ADATA is an established manufacturer of PC components and peripherals. The company was founded in Taiwan a little over 20 years ago. The growth of the company in the last decade in particular has been rather explosive, and by 2016 ADATA was already the second largest memory-related products manufacturer in the world. With virtually no room to grow into the memory market anymore, ADATA began to diversify its product portfolio in multiple directions, ranging from PC cooling systems to electric powertrains.

One major expansion for ADATA has been to make further inroads into the PC gaming market, with the mother company founding a new brand, XPG (which stands for “Xtreme Performance Gear”). The XPG logo was initially only found on performance RAM modules, which ADATA had leagues of experience on. Nowadays, ADATA is greatly broadening the products bearing the XPG logo by releasing gaming peripherals, coolers, and even power supply units.

In today’s review, we are taking a look at XPG's Cybercore PSU, the latest and best PSU range that ADATA added into their products lineup. Th  Cybercore PSU that we are reviewing today boasts an impressive maximum output of 1300 Watts and is 80Plus Platinum certified. We will be seeing if any of its features and/or performance can give it an edge over the broad competition it faces in the market.

Packaging and Bundle

We received the XPG Cybercore 1300W PSU in a fairly large and sturdy cardboard box. The design of the box is very simple but its striking red color has it standing out from afar. Only the most basic of product information is printed on the front of the box, but plenty of details can be found on the sides and rear.

Inside the box, we found a relatively frugal bundle for a PSU of this tier. XPG supplies the basic AC power cable, a few cable ties, four mounting screws, a card full of stickers, and a manual. There are no extras to be found, whereas we usually prefer to see a few cable straps accompanying units with so many cables and intended to power many devices.

The XPG Cybercore 1300W PSU is a fully modular design, allowing for the removal of every DC power cable, including the 24-pin ATX cable. All of the cables are black, with matching black connectors. The ATX, EPS, and PCI Express cables are also sleeved, while the SATA and Molex connector cables are bare. We also found not one but two floppy disk power adapters inside the packaging, a very odd thing for such a product in 2022. What is even more peculiar is that XPG only includes two floppy disk adapters with the 1300W version of the unit; the 1000W version, meanwhile, comes with a single floppy adapter.

The ADATA XPG Cybercore 1300W PSU

External Appearance

The Cybercore 1300W PSU is not particularly impressive visually, with XPG opting for a relatively simple design that is based on fundamental geometric shapes. Despite its very high-power output, the chassis of the XPG Cybercore 1300W is just 160 mm long, only a bit longer than that of a fully ATX compatible unit. The depth of the chassis greatly increases the compatibility of the Cybercore PSU, allowing it to be the heart of very powerful (but still compact) builds.

On the sides of the unit, a hexagon sticker with the series name lies between two embossed triangles. The designer tried to merge function with aesthetics here, as a closer inspection reveals tiny exhaust vents across the edge of the embossed triangle, which are clearly for the targeted cooling of specific parts placed near it.  The top side of the chassis is dominated by a large sticker with the unit’s electrical specifications and certifications. Most of the bottom side is granted to the 120 mm cooling fan.

A typical on/off switch can be seen at the rear side of the unit, beside the power connector. The front side of the XPG Cybercore 1300W PSU, as expected from a fully modular unit with this kind of power output, is filled with the connectors for the modular cables. The connectors are grouped, but the grouping is a little abnormal. The ATX cable splits to two connectors towards the PSU, one with ten pins and one with eighteen pins, and curiously, are stacked rather than being laid out in the same row. Coupled with the fact that the latches are on opposite sides – one up, one down – this causes the ATX cable to twist towards its end and leads to a little bit of visual dissonance.

Internal Design

As advertised, XPG is using a fan made by Nidec to cover the cooling needs of the Cybercore PSU. The designer was forced to go with a 120 mm fan here because Nidec’s 140 mm fan would not fit. These dual-ball bearing engine fans are designed with long-term reliability in mind, with XPG advertising that they can last up to 60.000 hours at 60°C, which is a very impressive figure. This particular model has a maximum speed of 2150 RPM, which is a high rotational speed for a 120 mm fan, but it should not be reaching that speed under normal operating conditions.

The platform that the Cybercore PSU series is based on is brand new. It is a design by CWT (Channel Well Technologies) and seems to be an advanced, more compact version of the now aged CST platform. It is a hybrid platform, with digital control of critical operations but also analog controllers present.

The filtering stage is typical for units with that kind a power output. It comprises a total of six Y capacitors, two X capacitors, and two filtering inductors leading to a dual input rectifying bridge configuration. The bridges are placed on their own heatsink, which has plenty of surface area. The two massive 400V/680μF APFC capacitors are made by Nippon Chemi-Con, followed by two large filtering coils. The active APFC components are on a long heatsink right between the capacitors and the inductors.

Four transistors form a full-bridge inversion topology at the primary side of the unit. The large transformer output is connected to a vertical PCB with eight Infineon OptiMOS power MOSFETs (016N06NS) that generate the 12V rail. The 3.3V and 5V lines are being generated via the DC-to-DC conversion circuits found on a separate vertical PCB right next to the PCB housing the converters. Multiple shielded copper strips can be seen around the PSU, providing both electrical and electromagnetic isolation between the high frequency components. Rubycon, and Nippon Chemi-Con supply the electrolytic capacitors, while FPCAP and United Chemi-Con supply all of the polymer capacitors.

Cold Test Results (~22°C Ambient)

For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox and various other bits and parts. For a thorough explanation of our testing methodology and more details on our equipment, please refer to our How We Test PSUs - 2014 Pipeline post.

Most PSUs only bother to meet the certification requirements for a 115 VAC input, which is sufficient for overall certification regardless whether they meet the requirements for 230 VAC as well. This is not the case for the Cybercore 1300W, as XPG's PSU is capable of reaching 80Plus Platinum efficiency levels regardless of the input voltage. It has an average nominal load range (20% to 100% of the unit's capacity) efficiency of 93.3% when powered from a 230 VAC source, which drops down to 91.8% when powered from an 115 VAC source.

As promised by XPG, the fan of the Cybercore PSU doesn't even start until the load on the PSU exceeds 30%. Due to its very high efficiency, the internal temperatures of the PSU remains reasonably low even with the fan turned off. Once the fan starts, it will be only marginally audible at first, despite its dual ball-bearing engine. When the load is higher than 800 Watts, the fan’s speed will increase exponentially and will eventually reach its maximum possible speed. The end result is that the Cybercore PSU will get loud when fully loaded, but not unexpectedly so for a compact PSU with that high an output.

Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)

The XPG Cybercore is built from components that are capable of tolerating very high temperatures, which gave the PSU an edge while we were testing it inside our hotbox. The efficiency drop was very small, with a marginal average efficiency reduction of 0.4% across the nominal load range. In theory, the XPG Cybercore could receive its 80Plus Platinum certification even if the testing were to take place inside a hotbox. There is no disproportionate efficiency drop when the PSU is heavily loaded either, indicating that it is exceptionally resilient to thermal stressing.

No matter how efficient the XPG Cybercore is, that kind of power output will still produce a significant amount of thermal losses that the PSU will have to deal with. The temperature of the internal components will always be high if the PSU has to work under such adverse conditions, and higher than 60°C on the major active components across any load. Due to the cooling profile, the temperature of the internal components will be high while the unit is lightly loaded, will then drop when the load is moderate, and then keep rising until the unit reaches its maximum capacity. The temperature will reach a worrying level only when the XPG Cybercore is forced to operate at maximum load for prolonged periods of time.

The strange thermal behavior of the XPG Cybercore is due to the cooling fan or, to be more specific, the programmed cooling profile behind it. Regardless whether the unit was operating inside our hotbox or not, the thermal control circuit did not start the fan when the load was low. This was the culprit behind the high temperatures while the unit was only lightly loaded, which then dropped as the fan came on. The speed of the fan did not follow the same profile as when the unit was outside our hotbox though, as it reached its maximum speed with a load of 800 Watts and, naturally, maintained that high speed to the end of the load range.

Power Supply Quality

As part of our testing, we also check output parameters are within specifications, as well as voltage ripple and line noise.

The electrical performance of the XPG Cybercore 1300W PSU is good, though not particularly impressive for a top-tier power supply. Voltage regulation is exceptional on all lines, holding at 0.9-1.0% across the entire nominal load range. The XPG Cybercore also displayed a maximum ripple of 38 mV on the 12V line, a lot lower than the 120 mV recommended design limit. This is a good figure for a unit that outputs 1300 Watts, but as we've seen in other PSU designs, it could have been better. The filtering on the 3.3V and 5V lines is very good, with a maximum of 14 mV and 24 mV on the 3.3V and 5V lines respectively.

Conclusion

ADATA’s massive growth was not by chance, as the company has been making precise, calculated market moves amidst their attempts at diversification. The latest release of the XPG Cybercore PSUs is another one of those great moves, as the company has brought something that truly stands out in a very competitive and saturated market.

XPG heavily advertises their collaboration with Nidec, turning it into one of the core features of the Cybercore PSU. Deservedly, having a very good cooling fan is important, especially for a PSU where it will have to contend with some very warm temperatures. Nidec’s dual ball bearing cooling fan may be a little on the loud side but it undeniably is one of the most reliable DC fans ever made. Regardless, this is not what is truly unique about the Cybercore series PSUs – not by a long shot.

The truly unique part of the Cybercore series is the new CWT platform that they are based on. The new platform is practically a game changer, as it significantly reduced the space requirements for >1 kW designs while also adding digital control. The new platform is also able to meet the Intel ATX version 2.52 requirements. Although CWT's older platform probably could meet many of the same metrics – sans the new requirement for >60% efficiency at 2% load – a better low load efficiency is a significant advantage with modern systems, as their power requirements drop vastly while they are idling. The new platform, in conjunction with XPG’s choice of parts, makes the 1300W version of the Cybercore series exceptionally efficient, easily meeting the 80Plus Platinum certification requirements.

Overall, the performance of the XPG Cybercore 1300W PSU is very good. It does not break any records, but it does not disappoint either. The XPG Cybercore delivers good power quality regardless of its load, ensuring the stability and longevity of the components it is powering. It also stays quiet while it is lightly loaded, allowing gaming systems to be built will only be meaningfully audible while gaming. The very high efficiency allows the PSU to maintain reasonable temperatures, even while its fan is turned off and it has to operate inside very warm environments.

Although it's not so much a unique trait nowadays, another very important characteristic of the XPG Cybercore is its exceptional quality. From its Nidec fan and down to the least important passive components, the XPG Cybercore is made using top quality parts. We could not spot a single component whose supplier we would classify as mediocre. Similarly, we could not find any significant design or assembly imperfections to speak of. The XPG Cybercore is built to last and that is why the company casually backs it up with a ten-year warranty.

The XPG Cybercore 1300W PSU is not without competition in its price range, but its true rival is today’s PC market. With graphics cards scarce and very expensive, few are currently building high performance gaming PCs, greatly reducing the pool of potential buyers that XPG can draw from. Consequently, the $299 MSRP is not unreasonably high for the power output and features of the PSU, although we expect that once retail availability improves, street prices will come down significantly due to the very stiff competition at this price range.