BFG EX-1200 (1200W) Modular PSU
Cables, Connectors & Internal Layout
Like most other modular PSU’s the EX-1200 is hybrid in design. This means that although the unit does indeed have several modular connectors, the main cables required for powering the average modern day system (ATX, EPS-12v, 1x PCI-E….) are hard wired into the PSU. This not only ensures that critical system components get a good, clean supply of power direct from the PSU without the interference and resistance that modular connectors have been known to introduce, but also avoids situations where ill-fitted modular connectors can kill components.
A total of six cables protrude from the unit with 3x Molex, 1x Floppy, 3x SATA, 2x EPS-12v, 1x ATX and 1x PCI-E connectors attached to the ends. This is substantially more than most other units and does slightly loose sight of the whole reasoning behind having a modular PSU in the first place (not having to plug in the cables you don’t need). Each of the cables is sleeved in a black mesh and finished neatly at the ends with zip ties and cable shrink.
A possible reason for so many hard-wired connectors is the slight deficiency in the modular connector department. With only six plugs for inserting modular cables, this is significantly less than most other 1KW+ PSU’s on the market and would have hindered users from utilizing the EX-1200’s full power. A full list of the cables found on the EX-1200 can be seen below:
Six PCI-E plugs are provided via three cables (2 modular, 1 hard-wired) on the EX-1200, with each of the cables using piggy-back style wiring. This is great news for people who will be using the EX-1200 to power graphics cards that require two PCI-E connectors as it only means one cable is required per GPU (rather than two). Additionally, one of the two connectors on each cable can be upgraded from 6-Pin to 8-Pin by means of a 2-Pin connector. The only downside to this thoughtful configuration is that if your graphics card only needs a single PCI-E connector, then you’re left with a rather messy bundle of unused wires.
Lifting off the lid and moving on to the guts of the EX-1200 everything looks like quite a condensed mess! While the hard-wired cables entering the unit and the ones leading to the modular backplane are quite tightly bunched with cable ties, the rest of the cables roaming around the unit completely destroy the look. Several of the cables are also spliced from one cable in to two, and the area around the AC inlet looks like several shrink wrapped components have just been shoe horned into any available space.
The primary capacitors are Japanese manufactured by Nichicon and carry the specifications 470uF, 450v, 85°c. Although maybe not as good quality as some other Jap made 105°c capacitors, these should certainly stand the test of time just fine. At the center of the unit is a single 12v transformer responsible for powering the four ‘virtually’ split +12v rails in the unit. Also coming off the 12v transformer is a stepdown to the +3.3v and +5v rails.
Running entirely independently on its own PCB attached to the side of the main mosfet heatsink is the +5VSB rail/mini-PSU. This is partially responsible for the mess of cables inside the unit as it would have been much easier to splice wires directly to this device rather than running traces on the main PCB and designing a custom connection method for it.
No cookies for those who guess the OEM of the EX-1200 is…That’s right, Andyson Power. A quick browse of their website reveals that we’re more than likely looking at a slightly customised version of their Extreme M Series model with some minor layout changes to the internals and a different coloured fan and power switch. For those interested, the fan used inside the EX-1200 is manufactured by Young Lin Tech with a model number of DFB132512H and specifications: 1700RPM / 91.16CFM / 31.28dBA at 12v.
Now on to the testing…
