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Review Summary
The MSI MEG Ai1600T is a powerful and premium power supply built for serious PC enthusiasts who need high performance and exceptional efficiency. The PSU runs quiet, handles heavy loads with ease, and even lets you monitor and control everything from fan speeds to power usage through MSI’s software. It’s a bit overkill for most gamers, but for anyone running dual GPUs or looking to future-proof their setup, this PSU really delivers.
Hours Tested: 7
Overall
-
Performance - 8.5/10
8.5/10
-
Build Quality - 9/10
9/10
-
Efficiency - 9.5/10
9.5/10
-
Value - 8/10
8/10
Pros
- Extremely Silent
- Extremely Efficient
- Great overall performance
- Dual native 12V-2×6 connectors
- Software monitoring
- Side ARGB illumination
- 12-year warranty
Cons
- Voltage ripple performance could be better.
- The side ARGB design will remain hidden when the PSU is mounted with the recommended fan-down position.
- Rubber-sleeved cables that came with MSI MPG A1000GS felt rather unique and better.
- Expensive
Having been reviewing PSUs for well over 5 years and seeing the same PSU designs and topologies with ever so slight changes from a handful of OEMs kind of made things dull and uninteresting to talk about for me. But quite surprisingly, Intel changed everything when they threw down the gauntlet of newer ATX 3.0/3.1 PSU specs which eventually made things great again (I wish I could say the same for Intel’s processors segment).
When I received MSI MEG Ai1600T (which is now the 5th one from MSI that we have received and reviewed within less than a year) I was only excited for the word “T” in Ai1600T (sorry for their marketing team for not getting hyped about “Ai”) which stands for Titanium. I have previously reviewed MSI MEG Ai1300P which performed well in our test and just like Ai1600T, it was also made by CWT (Channel Well Technology), a very reputable OEM for the PSUs, so it will be interesting to see how MSI and CWT have both worked together to create an even more efficient platform.
MSI Ai1600T PCIE5 PSU boasts about some of the impressive features that we rarely get to see being marketed in ATX PSUs and this fits well as the Ai1600T is from the MSI’s high-end enthusiasts lineup.
MSI was the very first brand that adapted to ATX 3.0 PSU and with the pace at which MSI continues to produce their new PSUs, I am quite concerned about their engineering team (send me an email if you’re being forced to work overtime). Jokes aside, it’s really impressive seeing rapid innovation and adaptation from a reputable brand like MSI.
Key Takeaways
- The MSI MEG Ai1600T Titanium ATX 3.1 is an expensive but premium PSU with 1600W capacity. It has an exceptionally low noise profile and high-quality internals.
- You should buy the MSI MEG Ai1600T if you want to future-proof your build with a 1600W PSU, you plan to run a multi-GPU setup, and you like monitoring all the statistics of your system.
- You should not buy the MSI MEG Ai1600T if it is overkill for you, which it is for most mid-range to even high-end gaming PCs, as a 1000W to 1300W PSU is enough for them.
Here are the specifications:
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| 80 PLUS Efficiency | Titanium |
| Modular | Fully |
| Total Power | 1600W |
| Cybenetics Efficiency Level | Titanium |
| Cybenetics Noise Level | A++ |
| Fan Size | 135mm |
| Protection | OCP, OTP, OPP, SCP, OVP, UVP, SIP, NLO |
| Dimension (D x W x H) | 190 × 150 × 86 mm |
Packaging & Unboxing
The MSI MEG Ai1600T is a premium power supply, and the experience starts right from the packaging itself. First of all, the box is quite heavy, I didn’t weigh it exactly, but I would say it is well over 4KGs. The box has a black design with gold accents. At the front, you will find badges about the PSU’s 80 PLUS Titanium and Cybenetics certification. Similarly, the back has info regarding the PSU’s power specs, cable, and some key features like SiC MOSFET, dual PCIe 5.1 connectors, and Gaming Intelligence.
I have to say, this is one of the best unboxing experiences I have ever had. MSI has really gone above and beyond to give the PSU a premium feel. Upon unboxing, you will first find an envelope, below that is the main power supply wrapped in a soft felt outer wrap. The same goes for the cables and accessories bag, which also feels very soft to the touch. Both of them are set in their own compartments which are cut out in high-quality foam.
The envelope has a shout-out flyer and some text about MSI.
Design
As you can guess from the packaging, the PSU itself is also quite heavy and massive (at 190mm depth). However, since the rest of the dimensions are fairly standard, the PSU should have no problems fitting into a traditional ATX chassis. The gold accents from the packaging follow here as well, with the top of the PSU having a MEG logo in gold with some accents around the borders.
While one side is fairly normal with MEG logos, the other has an A-RGB panel at the top half which displays a nice-looking pattern when lit up.
This is how the ARGB pattern looks when you enable it.
Looking at the power side, there is a Zero Fan button that you can use to toggle the Zero Fan Mode. When enabled, which it is by default, the fans will stay still as long as the PSU stays under a certain load. This way, you get minimal noise.
Cable & Connectors
MSI has included the cables and accessories in a very high-quality, soft bag. Most of the included cables are braided and soft, and even the ones that are not still feel good quality. As for the lengths, you shouldn’t face any issues in getting the PSU set up in a standard ATX build. The peripheral connectors are spaced by 150mm, so all is good in this regard as well.
The cables come with pre-installed cable organizers, which is one step above just including cable combs in the accessories. This eases the overall cable management and routing, which is always appreciated.
The PSU features two 12V-2×8 cables, and each of them is rated for 600W. This is great for those who want a multi-GPU setup for AI and other GPU-intensive workloads. You can easily use this PSU with two high-end RTX 50-series cards and not worry about stability. The 12V-2×8 cables have a yellow connector, which shouldn’t be visible upon insertion. As such, if you see even a little bit of the yellow color after inserting the connector, it means the cable is not fully plugged in.
Lastly, the PSU also comes with a PC Link Cable (Type-C). This allows you to have even more control over your PSU. You can use MSI Center to monitor stats like which component (like CPU/GPU) is taking how much power in real-time, along with the percentage of total wattage capacity being utilized. Similarly, you can use MSI Center to control the fan’s speeds manually and also customize the A-RGB lighting on the side panel.
Here are the included cables along with their quantity and length:
| Connector Type | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Motherboard cable (24-pin) | 1x (600mm) |
| EPS 12V CPU connectors (4+4-pin) | 2x (750mm) |
| PCIe 5.1 connectors (12+4-pin) Dual Color | 2x (600mm) |
| PCIe connectors (6+2-pin) | 9x (600mm) |
| 4-pin Peripheral connectors | 8x (500mm) |
| SATA 15-pin connectors | 8x (500mm) |
The modular bay has clearly labeled connectors in gold accents. You can also spot the PC Link Type-C port at the right.
With its 1600W capacity, the MSI MEG Ai1600T has enough horsepower to properly power two power-hungry beasts like RTX 5090 from its native 12V-2×6 power connectors. It is important to highlight this detail because, in my previous review of MSI MPG A1000GS, I was surprised to see MSI’s decision to have two native 12V-2×6 connectors on a mere 1000W PSU.
Being a Digitally controlled platform, CWT has designed it to be user-configurable for features like Power Monitoring/Recording and Fan Profile Adjustment on a real-time dashboard. Real-time recording (logging) features can be very handy in monitoring the power requirements especially when running multiple GPUs and also when you have extreme OC on this PSU.
Teardown & Component Analysis
Now this is where things get interesting not just for you guys but for me personally as for the first time I am witnessing a refreshing view of CWT’s latest platform in which they have even redesigned their transformer design which was one of the key elements in recognizing whether the platform is from CWT or not. MSI seems to be having enough confidence in CWT this time, as they are the only brand I have seen as of yet incorporating this platform from them.
The platform looks fairly clean with a lot fewer heatsinks on board for a 1600W power brick, thanks to the highest available Titanium efficiency in an ATX PSU which makes the power losses much less, resulting in cooler and quieter operation.
MSI MEG Ai1600T uses a superior design than MSI MEG Ai1300P by utilizing Bridge-less topology via 4x MOSFETs. The traditional way of converting mains AC to DC is achieved by using a Bridge Rectifier which is based on 4x Diodes. Because diodes are very inefficient, and slow and result in more power losses, achieving Titanium level efficiency was only possible by incorporating MOSFETs as Bridge Rectifiers in the design.
Furthermore, MSI asked for SiC-based MOSFETs to be used for the Interleaved PFC section for even more added efficiency. Going with a non-traditional and more advanced design requires the use of Digital Controllers because analog controllers can not keep up with fast switching and instant circuit feedback. This makes MSI MEG Ai1600T a Semi-digital PSU as it still uses analog controllers to control minor voltage rails.
You can still see a single Bridge Rectifier which is used only for powering the 5VSB section.
For the main voltage rail conversion (12V rail), the LLC Resonant converter is being paired with 4x MOSFETs configured as Full-Bridge MOSFETs that are mounted on a tiny MEG-branded heatsink.
As far as I can recall, CWT for the very first time, to minimize the size, has used flat spring coil-based Transformers. Before that, I have only seen such Transformers in Server PSUs and in a few SNR-based designs that I have reviewed in the past. Dual Transformers equally, effectively, and properly dissipate the heat with only one side effect of a slightly increased voltage ripple (which I will test later).
12V rail MOSFETs are mounted on the front PCB with soldered heatsinks and MSI is likely using a small thermal pad underneath the PCB, to allow the actual PSU chassis to act as a heatsink for these MOSFETs (we will see this in our temperature test).
The PSU uses 100% Japanese capacitors throughout, from reputable brands like Rubycon, Nippon Chemi-Con, and FP-CAP. The combined capacitance of Bulk electrolytic capacitors is more than enough to exceed ATX 3.1 hold-up time specs.
It would have been great had MSI implemented 12 years of warranty on this unit (as provided by Seasonic & XPG for their extremely high-end PSUs).
Similar to MSI MPG A1000GS which I recently reviewed, this PSU uses exactly the same 135mm FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) fan from ZIC which seems to be getting more popular these days and giving a tough time to Hong Hua fans, which was the longest running choice for many brands.
MSI MEG Ai1600T also has Zero Fan mode, which in my testing started to spin at around 850W of load.
PSU Load Testing
Here are the test results.
Voltage Regulation
| Load in % | 12V Rail | 5V | 3.3V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | 11.93 | 5.04 | 3.3 |
| 50% | 11.89 | 5.03 | 3.29 |
| 70% | 11.88 | 5.03 | 3.28 |
| 90% | 11.85 | 5.03 | 3.28 |
| 100% | 11.83 | 5.03 | 3.28 |
MSI MEG Ai1600T’s voltage regulation is quite impressive, especially because almost all the PSUs we have tested so far that were >1200W tend to start with a slightly lower voltage level on the 12V rail. Still, this could have been well controlled as this part of the voltage rail is digitally controlled, unlike other PSUs that control their main 12V rail using slower analog controllers.
PSU Efficiency
| Load in % | Efficiency | Power Factor |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | 93.56% | 0.961 |
| 50% | 95.10% | 0.981 |
| 70% | 94.59% | 0.987 |
| 90% | 93.74% | 0.988 |
| 100% | 93.40% | 0.989 |
With an average efficiency of 94.08% and 95.10% at half of the load, MSI MEG Ai1600T’s efficiency is exceptionally good. Most of the users, even when rocking high-end CPU paired with RTX 5090, will be reaching around half of its max power output, meaning they will be running at max 95% efficiency levels most of the time.
Voltage Ripple Performance
| Load in % | 12V Ripple |
|---|---|
| 20% | 17.6 |
| 50% | 24.8 |
| 70% | 28 |
| 90% | 31.2 |
| 100% | 32.8 |
I have been seeing ATX 3.0/3.1 spec PSUs, especially from CWT performing exceptionally well in the voltage ripple test: which reflects the peak supremacy in terms of design, component selection, and performance, beating or matching the performance of the top contenders like Seasonic and Corsair.
But sadly, MEG Ai1600T couldn’t impress me that well as I was expecting a much lower ripple performance. It is important to note that 32mV is still well within Intel’s ATX specifications (which states the max ripple to go as high as 120mV) but every professional reviewer discourages these very loose tolerances from Intel, hence why even OEMs these days try their best to keep it <30mV.
It’s still very good, but I expected better.
Temperature
Thanks to its Titanium efficiency, the PSU not only remains fairly quiet, only letting the fan spin when the load reaches about 850W (though we turn off Zero/Hybrid fan mode in our test for consistency), but the PSU’s hottest point at the back goes to a mere 60.4C at 1600W due to the 12V rail MOSFETs’ thermal pad contact on the body of the PSU.
Should You Buy it?
Buy It If
✅You want to future-proof your build: 1600W power brick with dual native 12V-2×6 GPU power connectors can last you many more next Gen GPUs from Nvidia, even if they decide to launch their next Gen power-hungry monsters with two 12V-2×6 power connectors (which I am absolutely certain they will).
✅You want extreme efficiency: Titanium efficiency is the max you can get at the moment from ATX-based PSUs and MSI MEG Ai1600T surely achieves it well.
✅You prefer a quiet experience: Thanks to its max efficiency and Zero Fan mode, the PSU operates whisper quiet.
✅You want to monitor everything: You can monitor the power levels of individual voltage rails and also adjust the custom fan profile as per your sound level comfort.
✅You like easy cable management: Soft braided and pre-installed cable organizer makes the cable management really neat.
Don’t Buy It If
❌You are building a mid-range to high-end PC: I will not recommend anyone buying this PSU for an extra 12V-2×6 connector and 1600W if they are only planning to run their system with not-the-greatest-and-latest hardware. A 1000W-1300W PSU will be enough for many gaming enthusiasts.
My Final Thoughts
After spending a good amount of time with the MSI MEG Ai1600T, I can confidently say this PSU is nothing short of a beast. From noise output and efficiency to build quality, it nails it all. MSI and CWT have clearly gone all in on this one, and while it didn’t quite blow me away with the ripple performance, everything else about this unit is top-tier.
From the sheer power capacity and Titanium efficiency to extras like soft braided cables with pre-installed organizers and real-time monitoring via MSI Center — it feels like MSI genuinely tried to make this PSU stand out. The design is clean, the ARGB panel adds a nice touch of flair, and the attention to detail in packaging and presentation makes you feel like you’re getting something premium.
That said, this is definitely not a PSU for everyone. If you’re running a typical high-end gaming PC or even a single high-end GPU setup, this is probably overkill. But if you’re planning on running dual GPUs, pushing overclocks, or just want something future-proof that won’t break a sweat no matter what you throw at it — the Ai1600T is a solid investment.
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[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.
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