Threads
Sleek, Silent, and... Scorching?
Review Summary
The MSI MPG A1000GS is a well-built and stylish power supply that offers decent performance for gamers and creators, especially those looking to power high-end NVIDIA GPUs or dual mid-range cards for AI and machine learning. It features great cable quality with easy management and runs quietly under load. However, it gets really hot at max load, and its lack of support for AMD GPUs is a big miss. While it’s a step forward in some areas, it feels like MSI made a few odd choices that limit its full potential.
Hours Tested: 7
Overall
-
Performance - 7/10
7/10
-
Build Quality - 8/10
8/10
-
Efficiency - 7/10
7/10
-
Value - 7/10
7/10
Pros
- Silent
- Dual native 12V-2×6 connectors
- Decent overall performance
- Braided modular cable
Cons
- Can not power any latest AMD GPUs.
- Gets super hot from its back
MSI has been beefing up every single PSU lineup with even more powerful and innovative options at an unmatchable pace, making them a fearsome competitor to some big names in the PSU industry. In fact, the MSI MPG A1000GS is now the 4th PSU that I have received for testing from MSI, actually it would have been the 5th one but the other PSU that they had sent in is going to take a tad bit more time to finish up, again thanks to an even more advanced design that they have used in that PSU, a fearsome competitor indeed!
MSI MPG A1000GS is from MSI’s MPG lineup which is designed for gamers chasing for high performance with zero compromises.
Key Takeaways
- The MSI MPG A1000GS Gold is an ATX 3.1 PSU with dual 12V-2×6 connectors, premium cables, and a 10-year warranty.
- You should buy the MSI MPG A1000GS Gold if you want to run an RTX 5080/5090 or multiple mid-range RTX 50-series cards with minimal noise.
- You should not buy the MSI MPG A1000GS Gold if you have an AMD GPU that uses two PCIe 8-pin connectors, or if you are concerned about temperatures, as the PSU can get hot.
Here are the specifications:
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| 80 PLUS Efficiency | Gold |
| Modular | Fully |
| Total Power | 1000W |
| Cybenetics Efficiency Level | Gold |
| Cybenetics Noise Level | A |
| Fan Size | 135mm |
| Protection | OCP, OTP, OPP, SCP, OVP, UVP, SIP, NLO |
| Dimension (D x W x H) | 150 × 150 × 86 mm |
Packaging & Unboxing
The power supply comes in a black and blue box with pink accents. The color combination is quite different. The choice of such pop colors definitely correlates with the PSU’s focus on “AI PCs”, which is further validated by the “Ready for Ai PC” logo at the front. Other than that, we see Cybenetics and 80 PLUS logos, as the PSU boasts a GOLD certificate from both of them.
At the back, you will complete info regarding the PSU’s included cables, along with their length and quantity. MSI has also listed the key features of the power supply. Below that, you can go through the power specs of the PSU.
As you unbox the PSU, a shout-out flyer is there to greet you. Below that, it is great to see that MSI has used a protective foam for the power supply, which is further wrapped in a plastic cover. Similarly, the accessories and cables come in a separate pouch, which we will get into later.
Design
The power supply measures 150 × 150 × 86 mm, which makes it rather compact. As for looks, MSI has gone with a rather sleek and simple design, especially on the fan’s grill. There is an MPG logo, and a part of the grill has a different texture and design.
At the side, you will see MSI’s dragon mascot and more MPG branding, and that’s about it.
The power and rear sides are pretty standard. You get a Zero Fan button to toggle the Zero Fan Mode, which is basically a control for the PSU’s passive cooling operation. If this mode is turned on (it is by default), the fan will not spin unless the PSU exceeds a certain load to minimize noise.
Cable & Connectors
As mentioned earlier, the cables come in a separate pouch. The overall quality and feel of all the cables are simply great. MSI has done a very good job with these embossed cables. They also have good flexibility for easy routing and cable management. The peripheral connectors are spaced 150mm apart, which is the standard.
To further up their cable quality game, MSI has also pre-installed the cable combs, so they look nice and tidy. Similarly, I also appreciate using dual-color connectors for the 12VHPWR cables. Simply put, upon insertion, if the yellow color is still visible, this means the connector is not all the way in, and you need to adjust that. Other than that, this is what all the “AI” branding and colorful design comes down to, the PSU comes with two 12V-2×6 cables, with each cable supporting 600W (yes, combined this exceeds the PSU’s capacity).
One massive downside here is the lack of two PCIe 6+2 pin cables. I mean, okay AMD should move to a 16-pin connector like NVIDIA as well, especially now that ATX 3.1 has ironed out any connector problem. But it still does not make sense why MSI would skip on a 6+2-pin connector. This basically means that the PSU is not recommended for any recent (RX 9000 or RX 7000) series graphics card.
At the very least, I would have liked to see a 12VHPWR to 2+8-Pin GPU power cable to make up for the lost connector, but this is just shocking.
| Connector Type | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Motherboard cable (24-pin) | 1x (600mm) |
| EPS 12V CPU connectors (4+4-pin) | 2x (700mm) |
| PCIe 5.1 connectors (12+4-pin) Dual Color | 2x (600mm) |
| PCIe connectors (6+2-pin) | 1x (600mm) |
| 4-pin Peripheral connectors | 4x (500mm) |
| SATA 15-pin connectors | 8x (500mm) |
With that said, this is what the modular bay of the MSI MPG 1000GS looks like. All the connectors are clearly marked. There are two EPS connectors for your CPU and a single PCIe 8-pin connector.
One of the prominent and unique features of MPG A1000GS is its dual native 12V-2×6 connectors. This is the first time I have seen a 1000W PSU with a dual native 12V-2×6 GPU power connector. Now from the design perspective, it’s a plus point having an extra 12V-2×6 power connector, but practically it makes a little sense to me because a 1000W PSU will not be able to “safely” handle two very powerful GPUs like 4090, 5080, and especially 5090.
Maybe MSI knew that most people (who will be looking to pair 2 GPUs for AI or ML) will not be able to afford insanely high scalped prices of recently launched GPUs from Nvidia anyway, which will eventually leave them no choice but to buy lower end variants that aren’t going to be that power hungry at all. Very clever MSI, very clever!
I surely will not recommend anyone trying to power two 600W rated GPUs (e.g. 4090/5080/5090) with this PSU as it’s only rated to deliver 1000W of sustained load. A PSU should at least have >1300W of rated power with ATX 3.0/3.1 specs to be able to handle the load of two such GPUs.
As such, if you really want to make the most out of the multi-GPU support, your best bet is hooking it up with two ~300W-rated GPUs. But then, for an “AI-ready” PSU, the GPUs need to have lots and lots of VRAM, and the two cards with the most VRAM are the RTX 5090 (32GB VRAM) and the RTX 4090 (24GB VRAM), and this PSU can only handle one unit of these cards, which a single 12V-2×6 connector is sufficient for.
Teardown & Component Analysis
In our previous reviews, we have seen how MSI and CWT (PSU OEM) have been working together to tackle the demanding requirements of ATX 3.0/3.1 spec PSUs. MSI MPG A1000GS is an improved design from the previous MPG A850G that I reviewed earlier. Both the PSUs share the same Active PFC, LLC Resonant converter + DC-DC topology and have very identical designs for the Primary side. We get to see some major differences on the secondary side which I will discuss later.
CWT seems to have incorporated many components on the front side PCB this time by rearranging Half-Bridge MOSFETs of LLC Resonant converter, 5VSB section & DC-DC converters for 5V and 3.3V minor voltage rails. Even having 150W more output power than MPG A850G, MPG A1000GS’ platform looks much cleaner, which is always going to help in slightly cooler operation.
It is also important to note, that while this is only a Gold-rated PSU, MSI has opted for a Semi-digital platform which is rare to see as mostly this gets used in Platinum-rated PSUs. We will see how well this design choice improves the effectiveness of its efficiency.
In mid to high-end PSUs, CWT has been using the main 12V rail Transformer with a directly linked vertical daughter board that houses secondary side 12V rail MOSFETs. This not only helps those MOSFETs to cool down effectively from the direct airflow coming from the fan but also helps in any power losses because of direct soldering to the MOSFETs.
With MPG A1000GS though, this design has been changed and all the MOSFETs are soldered on the front side of the PCB. We will see in our voltage regulation and efficiency test how much performance hit (if any) we will get with this new design iteration.
MPG A1000GS, being from a high-end performance series from MSI, utilizes top-tier Japanese Electrolytic as well as Polymer capacitors from brands like Nippon Chemi-Con, Rubycon & FP-Cap (for Polymers). It’s great to see a few brands still prioritizing extreme longevity by using such high-end components.
MSI has opted for a ZIC 135mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan this time which now seems to be replacing the famous and mostly used FDB fan from Hong Hua. MPG A1000GS comes with Hybrid Fan Mode which according to MSI, has been tuned for optimized sound level.
PSU Load Testing
Let’s go over the test results.
Voltage Regulation
| Load in % | 12V Rail | 5V | 3.3V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | 12.06 | 5.08 | 3.32 |
| 50% | 12 | 5.07 | 3.32 |
| 70% | 11.97 | 5.07 | 3.32 |
| 90% | 11.95 | 5.07 | 3.32 |
| 100% | 11.93 | 5.07 | 3.31 |
Voltage regulation is good, but I have seen better in 1000W-rated PSUs, not that it’s going to have any negative aspects on the performance or anything, it’s just us keen PSU nerds who are always focusing on the best results especially when other OEMs/PSU manufacturers are performing much better in this segment.
PSU Efficiency
| Load in % | Efficiency | Power Factor |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | 91.15% | 0.975 |
| 50% | 93.02% | 0.997 |
| 70% | 92.32% | 0.998 |
| 90% | 91.31% | 0.998 |
| 100% | 90.90% | 0.998 |
MSI MPG A1000GS has good efficiency performance throughout different load variations and to my surprise, the best Power Factor numbers I have seen in a Gold-rated PSU! CWT has tuned this platform to the max for PF.
I wish they could do the same for the efficiency as it could definitely be better as the rest of their platform I have tested earlier.
Voltage Ripple Performance
| Load in % | 12V Ripple |
|---|---|
| 20% | 15.2 |
| 50% | 17.6 |
| 70% | 22.4 |
| 90% | 27.2 |
| 100% | 29.6 |
Same as the test above for voltage regulation, voltage ripple performance came out to be good but the latest advancements in CWT’s designs have shown us massive improvements in voltage ripple performance which was previously only possible in very high-end PSUs either from Corsair or Seasonic.
MSI’s engineering team should work with CWT to make their PSUs perform better in these two tests. Again, better voltage regulation and exceptionally good voltage ripple performance define how extremely well-crafted/designed a PSU really is, it may not necessarily have major performance benefits for the end user.
Temperature
That’s where MSI MPG A1000GS becomes quite literally a hot mess! MSI has tuned the fan to the utmost listening comfort but in doing so, made the internals of the PSU super uncomfortable. This is the first time I have seen the hottest point of a PSU on its back reaching 90C at max load!
It was so hot that it burned my fingers when I was adjusting the PSU to take pictures of its temperature readings. As discussed in the teardown section, 12V rail MOSFETs mounted on the main PCB (instead of using a vertical daughterboard) are the main culprit here. Though I have not torn down the PSU to the point where I took out the PCB entirely, I am pretty sure MSI must be using a thermal pad on the back and using the PSU shroud as a heatsink for those MOSFETs.
Should You Buy it?
Buy It If
✅You want multi-GPU support: If you want to pair two 4000/5000 series GPUs (other than 4090/5080/5090) for Ai or ML then MSI MPG A1000GS will fit best for you.
✅You prefer silent performance: The fan stays silent even at higher loads and only starts spinning when the load exceeds 400W which is going to be the max load for most of the PCs.
✅You want easy cable management: MSI has used rubber-sleeved cables that come with a pre-installed cable comb, making it easier to manage and route without breaking a sweat.
Don’t Buy It If
❌You have an AMD GPU: The MSI MPG A1000GS only comes with a single 8-pin GPU power cable so people having AMD GPUs won’t be able to power it using MPG A1000GS.
❌You don’t want high temps: MSI MPG A1000GS gets super hot from its back which is surely going to radiate its heat inside your case.
My Final Thoughts
The MSI MPG A1000GS is definitely an interesting power supply that tries to push boundaries with its design and gamer-focused features. MSI has clearly gone for a sleek and modern look, paired with solid build quality and great cable management options. The inclusion of two native 12V-2×6 connectors is impressive for a 1000W PSU, even though most users likely won’t be able to fully utilize both without pushing the limits. It’s clear MSI wanted to position this unit as “AI-ready” and forward-thinking, but some of the design choices may not make sense for everyone.
Performance-wise, it holds up pretty well with stable voltage regulation and decent efficiency numbers, although there’s definitely room for improvement compared to other 1000W Gold-rated PSUs. Where it really falls short is thermals – the PSU gets hot, especially at high loads, and that could be a concern if you’re running a system in a tight or poorly ventilated case. The silent fan is a nice touch, but the trade-off is increased internal heat, and MSI might have pushed that balance a bit too far.
Overall, MSI with its MPG A1000GS has made some strange choices which, considering how much work MSI has been putting into its PSU segment and challenging some of the big names in the industry lately, have become really hard to wrap my head around. The overall performance of MSI MPG A1000GS is good enough for catering to the needs of many mid to high-end gamers, but we have seen much better performance in the same price and wattage bracket that will especially not limit the gamers to only using a specific brand GPU.
Community Poll
Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔
[Errors Troubleshooting Expert]
Arsalan Shakil (aka GuyThatDoesEverything on YouTube) is a PC Tech Enthusiast and Electronic Geek. With over 10+ years of experience in Electronics, he then decided to explore Software Engineering to design embedded products and automate existing hardware solutions.
When he started tearing down old cameras to understand how they worked, he was shocked (literally, when he got zapped by a flash discharge capacitor), giving him the power (debatable) to fall in love with videography/photography. He also started making some fun videos that later became YouTube tech reviews.
Skills:
- 10+ years of experience in Electronics design, embedded solutions, and prototyping
- Majored in Software Engineering
- Research paper publication in IEEE for Embedded Military Uniform & LoRa WAN wireless technology
- Specialized in IoT Solutions
- PC Enthusiast & PC Modder
In his local region, he’s known to expose cheap PSU brands, often claiming fake certification or false claims on the box. He’s a true nerd and needed some friends in his life. Then he met some guys who work at Tech4Gamers, and they also came out to be equal nerds who suggested he join Tech4Gamers as a Hardware Expert.
Join Our Community
