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Raijintek Ampere 1200
Introduction
There are a lot of great PSUs hitting the market recently, what with the recent-ish switch up to the latest PCI Gen 5.0 and ATX 3.0 standards, and with newer CPUs and GPUs using a huge amount of power, we’re seeing 1000W+ PSU become the norm again. Like many other manufacturers, Raijintek also promptly adapted its offer to the ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 standards, offering the new Ampere Series in three power ratings, specifically 850W, 1000W and 1200W, all with 80 Plus Platinum and Cybenetics Platinum 230V switching efficiency standards. This is Raijintek's first power supply series to meet the 80 Plus Platinum and Cybenetics Platinum 230V switching efficiency standards. The lineup currently only offers a 1200W model, but the company is working to add more variants based on power. They are available in a white and a black colour variant except the 850W one which is available in black only. The subject of today's review is the flagship model of the series, the 1200, capable of supporting power peaks of 2400W in accordance with the ATX 3.0 standard!
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The PSU meets ATX 3.0 and PCIe Gen 5 specifications and includes a 600W compatible 12V-2x6 modular cable. It is a more durable successor to the 12VHPWR connector and remains compatible with it. Besides the 600W 12V-2x6 and a 24-pin ATX, you get four 6+2-pin PCIe power supplies, two 8-pin EPS, eight SATA power supplies, three Molex and one Berg. Under the hood, the Raijintek Ampere features a single +12V rail design, with active PFC, LLC, and DC-DC switching. Protections are included against over/under voltage, over current, over power and short circuit. The PSU uses a 120mm smooth dynamic bearing fan that can stay off up to 40% of +12V load. The PSU is 14cm long, which should work well with mid-sized cases, especially considering its 1,200W power. Before starting with our analysis we report, as usual, the amperometric data of the models belonging to the Ampere series. These power supplies provide several protections including OCP, OVP, UVP, OPP, SCP and OTP.
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Packaging & Contents
The Raijintek Ampere 1200 box is colourful with some key points listed including ATX 3.0 Ready, PCIe 5.0 Ready, and 80 Plus Platinum – alongside the use of Japanese capacitors. At the face of the box is the PSU's model name and pic.
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On the back are details about the PSU's cables and badges depicting various features, and power specifications.
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On the left side the manufacturer expose the name of unit
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On the right side the manufacturer expose the two available models in black and white versions
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Protection inside the box is good, and the PSU is also wrapped in plastic. The Raijintek Raijintek Ampere is well packaged with black layered foam around the entire PSU.
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Raijintek has shipped all the included cables in this branded black box.
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Here, you can see the entire bunch. Some of you will enjoy the view. The cables are all black and come in electrical and nylon braid with heat shrink wrap, so they fit most users’ needs. They are sufficient in terms of number and length as well. Two 6+2 pin PCIe cables are included, measuring 650 mm. The other connectors common to all models include a 24-pin ATX, two 4+4 pin EPS, eight SATA power connectors and three 4-pin Molex,
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The 12+4 pin PCIe is 600 mm long. The 24-pin ATX motherboard cable is 600 mm long, whereas the 8-pin ATX CPU leads are 70/60 cm long. SATA is 900 mm long, and the Molex lead is 820 mm. These cables are modular, so you won’t have to plug in the ones you don’t need in your system, reducing cable clutter in your PC.
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Also, you get a leaflet and four screws.
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A Closer Look
The Raijintek Ampere 1200 power supply is nicely finished in a neutral colour scheme to fit into any themed build. Many new chassis hide the power supply anyway, so its not so much of an issue now. Measuring only 140mm deep, this PSU is compact for the capacity.
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The fan is hidden behind a metal grill, with the Raijintek badge in the centre. A 120 mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan is used to keep cool, which is programmed to stay completely off until a certain load level. The wide 8mm spacing between fan grill and the fan blades guarantees low influx turbulence and better airflow performance while lowering noise.
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On both sides, a sticker describes the model name.
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On the back, a sticker describes the power specifications.
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The exhaust/front utilizes a typical honeycomb grille, and the smart fan stop switch. I find having the smart fan stop switch here to be convenient, since some older power supplies have it on the inside rather than the outside.
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The modular bay on the other side of the unit is clearly laid out and labelled for ease of use during the build phase. Input cable plugs here have a split 12+18-pin design for the 24-pin motherboard cable. Next, a dual CPU 8-pin cable input rounds out the top connections. The second row consists of three 6-pin SATA or MOLEX cable inputs and a full 600-watt 12VHPWR cable. The last row has two PCIe 8-pin cable inputs.
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A Closer Look Inside
The Raijintek Ampere 1200 is made by Andyson, an OEM I don’t often meet, although it can deliver good platforms. I guess Raijintek uses this OEM to differentiate its products from the competition.
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Despite the PCB’s small dimensions, the primary side is not overpopulated with parts, and the filtering capacitors on the secondary side are in clear view of the fan’s airflow.
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The power supply is equipped with an active power factor correction and has a fairly wide range of supply voltages from 100 to 240 volts. This ensures resistance to voltage drops in the electrical network below standard values.
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The design of the power supply is fully consistent with modern trends: active power factor correction, synchronous rectifier for the +12VDC channel, independent pulsed DC converters for the +3.3VDC and +5VDC lines.
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Raijintek have opted for a Ong Hua 120mm fan, Model number HA1225H12F-Z. This is a high grade Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) fan designed for low noise emissions. The fan connection is two-wire, via a connector.
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These fans not only tend to emit lower noise levels, but they are rated to last longer as well due to the lubrication of the bearing itself.
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The transient filter starts on the AC receptacle and continues on the main PCB.
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On the primary side, the PSU uses a half-bridge topology and an LLC resonant converter for lossless switching. On the secondary side, FETs handle the 12V rail and a pair of DC-DC converters the minor rails. All filtering caps are by Chemi-Con, which is among my top choices.
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Raijintek are using two high grade Japanese capacitors on the primary stage (class leading ‘Nippon Chemi Con’). These are all 105c rated. Both are rated 560uF 450V.
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Chemi-Con caps on the secondary side.
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Instrumentation used
So, without further a do, let’s get this strapped onto our test bench and see how it does!Below we report the instrumentation used in the test phase for the Raijintek Ampere 1200.
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PowerKiller 2.0. Test bench designed for power supplies up to 2185W.
Stingray DS1M12 USB Oscilloscope
PCE-PA 6000 Wattmeter
Range 1W ~ 6kW
Accuracy ± 1.5%
Multimeters
3 x HT81
1 x ABB Metrawatt M2004
1 x Eldes ELD9102
1 x Kyoritsu Kew Model 2001
1 x EDI T053
Multi-Channel Datalogging Digital Thermometer PCE-T 1200
Center 325 sound level meter
Voltage Regulation
Line +3,3V
Average voltage 3.235 volts
Deviation from the ideal value (3.33 volts) = -2.85%
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Line +5V
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Average voltage 4.986 volts
Deviation from ideal value (5.0 volts) = -0.28%
Line +12V
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Average voltage 12.058 volts
Deviation from ideal value (12.0 volts) = +0.48%
The 12 and 5V voltages linear load test remain close to the nominal value throughout the entire operating range. On the 3.3V line a slightly lower value is observed due to the starting value of "only" 3.31V, however, even at full load, the voltage remains within the limits imposed by the ATX standard.
Efficiency
The 80Plus Platinum certification is deserved with an adequate margin, the Raijintek Ampere 1200 wastes just 31W at the point of maximum efficiency and around 84W at full load.
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Ripple
3.3V
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5V
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12V
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We aim to see under 50mv on the 12v rail, and yet this PSU is between 15.6 and 22mv which is just exceptional.
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Cross Load
Line +3,3V
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Maximum Vdrop 0.06 volts (1.81%)
Line +5V
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Maximum Vdrop 0,09 volt (1,77%)
Line +12V
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Maximum Vdrop 0,14 volt (1,15%)
This test session, which aims to verify the stability of the voltage supplied on the individual lines, is archived with excellent results. The Raijintek Ampere contains voltage drops within 2% on all three lines of interest with an extremely low value on the main line.
APFC & 12VHPWR
The power factor control system (APFC) reaches a value of 0.99 at full load and shows good progression.
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The output voltage of the 12VHPWR cable contains the voltage drop compared to the no-load value at just 190mV at full load, an excellent result and an indication of adequate quality of the components and cable used.
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Noise
The Raijintek Ampere 1200 proved to be an extremely quiet power supply; the control system regulates the operation of the fan both based on the power supplied and the internal temperature, starting rotation only when actually necessary.
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Final Thoughts
After having tried the excellent Cratos, Raijintek returns to visit us with an interesting new model that aims to offer even the most demanding customers performances suited to their expectations. In addition to achieving 80Plus Platinum certification, we found even more robust output voltages, with deviations contained under 2% from the nominal value on all three main voltages. With quality components, all Japanese capacitors, it’s hardly surprising to see this power supply deliver clean and constant power with very low ripple. The noise level, makes a real leap forward here as the power supply was practically inaudible up to 600W with or without the fanless mode active (up to 400W), remaining however particularly silent up to 750W!
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The Raijintek Ampere 1200 has a lot to offer, and at 1200W it’s going to meet, if not exceed, the requirements of even the most demanding high-end gaming PC or workstation. There’s no silly RGB here or anything like that, it’s just designed to be a powerful power supply that isn’t going to break the bank. It’s built to handle big power spikes, with an increased hold-up time, and also features the latest PCIe Gen 5 12VHPWR connector to support the latest Nvidia GPUs, and likely many future models, without the need for those awful PSU adaptors. There’s also 80 Plus Platinum Efficiency, and a switchable hybrid and active fan mode. I must admit that it’s likely “more PSU” than a lot of people will need, but if you want quality, this is where you’ll find it. To conclude, with a selling price of around €180 you can take home an excellent power supply, backed by a very valid design and a 7-year warranty!
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