NZXT hasn’t been in the power supply market for very long but the company is already releasing yet another batch, manufactured by Channel Well Technology. Today, we’re looking at the new NZXT C1200 Gold, a 1,200W 80 Plus Gold-certified power supply with full support for ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0. The latest graphics cards can be connected to this PSU with ease thanks to the included 600W 12VHPWR connector. While not every GPU on the market will be able to make use of this powerful connector, it’s good to have it available for potential system upgrades.
The NZXT C1200 Gold is a great power supply, which is to be expected from NZXT and Channel Well Technology. The latter is responsible for power supplies with Thermaltake and Corsair branding, among others. They’re about as good as you can get as long as the unit itself makes use of available premium parts and features. The C1200 Gold does just that with high-end Japanese components and a full suite of protection measures. It’s not cheap, but is a compact little unit with some big numbers, so long as heat doesn’t become an issue.
We found no issues testing the NZXT C1200 Gold with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards, as well as a beefy Intel Core i9-13900K processor. It’s right up there with the best power supplies in terms of power delivery and capacity, at least in terms of real-world usage.
Source: NZXT
NZXT C1200 Gold
Great high-capacity PSU
NZXT’s branded power supplies are reliable units, and the new NZXT C1200 Gold is an excellent choice for those building a more powerful desktop system. There are all the usual protections and full support for ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0.
- Brand
- NZXT
- Output
- 1200 W
- Modular Cabling
- Fully
- 80 Plus Efficiency Rating
- Gold
- Protection Features
- OVP, UVP, OPP, OTP, OCP, SCP
Pros
- Sufficient protections in place
- 16-pin cable for GPUs
- 1,200W capacity
- 10-year warranty
Cons
- Pricey for 80 Plus Gold rating
- Gets a little loud at higher loads
Pricing and availability
The NZXT C1200 Gold is a premium power supply and, as such, commands a rather high price tag. ATX 3.0 power supplies are still a relatively uncommon sighting, especially since AMD is sticking to the tried and tested 6+2-pin PCIe power connector for its high-end GPUs. It’s possible to use ATX 2.0 power supplies with graphics cards such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, but it’s far easier to connect just a single 600W 12VHPWR cable than hooking up four to an adapter. (Just make sure to check that the connector is fully seated into the GPU!)
In order to pick up the NZXT C1200 Gold, you’ll need to part with $260. That’s the price of a decent processor, but the power supply is arguably the most important component inside your system. It’s responsible for supplying stable power to all the connected components, including the CPU. It’s the only device sitting between your extremely sensitive hardware and the national power grid, so it has all the necessary protections to ensure no abnormal electrical loads are passed through. We’d recommend paying this much on a PSU to safeguard that $1,000 (if not more) GPU purchase alone.
Design and features
All the necessary protections
The NZXT C1200 Gold looks like any other ATX power supply. It’s a black slab of metal but with some subtle NZXT touches, such as the matte black color and branding on the side. Included with the power supply is a pouch full of all the required cabling. These aren’t sleeved, but they’re not terrible and happen to be entirely black. Being an ATX 3.0 power supply, a single 16-pin 12VHPWR connector is packaged and ready for connecting the most power-hungry GPUs available.
Here’s a full list of all the included connectors:
- 1x 24-pin ATX
- 1x 4+4-pin CPU
- 1x 8-pin CPU
- 2x 6+2-pin PCIe
- 1x 16-pin (12+4) 12VHPWR PCIe
- 3x SATA
- 1x peripherals
The rear of the power supply has the AC input, power button, and zero-fan mode toggle. The sides are bare and the top has a 135mm fan and grill. The front of the NZXT C1200 Gold plays host to all the connectors for the aforementioned cables. This is a compact power supply, measuring 135x135mm making it ideal for more compact ATX PC cases.
The NZXT C1200 Gold has all the necessary protections in place, including Over Voltage Protection (OVP), Under Voltage Protection (UVP), Over Power Protection (OPP), Over Temperature Protection (OTP), Over Current Protection (OCP), Short Circuit Protection (SCP). Most power supplies worth their salt will have these protections, as well as a decent 80 Plus efficiency rating. Gold is pretty good and combined with everything else the NZXT C1200 Gold offers, this is a solid little unit.
Performance
A little loud, but still great performance
Unfortunately, we’re not equipped with the necessary tools to adequately monitor the power supply and its internals. Thus, we’re reliant on real-world testing to apply as much load onto the unit as possible, as well as at different stages to ensure reliable operation throughout the maximum load capacity. The now infamous 12VHPWR connector was also put to the test, and we used AMD and Intel-powered test benches for the duration of this testing period.
We did pick up on generated noise from the PSU (35dBA) thanks to the 135mm fan when the loads were high. It’s especially noticeable when using a GPU that can pull enough watts through the PSU. The fan itself is a good size, but because of how compact this power supply is — it comes in at 135mm (the ATX standard is 150mm) — the fan seemingly has to work harder at a higher RPM to cool the internals. To put the size into perspective, be quiet!’s Dark Power Pro range is available in 200mm boxes.
Performance was excellent with the installed hardware. Everything ran as expected without a single fault. We didn’t notice any loss in performance when the fan was spinning away, but it’s something to bear in mind if you’re going for a silent gaming PC build.
Should you buy the NZXT C1200?
You should buy the NZXT C1200 if:
- You plan on using the latest graphics cards with high power consumption
- You have a PC case with limited clearance for the power supply
- You need more than 800W of total power capacity for your system
You shouldn’t buy the NZXT C1200 if:
- You won’t be using more than 800W of power frequently
- You’d prefer to buy the most efficient power supply
- You don’t have a GPU that requires a dedicated 600W 12VHPWR cable
The NZXT C1200 Gold is a cracking power supply for high-end systems. There’s ample power available with a 1,200W capacity and all the necessary protections are in place. It’s pricey for an 80 Plus Gold-rated power plant, but this compact unit is incredibly efficient, even at higher loads. The 12VHPWR is likely to become more common as other GPUs make use of the connector and as such we will likely see more ATX 3.0 power supplies such as this come to market. For now, you’ll need to prepare to pay a small premium for the luxury.
The fan runs rather loud when pushing the system hard, but it’s not obnoxious and can be overlooked if other parts of the system are not well-optimized. Even when applying heavy loads with an RTX 4090 graphics card, the NZXT C1200 Gold has no issue remaining steady and keeping a reliable flow of power.
Source: NZXT
NZXT C1200 Gold
Great high-capacity PSU
The NZXT C1200 Gold is one of the first power supplies to come with the NZXT branding with full support for ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0, including a dedicated 16-pin slot for connecting the latest and most powerful graphics cards.