHz (FSB 1333), with an optical drive, a 10,000rpm Raptor, and two power-hungry, top-of-the-line Radeon 4870 X2’s in Crossfire configuration, under full load, requires 740 Watts as measured at the outlet. In another example, a unit with Intel’s Core 2 Extreme QX9770, a Raptor hard disk, an older but demanding 8800 Ultra videocard, and a single optical drive reached 297 Watts at load. With efficiency listed as around 80%, the 740Watt number can be translated as “just” 592 Watts, which still exceeds the typical capabilities of a non-branded power supply.

                                             Component power - four plugs support 10 SATA, 8 IDE and 2 FDD power connectors in total. Cables are shown below, with SATA connectors to the left.

Granted, someone who buys a low–end power supply probably won’t be running a dual 4870 X2 rig anytime soon, but this extreme illustration is done to show how easy it is to overwhelm a typical PSU, and how much headroom the Gigabyte Odin 1200W has. Continuing with the example above, the 740W (592 actual) can be joined by 10 SATA hard drives (typical consumption of 10-30 watts per = 300W), 8 more IDE devices (say, 10W @ idle = 80W), system draw of 50W (including miscellaneous devices such as fans, lighting, etc.) give a from-the-wall socket measurement of 1170W, just below maximum for the Odin unit. This is just to illustrate an extreme example of course; if you’re actually drawing that much power you’re probably a server administrator or a Meralco employee.

                                             A square but still shapely rear has a heavy duty, emergency-red power switch in attendnce to round off the great-looking PSU.

A typical power user (with sensible amounts of cash) might never hit the limits of this over-the-top PSU, but there’s always more to spending on a computer than splurging on the processor, memory and graphics. With the Gigabyte Odin Pro 1200W, you can put aside any worries about upgrading and your power draw ceilings, and be assured that as a brand, Gigabyte always makes top-quality components, which looks to have been translated into their newest product line of high-end PSUs as represented by this 1200 Watt monster. More pictures to follow.

                                              The attached (non-removable) power connectors. Note the attachable 4-pin connectors.

                                              Five SATA power connectors per cable (2 cables).

                                              Four IDE and one FDD connectors per cable (2 cables).

                                              Package includes a set of four thumscrews, another set of regular screws, a simple extra-cable holder, and the quick-start manual.

                                        Look for this box when you shop for this product!