True PSU Innovation – Lian Li RS1200G 1200W PSU Review

Conclusion

Lian Li has left us truly impressed with its RS1200G

Innovation within the PSU market is a tricky business. PSUs have strict standards for a reason. They need to work perfectly. If they don’t, they will fry your components and destroy your PC. Usually, when we talk about PSU innovation, we talk about new technologies that increase peak efficiency levels. Perhaps there is a new material that helps take things to the next level. Maybe a new component that delivers power more smoothly than ever. For Lian Li, they decided to recreate the wheel, focusing on the user experience rather than pure power delivery tech.

Now, don’t get us wrong, the Lian li RS1200G is a solid power supply. It delivers on its promise of gold-level efficiency, and its voltage stability is excellent. That said, what impresses us about the Lian Li RS1200G is its other features – all the little changes that make using this PSU a great experience.

Rotation and more

Lian Li’s new RS series PSUs are “rotational”, which means that they can be used in a standard ATX-style layout or with a shifted orientation where most cables go out the right side of the PSU. Thanks to its rotatable AC outlet, this PSU is suitable for all modern PC cases. That said, we think most buyers of this PSU will want to use its rotated layout.

Using this PSU’s rotated layout, most cables are accessible from the right side of most PC cases. This makes cable management easy. No need to pre-install cables before installing your power supply. When used with modern back-connect style motherboards, PC building and cable management become much faster and simpler.

Another nice addition to this PSU is its included USB hub. It makes connecting all your PC’s USB accessories effortless. Only one USB needs to be connected to your motherboard. Everything else can connect to your hub, and the hub can be installed onto your PSU or your PC case.

It’s the little things that make a difference

We have reviewed PSUs for over a decade. This is the first time we have seen a SATA power connector like this. Typically, we have a single cable with four or more SATA power connectors daisy-chained. While this is useful for HDDs, it isn’t for SATA-powered accessories. Unless your accessories are very close to each other, you won’t be able to connect many of them to a single SATA power strand. Lian Li has addressed this issue with its split SATA power cables. Each PSU connector splits into two cables with two SATA power connectors. That way, a single cable can connect to devices in various locations around your PC case. No need for two SATA power cables/strands.

This isn’t a big thing, but it shows how Lian Li is building PSUs for modern PC builds. HDDs are uncommon in the consumer PC space today, so traditional SATA power-cable designs aren’t as useful anymore. Lian Li saw this and acted on it. More PSU manufacturers should do the same.

Lian Li’s RS1200G deserves nothing less than OC3D’s Innovation Award. This isn’t a normal PSU, it’s something better. Users can literally transform this PSU into what they want. Users get a PSU that can be used in all systems. They also get a PSU that’s very accessory-friendly, thanks to its USB hub and redesigned SATA cables. This PSU is built for modern systems, and we love it.

You can join the discussion on Lian Li’s RS1200G rotational power supply on the OC3D Forums.