TweakTown’s Ranking: 90%

The Backside Line
XPG’s Core Reactor II 1200w ATX 3.0 PSU is a strong all rounder and a good purchase for the cash, and it carried out on par with its gold scores from 80 PLUS and Cybenetics.
Execs
- + 10-year guarantee
- + 1200 watts for demanding gaming rigs
- + 80 PLUS and Cybenetics Gold scores
- + Good worth
Cons
Do you have to purchase it?
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Introduction, Specs, and Pricing
One other XPG product has returned to us for testing. This time, we revisit the XPG Core Reactor II ATX 3.0 PSU line with the 1200-watt mannequin. The earlier 850w mannequin scored properly in our testing with a 97% Editor’s Selection Award, so will the 1200-watt mannequin be any higher?
Priced at $199.99, this 1200-watt ATX 3.0 PSU affords as much as an 80 PLUS Gold ranking and the identical 10-year guarantee. Let’s discover out if this PSU deserves your hard-earned cash.

XPG Core Reactor II 1200w ATX 3.0 80 PLUS Gold PSU
Right now | Yesterday | 7 days in the past | 30 days in the past | ||
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* Costs final scanned on 11/20/2023 at 9:22 pm CST – costs is probably not correct, click on hyperlinks above for the most recent worth. We might earn an affiliate fee. |
Packaging

VIEW GALLERY – 23 IMAGES
XPG has packaged the Core Reactor II 1200-watt PSU in just about the identical packaging because the 850-watt unit, a crimson package deal with Mera, the corporate’s mascot, on the skin. Certifications for 80 PLUS Gold, Cybenetics Gold, 12VHPWR, and ATX 3.0 are listed on the highest proper.

Once more, XPG has positioned all of the need-to-know info on the again of the packaging; specs, dimensions, and cable info are right here.

This aspect reveals the place the end-user can obtain a digital handbook and the SKU and serial quantity.

This aspect of the field reveals the ability provide curve and effectivity.

XPG needs you to concentrate on some key factors: issues like a 135mm FDB Silent fan, Premium 100% Japanese capacitors, and different protections constructed into the Core Reactor II 1200-watt PSU.

XPG has included just a few stickers of Mera, the corporate mascot, and the good packaging. “Recreation to the Xtreme” is the corporate’s motto.

The bag all of the cabling is available in is a pleasant place to maintain the cables you do not use in your present construct. You would possibly want them later.

XPG has included an influence cable, 24-pin motherboard cable, two 8-pin EPS/CPU cables, a 600-watt 12VHPWR to 12VHPWR cable, 12VHPWR cable to a twin 6+2 PCIe pin cable, three PCIe 6+2 to six+2 pin (8 connections) cables, and three SATA (9 connections) and MOLEX (3 connections) cables.

XPG and lots of different PSU producers are actually together with a 12VHPWR to twin 6+2 PCIe pin cable in lots of the newer PSUs. For the reason that 12VHPWR connection gives as much as 450 watts value of juice, utilizing that very same plug for different GPUs than the most recent NVIDIA GPUs that use the older PCIe plugs is smart. The totally different 12VHPWR cable is rated for as much as 600 watts value of energy, has the total 12+4 configuration, and is the one cable with a full sleeve.

The PSU itself has been packaged with safety in thoughts, with two black foam items defending the PSU whereas in transit. A plastic bag is wrapped across the Core Reactor II for added safety.
Outdoors the XPG Core Reactor II 1200w ATX 3.0 PSU

Eradicating all of the packing supplies from the Core Reactor II 1200w PSU reveals a really understated design with core design parts identical to the 850w unit; nonetheless, it’s barely bigger with dimensions of 160x150x85mm. The fan dimension has additionally elevated from 120mm to 135mm.

The XPG Core Reactor II 1200-watt ATX 3.0 PSU has a large 100 amps obtainable on the one 12V rail. This configuration is nice for overclocking and system stability when the system is underneath excessive masses.

The enter aspect of the Core Reactor II 1200w PSU has two connections for the 24-pin motherboard cable, an 18-pin, and a 10-pin. Subsequent is the 12VHPWR connection in a 12+4 pin configuration. Within the far proper and decrease proper corners are the 5 CPU and VGA 8-pin connections. Lastly, the SATA and MOLEX connections join through 6-pin and have three complete inputs.

The rear of the Core Reactor II 1200w PSU is easy, with a single energy rocker swap and the ability enter. A hexagonal air flow sample fills the remainder of the house.
Contained in the XPG Core Reactor II 1200w ATX 3.0 PSU

Contained in the Core Reactor II 1200 ATX 3.0 PSU, we discover a Hong Hua HA13525H12SF-Z 135mm fluid dynamic bearing fan spins at 2300 RPM at .5 amps on a 12V DC.

Going to a few of the principal elements of the Core Reactor 1200w are two 100% Japanese capacitors from Rubycon. The bigger capacitor is rated at 400v with 820µF, whereas the second smaller one is rated at 400v with 560µF. Each capacitors are rated as much as 105 C in temperature.

The 5BSB card helps regulate the 5V rail.

Two further capacitors, once more from Rubycon, are rated at 3300µF at 16V – these assist situation on the output aspect.

Listed below are the 12V FETs, or area impact transistors, that management the present circulation in a semiconductor.

The principle transformer is a passive element that transfers electrical vitality to a different circuit or a number of circuits.

Right here is an summary of all the inner structure of the XPG Core Reactor II 1200w ATX 3.0 PSU. The OEM platform is from CWT, Channel Nicely Know-how, which is identical platform as DeepCool’s PX1200G.
Ryan’s Check System
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS PRO (INTEL Z690) – Purchase from Amazon
- CPU: Intel Core i5 12600K – Purchase from Amazon
- Cooler: be quiet! Darkish Rock Professional 5 – Purchase from Amazon
- Reminiscence: Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-5600 32GB – Purchase from Amazon
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA RTX 3090 Founders Version – Purchase from Amazon
- Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO XT Gen4 PCIe x4 NVMe M.2 SSD – Purchase from Amazon
- Case: XPG Battlecruiser II
- Software program: AIDA64 Engineer 6.32.5600, and CPU-z 1.94.0 x64
- Energy Provide: XPG Core Reactor II 1200w ATX 3.0 PSU – Purchase from Amazon
- OS: Microsoft Home windows 11 Professional 64-bit Construct 22621 – Purchase from Amazon
- Software program: AIDA64 Engineer 6.8.6300, and CPU-z 2.03.0 x64
Testing & Last Ideas

In testing the XPG Core Reactor II 1200w ATX 3.0 PSU, we used an Intel Core i5-12600K CPU on a Z690 AORUS Professional motherboard, cooled by the be quiet! Darkish Rock Professional 5 CPU cooler. Two 16GB DDR5-5600 Patriot Viper Venom sticks had been put in for reminiscence. Storage was rounded out by the Corsair MP600 Professional XT 2TB NVME M.2 SSD. Lastly, the GPU was the previous standby – the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 FE.
When testing, we introduced the CPU and GPU as much as full load to try to get as near 600 watts as potential for a 50% load check. The XPG Core Reactor 1200w pulled 540 watts from the wall in complete. Compared, the KillaWatt P3 reported 600 watts persistently, making the XPG Core Reactor 1200w ATX 3.0 PSU nearly to squeak by being 90% environment friendly at a 50% load, assembly its 80 PLUS and Cybernetic Gold scores.
All testing was accomplished utilizing Aida64 Engineer’s System Stability Check model 6.92.6600 for 18+ hours; the ambient temperature was 21C. Different monitoring software program used was HWiNFO64 v7.62-5200, TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.55.0, and CPU-Z 2.07.0.x64.
Inherently, the whole lot is okay with the Core Reactor II 1200w ATX 3.0 PSU from XPG. Acting on par with its scores, the 1200w model of the Core Reactor II will energy many programs all through its lifetime, backed by a 10-year guarantee. Presently priced at $185 on Amazon and Newegg, the Core Reactor II 1200w is a good purchase in comparison with others in the identical wattage and worth class.