DeepCool PQ1000M Review – Seasonic In A Razer Housing

Introduction

This sample has been provided to us by DeepCool.

A while ago, DeepCool reached out to us about testing their new 80+ gold unit. So far DeepCool has mainly worked with Channel Well Technology (CWT), a massive OEM known for producing units for the likes of Corsair, Chieftec, Thermaltake, Bitfenix and many others, but not this time around. They decided to work with one of the best-known OEMs on the market, Seasonic. Today, we’re going to look at their result.

General Specifications

Power Specifications

DeepCool chose for a single rail setup on the unit. At this wattage, I’d prefer the use of a multi-rail setup. This does, however, bring some additional cost with it as you need a supervisor with multiple OCP channels for 12v power. Single rail does have its benefits in case of for example extreme overclocking, but for the general user I personally consider having a multi-rail ideal at this wattage. Even if it’s up to debate how important this is.

Ideally, I’d like to see something like what’s done on Corsair’s HX series, which has a switch on the back to set it to either single rail or 40 amps per connector.

Cables

DeepCool made a smart choice here around the PCIe power connectors. Instead of using two connectors per cable, it uses a single 6+2 pin per cable. This makes it easier to manage away, while having the benefits of a single connector per cable to the GPU. This gives it a lower vdroop and because of that, a bit more headroom for spikes. With that said, the cables show it to be aimed for enthousiast systems. Multi-GPU workstations would require more PCIe power connectors, though it would work for a NAS system with a total of 10 SATA power connectors.

Overall, the unit would work well for enthousiast users, but wouldn’t be a good option for a mining rig or multi-GPU workstation.

External

PQ-M back

PQ-M side

PQ-M top

PQ-M bottom

PQ-M front

PQ-M fan

PQ-M fan 2

This is the part I feel a bit mixed about. From my knowledge, hexagons and circles give the best result around airflow. Corsair recently moved to the more restrictive triangle, but squares would in theory be even less efficient. As premium as the unit looks, I feel like especially the intake on top of the unit could’ve done less restrictive. The back could’ve also been done with hexagons or circles in my eyes, though this shouldn’t give a massive difference due to the relatively big size of the holes. I just expect the unit to be a bit louder than a general Focus.

The fan shows a DeepCool logo on top, but when I took it out of the unit it showed to be a HongHua HA1225H12F-Z. This is a 120mm fan widely used by Seasonic and CWT, with the sleeve bearing version of it found on the DQ-M-V2L. It’s a very cost-effective choice and one you should expect to last the full 10 years DeepCool gives warranty for.

On the back, there’s a button to set the fan to either always spinning or a semi passive mode. Personally, I prefer to have it always spinning, because I don’t consider it to be audible at a low RPM, but it’s certainly nice to have the option.

Protections

I was unable to identify the fan controller, so I can’t fully confirm it doing the OTP via the fan controller, but would be the most likely case here. DeepCool does claim OTP on the unit and the platform itself is tested well enough to show an OTP protection triggering. Overall, the protection set is what I expect of a unit like this, though as mentioned earlier I would’ve liked to see multiple OCP channels.

Parts breakdown

I’ve personally compared this list to a few other Seasonic units, and it showed most similarities with units from around 2019.

The capacitors are fully Japanese, which is not as big of a deal as many make it look. Today, the likes of Teapo (Taiwan) and Elite (Taiwan) have made series that would work just as well with a lower cost for the OEM as they wouldn’t have to import and store them for a longer period.

The main switches are estimated based off the logo, as the details are not visible enough. The DC-DC converters and controllers are behind a metal plate between the DC-DC daughterboard and the modular connector PCB. The 12V MOSFETs were too faded to read off.

Internal

PQ-M internal

Image1

PQ-M PCB

PQ-M logo

Disclaimer: We don’t recommend you open a PSU yourself. It’s dangerous in the wrong hands and immediately voids your warranty on the unit.

And here she is, one of the most recognizable platforms on the market. As shown in the part breakdown earlier the unit is in my eyes a stock Focus with a different housing around it. We can see a DeepCool logo written on the PCB in the last image, and a manufacturing date of 2018 on the PCB. I was also able to track down a unit like this in the 80+ database around that time together with Juular. This further increases my suspicion that the unit has been planned for a few years.

The soldering work shows no immediate errors, the choice for a green PCB makes total sense and overall, the unit is very compact.

Nvidia 3xxx?

The only potential issue I have about the unit, which I’m unable to test is how it handles Ampere. Recently I’ve talked with Jon Gerow (aka Jonnyguru) around an issue on the PCIe’s 12v sense on various Seasonic and Andyson units. This has mainly affected Seasonic’s “Prime” based units. Below two quotes from him:

An increasing high frequency oscillation is introduced back to the PSU from the PCIe slot when using Ampere cards and that causes the supervisor IC to freak out. Removing the +12V sense or just putting a ferrite bead on the +12V sense prevents the PSU from shutting down.

ampere spike

Simply put, the unit senses a higher voltage than it’s running and triggers a protection, fully shutting down the unit. This isn’t something solved with a higher capacity, as I’ve personally seen 1000w, 1200w and even 1300w units trigger because of this. A solution to this would be removing the sense wire in the connector, but this isn’t something we can recommend an end user.

It’s currently unknown if Seasonic has fixed this issue.

Temperature rating

DeepCool rated the unit at 40c, while most units at this price are rated at 50c, including the Focus unit it’s based off… But there’s a small catch. Seasonic rates it as “0 – 50 °C (derating from 100 % to 80 % from 40 °C to 50 °C)”. This essentially means Seasonic rates it at 50c assuming the unit is using 80% of its capacity, or 40c at full capacity. DeepCool did for this reason correctly note it’s rated at 40c, instead of this misleading wording to make the unit look better.

Regardless, Focus has proven to go above this rating in testing already, so it’s nothing to worry about. It’s just worth noting as I personally see this as a much more honest thing to do by DeepCool. This doesn’t make the unit any worse compared to its competition.

Pricing

650w: 129 USD
750w: 149 USD
850w: 169 USD
1000w: 199 USD

I hope DeepCool will retail it for less than the MSRP given to us in the reviewer guide. Considering it’s currently competing with:

70-80 USD PSUs at 650w
90-100 USD PSUs at 750w
100-120 USD PSUs at 850w
160-180 USD PSUs at 1000w

Conclusion

The unit really feels like a Seasonic Focus with a Razer housing. It’s a familiar choice from a well-known OEM, but it doesn’t feel that special to me. I went mixed into the review not because it’s a bad unit, but because I was seeing things I’ve already seen too many times before. DeepCool made some excellent choices around the cables, the part choice and build quality is good, it has a premium look to it and is very compact at a depth of 140mm.

If DeepCool prices the PSU competitively when hitting the market, the unit would make for an excellent choice. But this is something only time will tell.

Alternatives

Deepcool PQ1000M

7.9

Cables

8.5/10

Internal quality

8.0/10

Performance

8.0/10

Value

7.0/10

Pros

• Compact design
• Individual PCIe connectors
• Well reviewed platform
• Option for both semi-passive and always spinning
• Full protection set

Cons

• Restrictive housing design
• Unknown ampere compatibility
• High MSRP
• Not great for multi-GPU systems

Buy PQ1000M