Cooler Master X Silent MAX Platinum 1300W: The Power Of Silence!

Epilogue

I first evaluated the Cooler Master X Silent Edge 1100W, which left a good impression on me. Hence, it achieved an Editor’s Choice award. The X Silent MAX Platinum is also an interesting product since it can deliver up to 1300W, even at 115V. At the same time, the Silent Edge is restricted at 850W at low voltage input while behaving like a passively cooled unit in noise output. This is my first time encountering a powerful PSU with such a relaxed fan speed profile. Cooler Master looks to be super confident about this design, providing a ridiculously long 15-year warranty for this product. I expressed my disagreement with such long warranty periods in IT products, especially PSUs, in the previous X Silent PSU review, and hopefully, someone in CM will hear me.

Like the X Silent Edge, the X Silent Max is not affordable, going for 459 dollars. Given the development and production costs, this is a justified price. Indeed, someone can find way more affordable PSUs in this price range, but they won’t be even close to the extremely low noise output that the X Max achieves, thanks to its design. The price could be lower if CM avoided using the MCUs, which are not fully exploited since analog controllers handle all vital circuits. Having the digital controllers in place doesn’t say much if you don’t have the corresponding firmware, and this is CM’s next goal: to utilize these controllers fully. However, from the moment they are not utilized fully in this PSU, they could be omitted, vastly lowering the production cost.

As I stated in the X Silent Edge review, this platform looks to be at an intermediate stage of something great if CM follows the right path and doesn’t deviate. For starters, CM must exploit the MCUs and eliminate all analog controllers. By transforming the design to a true digital one, you have better control, so you can easily fine-tune the platform to achieve higher performance. A lower ripple at 12V under full load would be highly welcome, but I want a better transient response on this rail at high loads. To achieve this, more capacitance is required, and polymer caps don’t cut it there, so you need to use electrolytic ones, which are not as tolerant to high temperatures. Given that CM wants to keep the fan’s speed low, this could lead to problems. This is a design challenge that CM’s engineers have to handle. Moreover, the low efficiency at light and super-light loads should be addressed. The DC-DC converters also must beef up to deliver better load regulation, and standby power consumption should not exceed 0.1W at 230V.

Since this is a high-power PSU focusing on low noise output, and given the MCUs that it already has, I find it essential to have fan failure protection. This is among the most crucial protection features; it is time for more manufacturers to implement it. Moreover, it would be safer if CM used a C20 plug on the PSU instead of the lower-Amp-rated C14 one. Typically, high-end PSUs with 1300W and higher max power have C20 plugs.

As in the 1100W passive model, we didn’t encounter any coil whine issues in the X Silent Max throughout all test sessions, which could be a major headache for PSUs with low fan speeds. If you need a strong PSU to build a potent and silent system, the X Silent Max is the ideal PSU. It is not perfect, meaning it doesn’t deliver the best performance in its Wattage category and isn’t affordable either. Still, its overall performance is high and unbeatable in noise output, even at load levels where other high-efficiency PSUs will make their presence well felt! Kudos to Cooler Master for designing and manufacturing this unit. After all this time, CM’s efforts in PSUs have started to produce good results. I hope they continue like that.

Before investing in a new power supply, read my Best ATX v3.x PSUs article to check all alternative PSU offerings. You help me a lot by using my affiliate links, which don’t increase the product’s price. I get a commission from Amazon every time you do it, which can make a difference for me, especially now that I am on my own, working exclusively for my media and not for someone else.