The Gigabyte UD1000GM PG5 1000W PSU Review: Prelude to ATX 3.0

GIGABYTE is a company known for its extensive range of motherboards and graphics cards, many of which have passed through our testing labs. Regardless, the sheer volumes at which GIGABYTE manufactures motherboards and graphics cards hasn’t stopped the company from diversifying into virtually every segment of the PC market, ranging from laptops and mini PCs to gaming keyboards and chairs.

GIGABYTE is no stranger to the power and cooling industry, timidly launching their first pair of PC PSUs over fifteen years ago. The company’s PSU releases were rare, with GIGABYTE capturing a small fraction of the market share but never making a significant effort to overwhelm the competition.

In today’s review we take a look at the GIGABYTE UD1000GM PG5, a powerful 80Plus Gold certified PC PSU. What sets the UD1000GM PG5 apart from the rest is the new 12+4-pin connector (12VHPWR connector), which is required by the ATX 3.0 standard. GIGABYTE doesn’t claim that the UD1000GM PG5 is ATX 3.0 compatible, but the 12VHPWR connector allows partial compatibility — potentially future-proofing the PSU against upcoming graphics card releases.

Power Specifications ( Nominal @ 50 °C ) AC INPUT 100 – 240 VAC, 50 – 60 Hz RAIL +3.3V +5V +12V +5Vsb -12V MAX OUTPUT 25A 25A 83.3A 3A 0.3A 125W 1000W 15W 3.6W TOTAL 1000W

Packing and Bundle

GIGABYTE delivers the UD1000GM PG5 in an aesthetically pleasing but relatively small cardboard box, suggesting the compact size of the PSU in relation to the power output. Inside the box, the PSU is encased in thin packaging foam that provides partial protection against shipping damage.

There are virtually no items bundled alongside the UD1000GM PG5, with GIGABYTE sticking to the absolute basics. Included in the package are only four typical mounting screws and an AC power cord.

The GIGABYTE UD1000GM PG5 1000W PSU is a fully modular design, allowing the removal of any DC power cable, including the 24-pin ATX connector. Most cables are bare, ribbon-like, with black wires and black connectors. The only exception is the new PCIe 5.0 cable which is made of black wires and has black connectors, but is also covered with black sleeving.

GIGABYTE UD1000GM PG5 Connector Type Wired Modular ATX 24 Pin – 1 EPS 4+4 Pin – 2 EPS 8 Pin – – PCI-E 5.0 – 1 PCI-E 8 Pin – 4 SATA – 8 Molex – 3 Floppy – 1

The new PCIe 5.0 cable is the highlight of this PSU. This connector is required by the new ATX 3.0 standard for any PC power supply over 450 watts. Of course, the connector alone does not make the UD1000GM PG5 ATX 3.0 compatible, as the new standard brings numerous and important changes to the market. However, it would make the UD1000GM PG5 last longer.

Physically, these 16-pin connectors are not significantly larger than older 6/8-pin PCIe connectors, but they have twelve pins plus four sensing pins. Of the four sensor pins, two are required and two are optional. The mandatory pins indicate to the PCIe card the maximum power that the connector can handle, allowing the card to regulate its power consumption. That makes using adapters on older PSUs tricky, as the PSU has no way of signaling the card and their cables can’t handle high power consumption, so the preset output can’t get close to 600 Watts. The only window for safe use of adapters limits the output of a passive adapter to the minimum allowed by the new standard (150 watts) or requires active adapters with multiple legacy connector inputs.

These new 12VHPWR connectors can deliver up to 600 Watts each. Depending on the capacity of the PSU, the maximum wattage it can deliver is printed on the connector itself. The connector of the UD1000GM PG5 states that it can handle 600 Watts continuously, which is the maximum prescribed by the ATX 3.0 standard.

The GIGABYTE UD1000GM PG5 1000W PSU

External Appearance

The GIGABYTE UD1000GM PG5 PSU is very compact for a 1 kW unit. Measuring just 86mm × 150mm × 140mm (H × W × D), the UD1000GM PG5 manages to fully comply with ATX standard dimensional specifications, making it compatible with virtually any ATX-compatible case. The steel chassis is painted with a satin black paint and several parts of it are embossed to create a futuristic design. The fan finger guard is also part of the chassis itself.

GIGABYTE has moved the device’s certifications and specifications sticker to the top of the chassis, giving the sides an artistic design. The decal faces sideways, with the designer clearly thinking this orientation would make it easier to read from a windowed side panel.

A typical on/off switch can be seen on the back of the unit, next to the power connector. There are indications that there was (or should have been) a sticker right under the power socket, but we didn’t find anything there. Most of the front is covered by the connectors for the modular cables, with GIGABYTE strongly urging users to only use the supplied cables for this PSU.

Internal design

GIGABYTE entrusted the cooling of the UD1200GM PG5 to Jamicon, a sister company of the more famous Teapo. The Taiwanese fan manufacturer is not popular among PSU designers, but their products are considered to be of above-average quality. The KF1225H1H 120mm fan in the UD1200GM PG5 is a fairly basic model, with a gun-carrying motor. This fan feels like an odd choice for a PSU with a 10-year warranty, and can cause a lot of RMA requests after those years.

Both the OEM and platform of the GIGABYTE UD1200GM PG5 are completely new to us. GIGABYTE entrusted the production of this PSU to Xiamen Metrotec Electronic Industry Co (or MEIC), a Chinese OEM whose products we have not seen before. MEIC has been around since 2007 and is not a new company, but they have mainly been active in producing smaller products such as chargers and power banks.

The filter stage of the GIGABYTE UD1200GM PG5 is textbook, with a total of four Y capacitors, two X capacitors and two filter inductors leading to a dual input rectifier bridge configuration. The bridges are placed on a large heatsink. The passive APFC components are a hulking 400V/1000µF APFC capacitor made by Nippon Chemi-Con and an equally massive filter coil. The inrush current of this configuration will be terrible and can cause the circuit breaker to trip if type B or low power MCBs are in use. The active APFC components are located on a long heat sink over the edge of the circuit board.

Two transistors form a typical half-bridge inversion topology on the primary side of the unit, while six MOSFETs generate the 12V line on the secondary side of the transformer. The 3.3V and 5V lines are generated through the DC-to-DC conversion circuitry. This is a very typical configuration for an 80Plus Gold certified unit. All secondary capacitors, both electrolytic and polymer, are supplied by Teapo and Lelon, both Taiwanese manufacturers. Teapo is a manufacturer of which we often see the products of mid-tier products. Lelon is not as well known as Teapo but their products are of about equal quality. Either way, enthusiasts would probably hope to find something better in a quality PSU with such a long warranty.