Continuing the exploration of the best representatives of power supplies under the Vinga brand, we have reached the top solution in the model range. The 1200W power source boasts an 80 PLUS Platinum certificate, which guarantees both high efficiency and low heating of internal components, thus moderate noise during the operation of the cooling system.

Otherwise, it has all the same pleasant features inherent to the "golden" Vinga VPS-650G. And the modular cable configuration is just one of them.

Specification

Packaging and delivery set 

The packaging color is chosen to match the prestigious "platinum" certificate. It features a list of the device's main advantages and a list of available connectors. Unfortunately, if you want to view the specification, the box won't help - you'll have to visit the manufacturer's official website.

The power source itself and the detachable cables are additionally placed in pouches with branded logos. Inside the packaging, you can also find mounting screws with knurled heads in the amount of 6 pcs. (you don't have to worry about losing one or two) and a power cable.

Appearance

While the Vinga VPS-1200Pl clearly stands out in appearance against the backdrop of the vast majority of PSUs, within the model range it looks quite ordinary. Unfortunately, the consequence of such a design approach is the large length, which means it won't fit in all modern cases. Be sure to consider this before purchasing, especially if modding with a grinder is foreign to you.

According to the manufacturer's calculations, even a 120mm fan is sufficient to cool the internal nodes of a solution with a power of over 1 kW. Well, it's quite possible, considering the high level of efficiency, but only practical testing will put all the dots on the "i".

We have not studied how the use of round holes instead of the usual honeycombs affects cooling efficiency. Yes, in this case, the area of air intake and output is somewhat smaller, but this is unlikely to be noticeable to the end user.

On the rear side, there is the usual input power connector and power button - everything necessary is in its place.

In addition to the packaging, the list of key features can also be found on the power supply itself along with a table of electrical characteristics. The use of a single 12-volt line with a power of 1,176 W - 98% of the power supply's nominal value - is definitely pleasing. As the label indicates, this high value was achieved thanks to the presence of DC-DC converters in the low-voltage circuit.

As we noted at the beginning, the 1200-watt model, similar to the "gold" Vinga VPS-650G, is equipped with a fully modular cable connection system. The number of connectors on the rear panel is completely identical - apparently a result of unification. Moreover, two connectors for powering the processor/graphics cards remain unused. Perhaps there is an even more powerful solution with 12 6+2-pin PCIe connectors in the project.

Cables, cables, and more cables - working with them is a pleasure. The main and most loaded (ATX, ATX12V, PCIe) have a large gauge of 16 AWG, the peripherals are connected via several thinner 18 AWG (about 1 mm in diameter), and 20 AWG is used on the PCIe branches.

The main connectors are represented by a 20+4-pin ATX and a pair of 4+4-pin ATX12V. High-performance platforms AMD Socket TR4 and Intel Socket LGA2066 often require the presence of exactly two 4+4-pin connectors, so the Vinga VPS-1200Pl is quite suitable for powering them.

For connecting graphics cards or other PCIe devices, there are eight 6+2-pin cables. As for peripherals, 12 SATA (on three separate wires) and four PATA with FDD should be enough for the needs of any system. The length of the wires will also not disappoint those who appreciate hidden cable management.

The full configuration looks like this:

All connectors on the case and connectors on the wires are carefully labeled, so it's simply unthinkable to mix anything up, although Murphy's law has not been repealed yet.

Internal Structure

To access the inside of the device, you will need to unscrew the screws on the sides.

Part of the circuitry is located near the fan, so an additional pair of wires with removable connectors is used to connect the components of both parts of the device.

We saw a similar 120-mm HONG HUA HA1225L12F-Z fan in the 650 W unit. It is built on a fluid dynamic bearing (FDB), as indicated by the presence of the letter "F" in the name.

The fan is connected via a removable two-pin connector and consumes 3.96 W of power (12 V, 0.33 A). Its nominal rotation speed is 1600 RPM.

On this panel, part of the EMI filter is located, consisting of two Y and one X capacitors.

The main PCB houses its other components: a varistor, a pair of coils, two Y and one more X capacitor, as well as a fuse. Some of the elements are located behind the heatsink, so their presence is not immediately noticeable.

The input voltage rectification is performed by two diode assemblies GBJL2506, each rated for a current of up to 25 A. They are properly attached to the main heatsink on both sides. A similar approach would be desirable in the 650-watt unit as well.

Next is the choke of the active power factor correction (APFC) module in a plastic case. The adjacent heatsink is intended to cool the power elements, but due to the high density of the power supply's components, it was not possible to examine them more closely.

There are two main electrolytic capacitors here. Twin brothers from the high-temperature series (105°C) are made by the Japanese company Nippon Chemi-Con (560 μF x 450 V) - we have high manufacturing quality and an excellent total capacity of 1120 μF.

The operation of the power supply is controlled by the PWM controller CM6901T6X, soldered on a daughter board.

The synchronous rectifier consists of eight MOSFETs on the reverse side of the PCB. Their heatsink is the case itself, with heat being transferred through a pair of thermal pads.

The bent plate on the front side of the PCB, surrounding the main transformer, also participates in heat dissipation.

The components of the DC/DC converters found a place on both sides of two small daughter boards. They include capacitors, coils, field-effect transistors, and PWM controllers.

The "Platinum" power source is equipped with a corresponding component base. Nippon Chemi-Con electrolytes, solid-state solutions - everything is in the best condition, with no hint of cost-cutting.

However, as for the supported protections, information about them is completely absent both on the box and on the manufacturer's official website.

Cross-load characteristics

According to the ATX12V standard, the allowable range of voltage deviations for all power lines is ±5% of their nominal value.

During cross-load tests on the main power lines of the Vinga VPS-1200Pl, the following voltage deviations were recorded:

• line +3.3: from -2% to +2%;
• line +5: from -2% to +2%;
• line +12V: from -2% to +1%.

The voltage stabilization unit performs excellently, as the deviations did not exceed the allowable norms. Moreover, they were much smaller than the acceptable ±5%, remaining within ±2%.

Noise and ripple across the entire voltage range

For the ATX12V standard, the following allowable norms regarding ripple levels (peak-to-peak) are provided:

• lines +3.3V and +5V: 50 mV;
• line +12V: 120 mV.

The low ripple level also pleased with the absence of reasons for complaints.

Standby power line +5VSB

The condition of the standby power line Vinga VPS-1200Pl did not cause any remarks. Depending on the load, the voltage on it changes within acceptable limits: from 5 to 4.85V, not exceeding ±5%.

PFC

Table showing the change in PFC depending on the power supply load:

Load* - load as a percentage of the power supply's nominal power.

The APFC module of the power supply performs very well. Already at a consumed power of 180W, the PFC coefficient reached 0.91, with the maximum value (0.98) recorded at nominal load.

Efficiency

The real efficiency test at different loads confirmed the compliance of Vinga VPS-1200Pl with the 80 PLUS Platinum standard for 230V voltage. At loads of 20%, 50%, and 100% of nominal power, the power supply's efficiency exceeded 90%, 94%, and 91% respectively.

In a very wide range of loads (450 - 1000W), the owner can expect an efficiency of over 93%, and the cooling system will have to dissipate from 32 to 70W of thermal power. For comparison: the "gold" 650-watt unit at nominal load emitted even slightly more heat - 77W.

Cooling system and temperature mode

The noise level of the device can be indirectly assessed by the fan speed at different load levels. The interval of time after which the fan speed was measured and the subsequent power increase was about twenty minutes. The measurement results are marked with points on the graph. At the same time, the ambient temperature for the power supply was approximately 27°C. It should be noted that the air inside the computer case can be hotter, with a temperature of 40°C being quite acceptable. At the same time, the load created by the computer system is variable, which eases the temperature mode of the power supply.

The Vinga VPS-1200Pl fan spins very quietly up to the 350W mark. Beyond that, the noise level can be described as quiet, and when surpassing the half-kilowatt mark up to the nominal 1200W, it is below average. At a load of about 700W, its rotation speed reaches a maximum of 1500 RPM and does not increase further. Consequently, the internal components gradually heat up.

Even in this fan operation mode, the temperature indicators of the key components not only remained within acceptable limits but did not even approach them. It's pleasant to see a maximum of 68°C inside such a powerful solution. Let us remind you that the younger "gold" models also impressed us with their combination of comfortable noise levels and low heating of the main components.

Moreover, the packaging indicates that this model has passed failure testing at an ambient temperature of 50°C for over 100,000 hours. Considering the low heating of the internal components, we are inclined to believe this.

External noises during power supply operation

As practice has shown, across the entire nominal power range, the Vinga VPS-1200Pl does not produce additional noises in the form of annoying coil whine or characteristic transformer hum.

OverLOAD

We increased the load on the tested model to 1300W (+8% to the nominal). In this case, the output voltages still remained within the norm, and the power supply operated properly. Therefore, it will handle the nominal load without any issues and can even operate for some time under a slight overload.

Practical tests on a real configuration

To build a real computer system, a powerful 6-core processor Intel Core i7-4960X was used, operating in nominal mode. We also used a set of three power-hungry graphics cards that were on hand: AMD Radeon HD 6970, ASUS GeForce GTX 980 4GB GDDR5 Matrix Platinum, and ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 AMP!. The purpose of this experiment is to simulate real loads and check how the power supply behaves in practice.

Measurements were conducted in two modes: "Idle" and "Maximum Load," created using NiceHash 1.7 utilities. During testing, the system's total power consumption was measured using a Seasonic PowerAngel device, and the voltage on the +12V, +5V, and +3.3V power lines was recorded using a MASTECH MY64 multimeter.

As a result, the following voltage values were obtained on the output lines:

The output indicators of Vinga VPS-1200Pl under load (mode "Burn") and when the system is idle (mode "Idle") can be described as excellent without exaggeration. The complete absence of any voltage drops, a narrow range of their change with load variation, and proximity to the nominal line values allow us to speak of excellent system stability.

Power consumption in idle and off state of the computer

The power consumption of the Vinga VPS-1200Pl power supply in the off state of the computer (3 W) and in sleep mode (7 W) corresponds to the indicators of other high-quality sources that have been in our test laboratory.

Conclusions

At a price of about $280, the power supply Vinga VPS-1200Pl is the most affordable "platinum" solution with a power of over 1 kW on our market. And this is considering that it is a 1200-watt model made in the best traditions of the genre.

In addition to the high quality of the component base, we have excellent consumer properties: stable output voltage without drops and with barely noticeable deviations, low ripple, as well as low heating of internal elements and a comfortable noise level (although a relatively small 120 mm fan is used). The latter became possible primarily due to the high level of efficiency. Also, let's not forget about the modular cable connection, which is enough to power four video cards with a pair of 8-pin connectors, meaning the Vinga VPS-1200Pl is also well-suited for mining systems.

The only disappointment was the lack of information about the applied protections. How important this is is up to each individual to decide. The main thing is not to forget to measure your case, as the 190 mm model will not fit into every "nest".

Advantages:

• high efficiency level (80 PLUS Platinum certification);
• presence of power reserve (at least +8%);
• good voltage condition on the power lines;
• small deviations when changing the load on the 12-volt channel without drops below the nominal;
• very low ripple;
• separate power stabilization system;
• high-quality component base, including Japanese capacitors and solid-state solutions;
• high capacity of input capacitors (total of 1120 μF);
• ability to work in a wide range of network voltage;
• low power consumption in sleep mode and in the off state of the computer;
• use of long detachable wires in the form of ribbons;
• very efficient and quite quiet cooling system;
• eight 6+2-pin PCIe connectors;
• original design;
• active power factor correction method.

Features:

• the length of the device is 190 mm, which should be considered when choosing a case;
• the types of applied protections are not specified.

Author: Oles Paholok 
Translation: Liliya Masyuk

We express our gratitude to the companies ASUS, Intel, Thermalright, Transcend, Western Digital and ZOTAC for the equipment provided for the test bench.