MSI MEG Ai1300P PCIE5

Product Information

The power supply can support the NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards. Prepared for the highest of requirements, the MEG power supply’s IO supports can support different and versatile ways of connection according to the power connector design of different graphics cards.

The resistance of the MSI MEG Ai1300P PCIE5 unit to adverse ambient conditions is astonishing, with the unit hardly affected at all while operating inside our hotbox. There is a practically negligible efficiency degradation of 0.2-0.3% depending on the load, a figure four to six times lower than other similar designs. There is very little additional degradation under heavy loads, suggesting that the components of the MSI MEG Ai1300P PCIE5 are not thermally stressed at all.

OCP

What we tested is also an extremely unlikely scenario for the moment, as no graphics card can currently be drawing 600 Watts constantly – it would itself melt. Even by taking the massive 3× power excursions into account, the average power drawof any cardover practical lengths of timeis significantly lower than 600 Watts – therefore, the cable should never reach temperatures that may become a concern.

One strong suit of this PSU is that like all high-end 1000W+ designs, it comes with six independent PCIe power connections. Why is this important? Well, future graphics cards are going to resort to the new Gen 5 connectors and you'd either need to get a proper Gen 5 PSU or a PSU that has at least 3 connectors to meet the demand for next-gen high-end cards. You can either use them or simply plug in the 12VHPWR connector for the NVIDIA RTX 40 series graphics cards which saves you the hassle of cable managing all those extra connectors. Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. Due to public requests we have changed our temperature settings recently – previously we rated with ambient temperatures at 25C, we have increased ambient temperatures by 10c (to 35c) in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions. The MEG Ai1300P PCIE5 marks a lot of milestones for MSI – it is their first ATX 3.0 compliant unit, the world’s first ATX 3.0 compliant unit, and currently their flagship PSU product. Needless to say, the MEG Ai1300P has to meet very high expectations, both by the users and by MSI themselves. Just under a year since the specification was first announced, the ATX 3.0 era for power supplies is now underway. The updated version of the Intel-maintained specification introduced several notable changes to PC power supply designs, most notably the introduction of the 600 Watt-capable 12VHPWR connector and associated cabling. Altogether, ATX 3.0 is designed to lay the groundwork for future video cards (and other high-powered accelerators) by providing for a single-cable power connection that can better accommodate the high total and rapid shifts in power consumption a video card can undergo. We are at a point time in the PC hardware market where the power demand is rising consistently and from what we are hearing, things aren't going to stop. Enthusiasts PC builders and high-end gamers are constantly aiming for the highest-end products with CPUs sipping in an average power of around 200 Watts and GPUs now ending up around the 300-400W range. This along with all the combined hardware in one high-end rig is going to set you close to 800-1000W power requirement.

Conclusion

The mysterious triangle is a symbolic icon of MEG's infinite power, with the triangle's slope further extending the three pillars of MEG's core characteristics: legendary, loyalty, and luxurious.

Finance is only available to permanent UK residents aged >18, subject to status, terms and conditions apply. 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. Inside the outer box is a bag of cables and accessories and the power supply itself, wrapped in a plastic bag, sandwiched between two pieces of foam. Had I kept Unigine Heaven running, would the fan have eventually started? That's still not clear to me. The MEG Ai1300P arrives in a very attractive box with a high resolution image of the power supply on the front.The electrical performance of the MSI MEG Ai1300P PCIE5 1300W PSU is very good overall. Our instruments recorded a maximum ripple of 32 mV on the 12V line with a recommended design limit of 120 mV, an excellent figure for a PSU with that kind of power output. The filtering of the minor voltage lines is even better, with a maximum of 12 mV and 14 mV on the 3.3V and 5V lines respectively. Voltage regulation on the minor lines is very tight, with both lines staying within 0.8% across the load range. Strangely, especially for the CWT platform, the voltage regulation of the 12V line is much looser, at nearly 2%. This still is a very good figure but uncharacteristic of the particular OEM or class of this PSU.

Details about the extent of our regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request.While I understand that is true - in terms of comparing temperature readings from different PSUs - what I can compare this PSU to, relative to other PSUs, is the fact that no others that I've used in my office (even in systems with similar specs) have made me feel physical heat in this way. And certainly not to the point where I'm investigating to this extent. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't some buyer's remorse in that respect. It was an unexpected byproduct of this build, though certainly my own fault for not investigating as much as I could've. MSI's real time power monitor works via the MSI Center app and is useful if you wish to monitor power supplied to the system.