A water-cooled power supply? Yes, that’s possible now. And even better, you can get yours with RGB lights!
The PSU world has taken a wild step forward with the Hydro PTM+ 1200W, the world’s first mass-produced, liquid-cooled Platinum-rated PSU. They built this bad boy in collaboration with Bitspower, a renowned creator of liquid cooling solutions for PCs. And while liquid cooling and RGB lighting for other PC components has become relatively common for serious PC builders these days, the Hydro PTM+ just might set a new high point for bells and whistles in a power supply.
The Hydro PTM+ 1200W is 80 PLUS Platinum certified, fully modular, and comes with Asus Aura Sync RGB lighting technology. This system allows users to synchronize all of the RGB LEDs on your system, from your RAM, to your fans, to your GPU. You can change the color, the lighting pattern, and even sync the lighting to your music.
A power supply for the power user
My first instinct when looking at a unit like this would be to throw it into an epic i9 or Threadripper system – something that can really take advantage of the extra power this unit can produce, and in which every degree of temperature matters.
Without liquid cooling enabled, the PSU can provide 1200W, and your peak output can reach a whopping 1400W! That’s more than enough to power a Threadripper 2990W system and two GTX 1080 Tis in an SLI configuration. At this level of power, you’re rendering 3D models in Keyshot, animating the next Pixar film in RenderMan, or color grading a feature film in DaVinci Resolve. And you’re doing it all faster than your competition.
And of course, after the work is done, you’ll be all set to play some PUBG.
The Hydro PTM+ 1200W also comes with a 135mm fan. At 50 percent load, the fan stays off, and the PSU runs completely silently. The liquid cooling handles everything. Once you reach above 50% load, the fan turns on. This gives fans of quiet PCs a reason to give the Hydro PTM+ 1200W a look, if they’re comfortable operating with a lower-power system.
As with all good things, though, that silence comes at a price: at $699, the Hydro PTM+ costs significantly more than you’d usually spend on a power supply. But if you want to push the limits of what a PC can do, and especially if you have a system capable of taking advantage of the Asus Aura Sync lighting features, then this liquid-cooled innovation might be right for you.
The FSP CMT520 case
But for those going all-out, FSP also has the CMT520 mid-tower case. It comes with four Aura Sync-enabled 120mm RGB fans and room for three more, for a total of seven. It also has all the cable management options you’d expect, and can accommodate any motherboard up to and including E-ATX form factor, with room to spare.
The PSU sits below your motherboard, with two standard HD slots right beside it, maximizing the airflow through your case. And you can see all of your snazzy, Aura Sync-ed components through the 4mm thick tempered glass window.
This is a great combo for water cooling enthusiasts who want to utilize this niche product, and who are looking for some truly unique components for their next build.
Featured in this article:
FSP Hydro PTM+ 1200W liquid-cooled PSU – $699
FSP CMT520 E-ATX Mid-tower PC – $109.99
“Note, all prices and products are accurate at the time of article publication, although some may have changed or are no longer available.”
