Asus rog thor 1200w review in Spanish (full analysis)

ROG has always been a symbol of premium and top quality products. ASUS has brought its top-of-the-range sub-brand to motherboards, laptops, monitors, mice, keyboards… even headphones or microphones. But what many did not expect was that they would also take it to the power supply market, with its new Asus ROG Thor 1200W.

This font comes with a series of truly promising features: 80 Plus Platinum Efficiency Certification and Cybenetics ETA-A & LAMBDA-A +, 10 year warranty… And much more that will amaze you. All in collaboration with the renowned manufacturer Seasonic. Ready to see how far Thor's power goes? Let's go there!

Technical Specifications ASUS ROG Thor 1200W

External analysis

The front of the box shows us the product that we are going to analyze, and gives us its aggressive external appearance, in addition to its 80 Plus Platinum efficiency certificate, its 10-year warranty and its compatibility with Aura Sync.

In the back, more features and specifications that we will comment on throughout the review.

We open the box and find a simply excellent presentation, which from the beginning leaves us speechless. The source itself and the included accessories are so well protected that it would seem strange to us that there was only one case of DOA (Dead on Arrival).

In a small bag from ROG we find the accessories, which are quite a few: custom velcro strips, nylon cable ties, stylish ASUS sticker, a bag of wiring combs, screws, and an invitation for a 20% discount on Cablemod for if we want custom cables.

Combs or cable combs are essential for the correct organization of the precious wiring that we will show you now.

All sleeved wiring including ROG Thor 1200W

Opening the other bag we found the wiring for the ASUS ROG Thor 1200W. On the one hand, we highlight the inclusion of wiring with sleeving in the case of ATX, CPU and PCIe. ASUS has thought of enthusiastic users when betting on extremely stylish cables , which lack annoying capacitors, of quality and in this case they have been super manageable.

And there is one more thing: Fortunately, the PCIe cables with sleeving are individual, that is, we have 1 connector of 6 + 2 pins per cable and not 2 as usual, so that we can use them without problems for graphics cards of High power. We say this because, in the case of cables that have 2 connectors, it is recommended to use two different cables with high-power GPU, which would have a significant aesthetic burden.

We take the opportunity to show in the photo above that, indeed, Seasonic recommends the use of 1 PCIe connector per cable and no more.

Other wiring (Power, 2x2PCIe, SATA, Molex, Molex to SATA adapter, Molex to FDD adapter, cables for RGB Aura)

A round 10 in wiring, then? Well, unfortunately, no. Sadly, of the 8 PCIe connectors, there are only 4 in sleeved cables, and the remaining four are arranged in normal wiring, without sleeving, which seems to us a bad decision on the part of the brand.

Yes, 4 PCIe can provide 2 RTX graphics, but in a source in this price range, which boasts so much aesthetics, you should be able to take advantage of the 8 PCIe without having to settle for normal cabling. This is not the end of the world, but it is something worth mentioning.

ASUS doesn't lie and makes it quite clear how many connectors have sleeving present. But we continue to insist that we wish we had seen them all in full.

It should also be noted that the PCIe cables without 'sleeving' also do not carry the annoying capacitors in the cables, although they are not individual and have 2 connectors per cable.

SATA and Molex cable strips do not use Sleeving, this is totally normal and we have no problem with it. We have a total of 2 CPU connectors (we are ready to use X299 / X399 platforms), 8 PCIe connectors, 12 SATA that we can expand by 2 more with a 1x Molex to 2x SATA, 5 Molex and 1 FDD adapter.

Once assembled, the cables look extremely good and are sure to please many users. You may wonder why we have not used the combs or cable combs to organize them better, and it is because the cables are attached with nylon ties that prevent the combs from being inserted in an orderly manner. It is just a matter of removing them, and there will be no more problems for cable combs.

Now, we take out the source of the 'bunker' in which it is superprotected, and we can appreciate an external aesthetic that will not leave anyone indifferent. This is the most aggressive externally designed font we've tested in months or years. Whether they have succeeded with this aesthetic line is the decision of each user, although we love it.

And here we have the great and interesting OLED screen that will show us the consumption information in real time, in addition to a beautiful ROG logo that will be illuminated.

It should be noted that the layout of the source is made in such a way that, in order to see the OLED screen, we must mount it with the fan up. A lot of people will consider it inconvenient, but it makes sense: In cases that don't have any kind of lid for the PSU, mounting it up implies better operation in semi-passive mode by allowing hot air to naturally escape upwards, without too much influence in the temperatures of the GPU that is just above it.

Those who mount it down would only see this side of the fountain, without a screen or lighting. This makes us suggest that the screen should be interchangeable for the free choice of the side on which to mount it. In any case, let's also remember that many boxes today have a fairing that would totally prevent you from seeing this screen. Perhaps a future ROG Thor II with a display that could be connected externally would be fine?

And this is what the ROG Thor would look like mounted on real equipment. The lighting is static red since we do not have a ROG board, but for all those who enjoy one, they can take advantage of Aura Sync to configure 12 very stylish lighting effects. Do you like it

The part of the modular connectors is perfectly organized, with the correct separations for components. Non-misleading connectors have also been used, although it is always recommended to consult the manual in case of doubt.

Internal analisis

The ASUS ROG Thor 1200W is a source made by Seasonic, a company of great renown in the sector. But the important thing is not so much who manufactures it but the product itself, and in this case we can appreciate the use of the Prime Ultra Platinum platform modified to meet the requirements of ASUS.

One of the points that David Yang, responsible for ASUS graphics cards, told us in the interview that we could do at Computex 2018, was that one of the main characteristics of this Thor is that it is a fast source. By this, we wanted to say that you can respond quickly and steadily to today's highly changing CPU and GPU loads.

This we talk about is called transient response or transient response and defines how well the PSU responds to large load variations in a short time, and we can say that in this and in all other aspects of electrical performance the Prime Ultra is currently one of the best analog platforms for power supplies out there.

One of the biggest modifications ASUS has made is to include its own heatsinks, the so-called "ROG Thermal Solution". Certainly the dissipation surface is much larger which is something to be proud of. Remember that this source is prepared to be placed with the fan facing up and using the semi-passive mode, so this dissipation is appreciated. Does it remind us of 100% passive sources?

We also have an additional PCB where all the necessary components for the display and lighting control are located, specifically we have an Allegro ACS725T integrated circuit for current measurement. Behind that PCB is also hidden the supervisory circuit in charge of the protections, a Weltrend WT7527V.

Moving to the usual analysis, the primary filter has a properly isolated first part as is normal in the high-end sources of Seasonic. To know the number of components we have relied on the Cybenetics data, and they are 6 Y capacitors, 3 X capacitors and 2 coils, which is very good.

Let's not forget the NTC thermistor, which reduces the current peaks that occur when turning on the source, in addition to the relay, which once the NTC "finishes" its work, bridges the electricity through it and not through the NTC (maximizing efficiency among other advantages). As expected we also have a MOV or varistor to reduce surges.

As in all sources with relay, a “click” is heard when turning it on and off. It is totally normal, although in this the used relay is relatively silent (or perhaps because it is "hidden" it sounds less).

As expected, all capacitors are Japanese. On the primary side we have two, from the Hitachi house and of the highest quality, both 400V, one being 470uF and the other 820uF. That makes 1290uF combined which is, thankfully, a whopping value even on a PSU of that much power.

In the secondary we have various Japanese electrolytic and solid capacitors distributed by the PCB, all of them from Nippon Chemi-con. The modular cabling part has even more capacitors, especially solid ones, which achieve a minimum ripple according to the data that we will show you below, without the need to use annoying capacitors in the cables.

We take a look at the welding quality, although the protective plastic prevents our vision a bit, it can be seen that it is of the highest quality as can be expected in such a source.

It is important to look at the area where there is a hole in the protective plastic, there are the 12V MosFETs, these are very important components and they get very hot. That's why Asus and Seasonic have refrigerated them excellently.

On the one hand, a thermal pad that makes the chassis act as a heatsink. On the other hand, these MosFETs are in contact with two aluminum heatsinks that also use the "ROG Thermal Solution" (which we see two photos above).

We finish with the fan, a Power Logic PLA13525B12M, which Asus commercially calls “Wing-Blade”. Due to its double ball bearings we are faced with a top quality fan with overwhelming reliability that surely exceeds the 10-year guarantee of the source.

These bearings stand out, as we say, for their robustness, but are usually considered less silent. Soon we will see how the latter does not apply to this PSU and we are dealing with a super quiet model. It is also worth mentioning its IP5X certification, which certifies that it has resistance to dust, a great enemy of fans and electronics in general.

Cybenetics performance tests

As we already indicated in our specification table, this power supply has a certification of efficiency and loudness issued by Cybenetics. This company stands out for carrying out more advanced and complete tests than 80 Plus (as they test more efficiency points and 80 Plus does not check loudness), but also because detailed tests with all the tests carried out are published on its website.

Since Cybenetics allows their data to be used with the corresponding attribution, we will show them in this review and explain them. Our goal is for everyone to understand the meaning of all these tests, as the data alone can be incomprehensible to many users. In addition, Cybenetics has equipment that exceeds € 30, 000-50, 000 in cost, enabling them to do some of the most reliable testing in the world.

Cybenetics Testing Glossary

Let's go with a small glossary of some terms that could be somewhat confusing:

• Rail: PC sources that follow the ATX standard (like this one) do not have a single outlet, but several, which are distributed in " rails ". Each of those rails outputs a specific voltage, and can supply a specific maximum current. We show you the rails of this Thor in the image below. The most important is 12V.

  

  Crossload: When testing a power supply, the most common is that the loads made on each rail are proportional to their "weight" in the power distribution table of the source. However, it is known that the actual loads of the equipment are not like this, but are usually very unbalanced. Therefore, there are two tests called "crossload" in which a single group of rails is loaded.

  On the one hand, we have the CL1 that leaves the 12V rail unloaded and gives 100% at 5V and 3.3V. On the other, the CL2 that 100% loads the 12V rail leaving the rest unloaded. This type of testing, of limit situations, truly shows if the source has a good regulation of voltages or not.

We have accompanied each Cybenetics test with a short explanation of what is being measured. If you want to omit it, simply read from the graph in each section.

We remind you that to see the complete test report of Cybenetics in this THOR, from where we extract the information, you can click here.

Voltage regulation

These tests measure the voltages of the 12V, 5V, 3.3V, and 5VSB rails of the source as a function of the PSU load. Intel's ATX standard defines that these voltages must be kept within +/- 5% of the nominal value (for example, 12V between 11.4V and 12.6V). What is important to measure here is not that but the deviation that is between the minimum and maximum value of voltage, since this is what most stresses the VRM of our board and GPU, that is, they care more about how much the voltage varies than how much moves away from the nominal value.

The data on voltage regulation in 12V begin to show what we said in the internal analysis, that this is one of the analog internal platforms with the best electrical performance in the world (or the best directly). The regulation of voltages is only 0.09% when we do not take into account the Crossload, once we take it into account we see how the DC-DC topology does its job well and leaves us with a measly 0.21%.

The minor rails are more of the same, with a deviation of 5V and 3.3V that is again laughable (0.07% and 0.10% respectively), while the 5VSB is not as legendary at 1.13%, but it is still in excellent values and they will never give a single problem.

Curly

Vulgarly, it can be defined as the "residuals" of alternating current that remain after the transformation and rectification of the household AC into low-voltage DC.

These are variations of some millivolts (mV) that, if they are very high (being able to say that there is a "dirty" energy output) can affect the behavior of the equipment components and in some cases damage fundamental components.

A very guiding description of what a source's ripple would look like on an oscilloscope. In the graphs below what we show is the variation between peaks like the ones seen here, depending on the source load.

The ATX standard defines limits of up to 120mV on the 12V rail, and up to 50mV on the other rails we show. We (and the community of PSU specialists in general) consider that the 12V limit is quite high, so we give a "recommended limit" of just half, 60mV. In any case you will see how the majority of sources that we test give excellent values.

On the 12V rail, this ROG Thor achieves without annoying capacitors in the cables what others achieve by including them, that is, an excellent curl that does not fit a single complaint, with a maximum of just 23mV that will make VRM feel great. of the board and the GPU and that will not weigh down any overclock.

As for the minor rails, we continue without surprises, maintaining values ​​of which there is no complaint. Highlight the results on the 5V rail that leave an almost perfect direct current output.

Efficiency

Efficiency is the ratio of the energy consumed by the equipment (output) and the energy consumed by the wall source (input). For example: if the PC demands 500W and the source is 80% efficient, the output power going to the components will be 500W and the input power that will affect the bill will be 625W. This 125W waste goes mostly to heat loss. Therefore, the highest possible efficiency is sought. This efficiency varies according to the PSU load and Cybenetics tests between 10 and 110% (+ crossload).

It is important to clarify that the efficiency of a source at 115V (voltage used mainly in North America) is not the same as at 230V (used in Europe and almost all over the world). In the latter case, it is always higher. Therefore, the requirements of 80 Plus and Cybenetics to obtain a certificate at 230V are greater than at 115V.

The vast majority of 80 Plus sources are 115V certified, tests for both voltages are usually available at Cybenetics (as is the case).

The minimum requirement of the European Union according to regulation 617/2013 ( which many brands in the EU love to violate with impunity -is not the case-? ) Is 82% to 20% of load, 85% to 50% of load and 82% to 100% load.

The results of efficiency in 230V remain at the gates of 80 Plus Platinum at this voltage, but it is something that almost always occurs in certified sources at 115V. In any case, on the Cybenetics scale a Platinum source should be in the company's “ETA A” efficiency range, and fortunately it is more than enough.

Fan speed and loudness:

In the aforementioned range of tests, Cybenetics also publishes the fan speed and loudness data for the source. The first data are quite comparable between various tests, while the second depend heavily on the environment in which they are performed. In the case of Cybenetics, they are done in an anechoic chamber that costs thousands of euros, with a reinforced 300kg door, fully insulated walls, a professional sound level meter that also costs thousands of euros… It is such sophisticated equipment that it can measure values as low as 6dBA while a cheap meter is usually limited to 30-40.

These data depend a lot on how they are interpreted, Cybenetics gives us their interpretation through the loudness certification (which in this case is high, LAMBDA A + is an excellent value for a 1200W source), we will also give you ours.

Hold-up time:

We finish this catalog of tests with the so - called hold-up time. This test basically measures the time the source endures operating at full load when cutting off the wall power supply. This is important since there has to be enough time for it to “communicate” to the board that there has been a power cut, thus being able to turn off the equipment in the least harmful way possible.

Intel's ATX standard defines 16 / 17ms (according to test) as minimum hold-up time. (The more the better). We will be quite flexible with affordable sources, as these are 100% source load values ​​(and the reality is that we will never or almost never be at such a load) making it easy to exceed the ATX specification at "normal loads" although it is not like this at maximum load.

Hold-up time ASUS ROG Thor 1200W (tested at 230V)	23.10 ms
Data extracted from Cybenetics

The value obtained far exceeds that required by the ATX standard.

We reiterate our thanks to Cybenetics for allowing the use of this test data and invite you to learn more about them here.

Our test bench and consumption test

In addition to the Cybenetics tests, we conducted our tests with our test team:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	AMD Ryzen 7 1700 (OC)
Base plate:	MSI X370 Xpower Gaming Titanium.
Memory:	16GB DDR4
Heatsink	Corsair H100i Platinum RGB
HDD	Samsung 850 EVO SSD. Seagate Barracuda HDD
Graphic card	Gigabyte R9 390
Reference Power Supply	NZXT E650

In this case, we have measured the consumption of the source in 6 different load scenarios: PC in total rest with factory voltages, PC on the desktop with the CPU at 1.35V voltage, CPU in load with Prime95 at 1.35V, GPU in load with the power limit at + 0%, GPU on load + 0% with CPU load at 1.45V and finally GPU at + 50% power limit with the processor at 1.45V. Thus, we have compared the consumption results with two other sources:

From our own consumption tests we observe values ​​adjusted to normal when we compare with another 80 Plus Platinum source, in this case 1000W, and they are even within the loose margins of error inherent in a test like this, carried out on a PC and not in professional equipment.

What we find much more interesting is to see how the consumption shown by our meter and by the Thor's own OLED screen compares. We see differences that are perfectly within an acceptable range to consider that the screen measurement is accurate and allows us to give a good view of the consumption of the PSU.

Eye! The ROG Thor gives the consumption data of INPUT, and not OUTPUT, concepts that we explained previously.

It is important to highlight it since if for example we see a consumption of about 1350W in the panel of the Thor, we would be talking about an input consumption of about 1200W and therefore we would not have yet exceeded the nominal power of the source, even if it seems so.

Where you can see a big difference is in the consumption shown without anything connected. We suspect that it is due to the way of measurement that has the integrated circuit in charge of it, which triggers the measurement at ultra-low loads due to a low power factor. But it is not something that interests us much since, as we see, in loads of a normal PC there is no problem.

Fan speed

The ROG Thor surprises as an extremely silent source, even without using semi-passive mode.

As we indicated before, the used fan makes use of a double ball bearing. This bearing is not known for being extremely quiet, but our feelings have been completely opposite. When it works, the loudness is minimal, it is only heard in a subtle way, bringing the ear very close and without any other fan or HDD turned on. This is a clear improvement over the 135mm Hong Hua that we saw in other sources made by Seasonic.

Regarding the semi-passive mode, we have not seen anomalies in its operation that we did see in other sources manufactured by Seasonic, where there were "loops" of constant on and off of the fan. In this case, the use of a double ball bearing involves much less wear and tear in the on and off process than other bearings, so we can totally recommend the hybrid mode of this ROG Thor. And for users who prefer to maximize cooling, the quality of this fan will keep it running smoothly during the 10-year warranty.

Final words and conclusion

ASUS has entered the power supply market in a way that we could define as triumphant, with a model that incorporates one of the best internal qualities on the market, with an endless array of features and accessories that seek to give it game beyond its task of feeding the equipment. If we can define it with a phrase, we would say: the source that leaves no one indifferent. Whether for aesthetics, sound, internal quality or performance, there is a lot to say.

Moving to more specific aspects, the OLED screen and aesthetics in general have seemed super interesting, and can be the delight of many PC builds. The loudness has left us amazed, speechless, with extremely tight noise levels even with the fan running. The wiring is interesting and impressive, although we did not like the fact that there are PCIe connectors without 'sleeving'. Finally, the 10-year warranty provides complete peace of mind about the durability of the product.

We recommend reading our updated guide to the best power sources.

We can find this ROG Thor 1200W for a price of 350 euros. It seems to us a very high price because for 100 euros less we have options that compete from you to you in quality and benefits and that also allow us to monitor consumption. In short, this is a premium product that does not shine for its value for money but seeks to be special, and not just another source. Still, we would have liked to see it closer to 200 euros than 400.

Note that the price of the 850W model seems much tighter to us, at 185 euros. Still elevated, but we see it much more justifiable.

Of course, seeing its price and features, it is not a product for everyone, it is clearly intended for a very select audience, perhaps even fans of the ROG brand willing to spend such an amount of money to obtain these features.

In conclusion, ASUS has made a big entrance in this market. There is still much room for improvement, and we are confident that this is the beginning of a great future for PSUs. This launch reminds us of the history of ROG in gaming mice, where they started with an excellent, innovative and interesting Gladius, but with small deficiencies that in the Gladius II series were mitigated.

PROS:

• Very striking external design with OLED screen that shows the consumption in real time. Top-of-the-range internal quality, with components of extreme durability: Infineon MOSFETs, Japanese condensers, excellent welds… Reinforced cooling and TOP quality fan. Super quiet operation even without the semi-passive mode.Wired with sleeving, colorful and varied.

CONS:

• Very high price We would have liked that all the cables had sleeving, instead of being PCIe connectors without them. Since the OLED screen is fixed, it can only be seen in boxes that do not have the source covered. A screen that could be used externally would allow anyone to enjoy its benefits.

The Professional Review team awards you the platinum medal and recommended product:

ASUS ROG Thor 1200W

INTERNAL QUALITY - 97%

SOUNDING - 96%

WIRING MANAGEMENT - 97%

PROTECTION SYSTEMS - 95%

PRICE - 80%

93%

ASUS 'triumphant entry into the PSU market, with an extraordinary model in quality, sound and performance, with the price as its greatest Achilles heel.