FSP Hydro G PRO 1000W Power Supply Impressions

Oct 15, 2023

FSP, the manufacturer of high-end PSU (Power Supply Units) currently offers its flagship design as a part of its Hydro series. The company has a vast array of options starting at 500W & all the way up to 1200W. The family branding is interesting since it reads 'Hydro' however, there's only one high-end unit within the family that actually supports hybrid cooling as part of a collaboration with the manufacturer of the custom-loop kits, Bitspower.

The rest of the Hydro lineup sticks to the traditional air-cooling design. So starting with our unit, we have got the FSP Hydro G PRO 1000W unit which is an 80+ GOLD compliant power supply. It's a fully modular design like the rest of the Hydro G series and comes with a conformal coating that adds to its durability, preventing it from carrying dust, strains, or corrosion from humidity.

Coming to the specifications, the FSP Hydro G PRO unit we got offers a maximum DC output of 1000 Watts and an active PFC. It's an 80 PLUS Gold unit with efficiency rated at over 90%. The PSU is fully compliant with Intel's C6 & C7 power states and has an operating temp of 0-50C. The PSU is fully IEC/EN 62638 certified.

Some protection features that you get on the FSP Hydro G PRO series PSUs include:

As for the design of the PSU unit, it comes in an ATX form factor and measures 150 x 86 x 150 mm while weighing in at 1.72kg or 3.79 lbs. The cooling is provided by a top-mounted 120mm fan which features semi-passive fan operation and is based on the Protechnic Electric MGA12012XF-O25. The smaller ATX form factor is a plus.

There's a switch on the back of the PSU reading 'ECO' which is used to disable the fan operation, leading to slightly lower power consumption. The fan itself is a non-PWM and fluid dynamic bearing design. FSP ships the Hydro G PRO 1000W PSU with a 10-year warranty and should be priced at or around the $160-$170 US range since the older G series PSUs were priced at $159.99 US.

Some main features of the FSP Hydro G PRO series include:

The unit we received comes in a large blue and black colored package with a picture of the PSU on the front. The front also lists down several features such as its 0db Zero Noise 'Eco' mode, use of Japanese E-Capacitors, support for triple CPU connectors, and offering support for the latest CPUs.

The back side also offers a list of features which we have detailed above and we will get to more details in our tear-down in a bit.

Opening the package reveals an interesting label that reads 'Power Never Ends' which is the main motto of the FSP Lifestyle brand. Within the package, the PSU unit is held between foam packaging to protect it during shipping while the cables are supplied in their own separate pouch. There are also several stickers that can be placed on the sides of the PSU & a Hydro G Pro series guidebook. There are also four screws supplied with the PSU for installation within your casing.

One of the more interesting accessories within the package is this right-angled connector that can be plugged to the 24-pin cable, allowing for easier installation to the motherboard.

The PSU itself is packaged in a plastic cover. Looking at the PSU, we can see the use of conformal coating throughout the interior. The PSU also has a lot of weight to it which gives you a hint of the quality components features within it.

On the back, you can see the power plug, the power switch, the Eco mode switch, and a large mesh panel that acts as an exhaust vent.

Now depending on how you use the PSU, the bottom panel reads the specifications and power ratings. The PSU is rated to output a maximum of 83.33A and 1000W through the 12V rails.

The sides of the PSU have a nice FSP Hydro G Pro logo which can be replaced with stickers within the packaging.

Coming to the connectors, there are two 8-Pin CPU connectors, 1 PCIe 12+4 (12VHPWR), three PCI-e 8-pin connectors, an ATX 24-pin (14+10 pin) ATX connector, & five 5-pin connectors for peripherals.

The cables within the packaging pouch include the ATX 20+4 pin, a Gen5 connector, three 4+4 pin CPU connectors, 8 PCIe 6+2 connectors, 14 SATA connectors, 5 MOLEX connectors, & a single floppy connector.

Opening up the unit, we are greeted with a very high-end design making use of Infineon FETs and a mix of both Chemi-con & Rubycon capacitors. There are also dual bridge rectifiers that can handle up to 50 Amps of current. The PFC controller is an ICE2PCS02G IC. There are also four FETs installed in a full-bridge topology which are controlled by the Champion CM6901T2X IC. As mentioned above in the features, the PSU utilizes Japanese-grade capacitors which are a mix of both electrolytic and polymer designs. The whole unit has high-quality solder. There are also several heatsinks within the PSU that provide adequate cooling.

Lastly, we have the fan which is an MGA12012XF-A25 design from Protechnic Electric with a 12V 0.51A design and features a fluid bearing.

In our previous review of the Hydro PTM Pro, I found the 1200W 80+ Platinum unit to be a very solid option for new PC builds however the only thing I complained about was the lack of ATX 3.0 specifications and including the capacity to support the newer Gen5 standard. Well, FSP addresses these with its new Hydro G Pro lineup which has been updated to meet the current-gen standards.

While the FPS Hydro G Pro series isn't the 80+ Platinum designs that the PTM series boast, the 80 PLUS Gold design should be more than enough to carry a powerful graphics card such as the RTX 4090, and the added Gen5 '12VHPWR connector cable makes sure that you don't have to run in a lot of mess when it comes to cable management. I tried various configurations to test the PSU, with OC and Non-OC run, and the PSU managed just fine without any issues. One thing I have noticed is that the ATX 3.0 specd PSUs I have tested so far have a smaller footprint compared to the ATX 2.0 designs and that's obviously a good thing if you are working with limited chassis space.

The FSP Hydro G Pro 1000W unit is just as solid as the Hydro PTM lineup, giving users the ATX 3.0 and PCIe Gen5.0 advantage, solid performance out of the box, at a price of around $160 US.