CoolerMaster Silent Pro M2 1000W PSU Review

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CoolerMaster has a long standing reputation as a power supply designer and manufacturer, much of which came from their Silent Pro M series. The Silent Pro M series saw the light of day a little over 3 years ago and, as the series name suggests, the units were designed with optimum acoustics performance in mind, quickly making them a favorite among enthusiasts who cared about silent operation. A few weeks ago the curiosity of enthusiasts was stirred by the news stating that CoolerMaster was preparing the 2nd generation of Silent Pro power supplies. Today the wait is over; the Silent Pro M2 1000W arrived in VR-Zone’s labs for thorough testing and review.Manufacturer features and specifications

• Copper-Aluminum Heat Sink
• Silent Operation
• Single 12V Power Rail
• Modularized Cabling
• Intel Compliant
• Eco-friendly design: Erp Lot6 Ready
• Multiple updated connectors for all types of interfaces (PCIe, SATA etc.)
• Double-Layer EMI Filter Dual protection from electromagnetic interference
• Multiple Protection Design (OVP/UVP/OPP/OTP/SCP)
• High reliability with an MBTF of at least 100,000 hours of use
• Five Year Warranty

Model	RS-A00-SPM2
Type	ATX 12V V2.3
Dimension (W / H / D)	150 x 180 x 86mm 5.9 x 7.1 x 3.4 inch
Input Voltage	90-264Vac (Auto Range)
Input Current	6 - 12A
Input Frequency Range	47 - 63Hz
PFC	Active PFC (>0.9)
Power Good Signal	100-500ms
Hold Up Time	>17ms
Efficiency	88% Typically
MTBF	100,000 Hours
Protection	OVP/UVP/OCP/OPP/OTP/SCP
Output Capacity	1000W
Operation Temperature	0~40°C (Nominal Input Voltage)
Regulatory	TUV / CE / UL / FCC / BSMI / GOST / C-tick / KC / CCC
Fan	135mm Hydraulic Dynamic Bearings
Certifications	80 Plus Silver
Connector	M/B 24 Pin Connector x 1 CPU 8 Pin x 2 PCI-E 8 Pin x 3 PCI-E 6+2 Pin x 3 SATA x 12 4 Pin Peripheral x 5 4 Pin Floppy x 1

Read more: CoolerMaster Silent Pro M2 1000W PSU Review by VR-Zone.com

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The Silent Pro M2 1000W unit comes supplied inside a relatively simple but fancy cardboard box. The box itself is sturdy enough to protect the unit during transport while the complex artwork is certain to draw a lot of attention.



Inside the box everything is well packed and protected by sheets of polystyrene foam and cardboard sheets.



The bundle which accompanies the Silent Pro M2 1000W is fairly poor for such a high end product. Inside the box the user will only find the necessary A/C power cable, four black mounting screws, a basic manual and a warranty card.



There is no bag for the modular cables coming with this power supply. All of the modular cables are not sleeved but a ‘flat’, entirely black cable, including the larger PCI-Express cables. There are no cable straps or even simple cable ties accompanying this power supply.

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The CoolerMaster Silent Pro M2 1000W unit is a relatively simple, all-black power supply with subtle aesthetic enhancements, such as an unusual fan grill and rounded chassis edges. The chassis is sprayed with a smooth, matte black paint and is 180mm deep, a little longer than what the ATX design guide recommends.



Decorative stickers displaying the series logo and the power output of the model cover the sides of the power supply.



The company chose to place the label with the unit’s electrical specifications and approvals at the top side of the unit. This sticker will only be visible in cases which have their power supply compartment located at the bottom of the system.



The rear is entirely perforated to allow for the air pushed by the cooling fan to escape towards the outside of the case. The unit uses a standard A/C power cable and above it there is an oversized on/off switch.



At the front we can see the numerous connectors for the modular cables. The connectors are colored, with the black connectors being for the SATA/Molex cables and the grey connectors for the PCI-E cables. This unit offers the following number of connectors:

Native cables

24-pin ATX connector
2 x 4+4 pin 12V CPU connector

Modular cables

3 x 6+2 pin PCIe connectors
3 x 8 pin PCIe connectors
12 x SATA connectors
5 x Molex connectors
1 x Floppy connector

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The fan responsible for the cooling of the Silent Pro M2 1000W unit is made by Young Lin Tech and its part model is DFS132512M. It is a relatively old but very reliable fan with a maximum speed of 2000RPM.



Guessing the OEM of the Silent Pro M2 1000W unit was no trouble at all; it is obviously based on an Enhance design. The core design of the unit is even similar to that used by the Real Power Pro M1000, possibly being just an enhanced design for higher electrical efficiency.



Starting at the back of the A/C outlet and continuing on the PCB, the filtering stage is adequate, with two Y-type capacitors, four X-type capacitors, 2 ferrite coils and a surge suppressing MOV. There also is a glass fuse, noise suppression rings and a power relay.



The primary capacitors are made by Matsushita (Panasonic) and are industrial grade products rated at 420V/390μF each. The secondary side capacitors are a mix of Nippon Chemi-Con, Teapo and TAICON products.



The heatsinks of the power supply are relatively simple but fairly large, even with the high power output of the unit in mind. The bridge rectifier can be seen on its own dedicated heatsink towards the end of the primary side heatsink.

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In order to provide you with the most professional and accurate reviews, we are using the following equipment to test the performance of power supplies:

Modified SECC steel case with thermal generation and control components installed
Custom USB controlled DC load, 2.2KW maximum power drain
3KVA VARIAC
Lutron DW-6091 Power Analyzer
USB Instruments Stingray Oscilloscope
SL-5868P digital sound level meter
CompuLAB interface
MyPClab thermal interface
Labjack U3-HV interface
Custom calibration box
Custom software

More information about our testing equipment and methodology can be found in this article.





The CoolerMaster Silent Pro M2 1000W unit successfully completed all of our tests without any operational and/or performance problems. The electrical performance of this particular model was above average, although not extraordinary. Under maximum stress the unit displayed a 62mV ripple on the very well regulated (0.475%) 12V line. The secondary lines are not as well regulated though, with the 3.3V line displaying a variation of 2.7% and the 5V line a variation of 1.54%.



While this power supply is a little less efficient than what CoolerMaster advertises, the electrical efficiency remains very high for an 80Plus Silver certified model, reaching up to 90.6% at nominal load. When powered from an 110V AC power source, the overall efficiency of the power supply drops by about 1%, which is normal.



The Silent Pro M2 1000W unit displays linear thermal performance. The figures are not very low, yet they are normal considering this is a 1kW power supply which dissipates at least 130W as heat under maximum load.



When it comes to acoustics, the Silent Pro M2 power supply manages to live up to its name. The power supply is essentially silent up to 50% load, where the unit already delivers 500W. At higher loads the Silent Pro M2 is audible and gradually becomes louder as the load increases; however the figures remain low considering this is a very high output unit.

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Quality (30% of the total score)

Products from CoolerMaster usually are of high quality and the Silent Pro M2 is no exception. Enhance worked very well as an OEM and the power supply is carefully finished, both internally and externally, with the assembly/soldering quality being well above average. CoolerMaster’s choice of components was a little erratic, with more than 4 manufacturers supplying the capacitors alone; however all of the components are of high quality and considerably oversized. The company offers this product alongside with a 5 year long warranty, testament of their faith on the unit’s long term reliability.

Quality Score 9.5/10



Performance (40% of the total score)

CoolerMaster clearly designed the Silent Pro M2 1000W unit to be able to deliver very good acoustics performance, something considerably difficult to achieve with a power supply capable of delivering a whole kW even if it bears an 80Plus Silver certification seal. The thermal performance of this power supply is nothing to write home about and the electrical performance can be considered just above average; however the company did achieve their goal and designed a very powerful modular unit which can deliver very good acoustics performance under normal loading conditions.

Performance Score 9.0/10



Value (20% of the total score)

CoolerMaster announced that the MSRP of the 1kW version of the Silent Pro M2 unit is 169.9€ / $245 SGD. This price would pit the Silent Pro M2 1000W unit against some stiff competition. Nonetheless, the retail prices of the newly appeared power supplies seem to be about 20% lower, which grants the modular and silent power supply a distinct market advantage over other products.

Value Score 9.0/10



Aesthetics (10% of the total score)

Although the Silent Pro M2 was not primarily designed to be an artistic miracle, CoolerMaster did a very good job with the appearance of this power supply. The otherwise simple chassis is complimented by rounded edges and the presence of the decorative stickers, while the flat modular cables give this power supply a very distinct appearance. Our only major complaint lies with the normal, sleeved hardwired cables which are out of tune with the all-black, flat modular cables. The overall appearance of the power supply would be vastly improved if all of the cables were black.

Aesthetics Score 8.5/10