Introduction

We would like to thank EVGA for supplying the review sample.

EVGA's flagship PSU is the SuperNova 1600 T2, a re-badged Super Flower Leadex unit with the 80 PLUS Titanium certification. Meeting this certification's specifications is very difficult, which is also the reason for so very few Titanium PSUs. Without very many competitors in its field, EVGA's only competitor is Corsair's AX1500i.

EVGA's ties to Super Flower are strong, and EVGA is always quick to adopt a new platform Super Flower releases. Super Flower doesn't have EVGA's retail presence in the US or its wide distribution and support network, which has a cooperation with EVGA make sense because it removes the marketing and distribution problems while giving the company the opportunity to solely focus on production. However, working with such a big player as EVGA isn't easy because demand can be so high that a relatively small manufacturer like Super Flower could struggle to keep up. While having your products sell like hot cakes is a good thing, you'd also have to keep an eye on quality control while expanding your manufacturing lines.



The 1600 T2 is for powerful high-end systems with multiple highly overclocked VGAs. This PSU clearly isn't for your average user since it addresses those who need the best money can buy today. Currently, only the AX1500i meets its specifications. Corsair's offering might be 100 W weaker, but it uses digital circuits, which endow it with incredible performance and a ton of controlling and monitoring options through a Windows application. The Titanium Leadex platform inside the 1600 T2, however, doesn't need any digital gizmos to achieve its Titanium efficiency since Super Flower's engineers pushed their analog design to its limit and drastically reduced its energy losses. If you believe digital circuits pose a reliability threat over the long haul, Super Flower's approach is more appealing. However, digital circuits are the future, and all PSU manufacturers will ultimately have to head down that road.

Specifications

EVGA rates this unit for up to 1600 W at ambient temperatures of up to 50°C, but we believe it to be capable of even more at less than Titanium efficiency. As such, we will push it at up to 1760 W under extreme ambient temperatures in our tests. The PSU's other features include a fully modular cabling design, compatibility with Intel's S6 and S7 sleep states, and a semi-passive mode.

A pretty strong 140mm fan with a double ball-bearing cools this monster down. A high-speed fan, you can't expect it to be silent, especially with a heavy load. However, this PSU won't produce any noise so long as it isn't properly stressed in semi-passive mode, and its cooling fan won't engage readily under normal operating temperatures. For those of you who feel safer with the fan constantly spinning, there is an option to deactivate semi-passive mode.

This PSU is huge, which makes sense since it is a real power factory. The same applies to its weight—it is heavy. Its price will probably also make your eyes water, but the warranty period will definitely put a smile on your face. EVGA seems to trust these Leadex-based units a lot or they wouldn't come with a 10-year warranty.

The +12V rail can deliver a ton of power, and the fact that this is a single +12V rail can make most advocates of multi-rail PSUs go crazy. But the trend these last years is leaning more toward single +12V PSUs, which isn't about to change. Contrary to the +12V rail, the minor rails aren't that strong, and the same applies to the 5VSB rail. Although the power these rails can deliver will generally suffice, we'd expect a power factory like the T2 1600 to sport a stronger 5VSB rail.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

There are plenty of cables and connectors, enough to make use of the PSU's capacity without any problems. There are a total of 14 PCIe and two EPS connectors, and all of them are available at the same time. The PSU also has a ton of SATA connectors, a sufficient amount of peripheral connectors, and two Berg adapters.

The main ATX cable is a little short and should be 65 cm long. The EPS and PCIe cables are pretty long, and the distance between PCIe and SATA connectors is spot on. Unfortunately, such isn't the case with the 4-pin Molex connectors which are only 10 cm apart. EVGA should at least provide 13-15 cm between peripheral connectors since the components one might power with these aren't usually terribly close to one another.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on when it comes to its power distribution.

Packaging

At the front of the large and heavy box, the PSU's model number is given in big letter. The Titanium efficiency badge is really small, almost as though EVGA were ashamed of it! Given it is a really hard certification to get, we expected it to be much larger in order to attract some attention.


The usual marketing stuff for an EVGA product can be found on this side of the box.


Some useful information on the PSU has also been put on this side, including its features and a list of its cables. There are also three photos of which one depicts the PSU's internals, and a table in the bottom-right corner goes over the unit's power specifications.

Contents

EVGA made sure their packaging protects the unit well in order to avoid DOAs (Dead on Arrival), which are unpleasant for the consumer and would cost the company a lot of money. The PSU has also been put inside a cloth bag for some additional protection.


The bundle includes several Velcro straps, a set of fixing bolts, the user's manual, an ATX-bridging plug, and the modular cables.


The provided AC cable is very thick and features a heavy duty C19 connector.