In December, we had the chance to see MSI’s latest flagship PSU, MSI’s MEG A1300P power supply. Not only does the MEG Ai1300P provide plenty of power, it was also MSI’s first ATX 3.0 power supply and one of the first ATX 3.0 PSUs in the entire market. It certainly wasn’t a groundbreaking design overall, but some kind of seminal work that sketched out a rough picture of what to expect from his other ATX 3.0 PSU designs, including MSI’s was.
The MEG Ai1300P was a true flagship PSU for all the pros and cons that came with it. As impressive as it was overall, it was also aimed at those willing to deal with the hefty price tag. No problem, but budget is a very real issue for most PC builders.
So, in today’s review, we’re going to look at something a little more downmarket from MSI: the MPG series. Like the flagship unit, the new MPG PSU is also ATX 3.0 ready for him, but at a more reasonable price. Despite that change, the unit we’re testing today, the MPG A1000G, is still one of the most powerful his PSUs MSI has to offer (also the top of the MPG units) and a 1 kilowatt his PC can supply power.
| MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 Power Specifications (Rated @ 50 °C) |
|||||
| rail | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | +5 Vsb | -12V |
| Maximum output | 22A | 22A | 83.5A | 3A | 0.3A |
| 120W | 1000W | 15W | 3.6W | ||
| total | 1000W | ||||
| AC input | AC100-240V, 50-60Hz | ||||
| Manufacturer’s suggested retail price | $199 | ||||
All of this points to MSI’s PSU space rising fairly quickly. The company released its first PSU just two years ago with its MPG GF series designed primarily for gaming computers. MSI entered a highly competitive and saturated market, and the release of the MPG series was another success for the company. PCIE5– Branded MPG unit.
packing and bundling
The MPG A1000G PCIE5 arrived in a sturdy cardboard box with basic geometric artwork printed on it. The front of the box is mostly dominated by pictures of the unit itself, but the sides and back of the box have a wealth of information printed on them. Inside the box, the unit is securely packed in soft packing foam to ensure safe transportation.
The MPG A1000G PCIE bundle is pretty spartan, with MSI only providing the necessary AC power cable and four black mounting screws. This unit has no accessories of any kind.
The MPG A1000G PCIE PSU is a fully modular design, allowing all DC power cables to be detached, including a 24-pin ATX connector. Most cables have individually sleeved black wires and black connectors. Only one cable with a 16-pin PCIe 5.0 cable and two PCIe 8-pin connectors, black wires, but wrapped in a single sleeve.
| MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 | ||
| connector type | hardwired | base unit |
| ATX 24 pin | – | 1 |
| EPS 4+4 pin | – | 2 |
| EPS 8 pin | – | – |
| PCIE 5.0 | – | 1 |
| PCI-E 8 pin | – | 6 |
| SATA | – | 12 |
| Molex | – | Four |
| floppy | – | 1 |
MSI MPG A1000G PCIE 1000W PSU
exterior
MSI is a company that invests a lot of resources into the appearance of its products, including PSUs. Much like his MEG series units reviewed a few weeks ago, the MPG series uses a unique chassis with embossed geometric shapes. The design is very similar to that of his MEG series, but not exactly the same. Gold accents go silver and differ in some geometric decorations. MPG has only rectangular patterns, no triangles. The PSU is only 150mm long, slightly longer than the ATX standard mandates, but long enough to ensure compatibility with all but the smallest ATX compliant cases is.
A sticker with the unit’s electrical certifications and specifications is located on the plain top surface of the PSU. A decorative silver and black metal plate flanks the unit, which is magnetically attached and can be flipped to match the orientation of the PSU.
On the back of the unit, right next to the AC power connector and basic on/off switch, is a latching push button that controls “zero fan mode.” As the name suggests, this mode allows passive operation when the PSU is under light load. This is a technique frequently applied by many manufacturers these days. When disabled, the fan will continue to spin as long as the PSU is powered on, but its speed will still be thermally controlled.
The front of the unit has numerous connectors for modular cables. A subtle legend is printed directly onto the chassis.
internal design
The cooling fan of MPG A1000G PCIE5 is a 135 mm model made by Hong Hua. Hong Hua is a maker of fans often found in his PC PSUs of high quality. The HA13525H12SF-Z is a fan that meets the cooling needs of the MPG A1000G PCIE5, but for its size it is a very fast fan with a maximum speed of 2300 RPM. It has a Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) engine that provides excellent life.
The OEM of the platform on which the MPG A1000G PCIE5 is based is Channel-Well Technologies (CWT). CWT is a popular OEM for mid-to-high performance PSUs and is also the OEM for MSI’s flagship MEG series. The MPG A1000G PCIE5 is based on a different platform than the one used for the MEG series. This seems to be his upgraded version of one of CWT’s most popular platforms. This platform has been the heart of many units with similar power over the past few years. In order to fit a 135mm fan into a 150mm chassis, CWT cleverly shortened the vertical daughterboards to allow plenty of clearance.
All in all, the MPG A1000G PCIE5 looks very crowded due to its very high power density. The layout is fairly simple. The filtering stage is typical, with four Y capacitors, two X capacitors, and two filtering inductors. The filtering stage leads to two large rectifying bridges, each placed on a large heatsink. The passive components of the APFC circuit are the huge 400V/820μF APFC capacitor Nichicon and the same size cased filtering inductor. The active APFC components are located on the longest heatsink of the unit.
Two transistors sit on their own heatsink, forming a typical half-bridge inverting topology on the primary side of the unit’s main transformer. The output of the main transformer is connected to 8 power MOSFETs that produce a single her 12V rail placed on a vertical daughterboard. The 3.3V and 5V lines are generated through DC-DC conversion circuitry on subsequent vertical daughterboards. All secondary capacitors are made by Nippon Chemi-Con and Nichicon or their subsidiaries, and this power supply unit is all made in Japan.
