GameMax GX-1050 PRO BK Review – There’s Room For Improvement

Unboxing & Walkaround

GameMax sent us one of their GX Rampage series power supplies, in this case the GX-1050 PRO BK – one of the newer models that complies with the new ATX 3.1 standard to accommodate powerful GPUs with its new 12V-2×6 connector.

There are definitely more than just the power supply and cables inside the box, and it’s fairly generous on GameMax’s part to even include a screwdriver, four screws, Velcro tape, and a pair of gloves for the installation process. You probably don’t need the gloves when installing the PSU into the case, though.

Cable-wise, there’s your usual pair of CPU (EPS) 8-pin connectors, along with the ATX 24-pin, a new 12V-2×6 connector, and a trio of PCIe 8-pin connectors. Note that one of them features a ‘pigtail’, while the other two don’t; similarly, there are two versions of SATA cables included, with two of them featuring four SATA plugs while the remaining one features just two – neat, if you only need less than two of such connector on your system. For compatibility reasons, there’s also one Molex/FDD (floppy disk drive) connector as well.

Note that our unit in particular comes with a different AC plug which we identified as CEE 7/7 designed for Type E and Type F sockets (ours is Type G originated from UK), though the PSU itself still uses a C13 receptacle which is commonly found in most AC cables.

A few important parts of the power supply shown in the images above: the internal cooling fan is a 135mm unit, with no onboard silent mode switch present; on the outward-facing side of the power supply you’ll find the aforementioned C13 receptacle as well as the integrated power switch. The inward-facing side is where all the cable terminals can be found, which includes four 8-pin connectors shared between CPU and PCIe connections. As an ATX 3.1-compliant power supply, you can find the 16-pin 12VHPWR/12V-2×6 connector present as well.

Specifications

GameMax GX-1050 PRO BK

Form Factor	ATX Full Modular
ATX Specification	ATX 3.1
80 PLUS Certification	80 PLUS Platinum Certification date: 18 Jan 2023
Cybenetics Power Efficiency Certification	None
Cybenetics Noise Level Certification	None
Other Certifications	None
AC Input	100-240V, 50-60Hz CEE 7/7 (Type E/F) AC plug
Maximum Continuous Output	1050W
ATX 24-pin Cable	1x 650mm
EPS (CPU) 8-pin Cables	2x 700mm
12V-2×6 / 12VHPWR 16-pin Cable	1x 650mm (12V-2×6)
PCIe 6+2-pin Cables	2x 550mm 1x 550+75mm (daisy-chained)
Molex (PATA) Cables	1x 450+150+150+150mm (3x Molex + 1x Floppy Drive 4-pin)
SATA Cables	2x 500+150+150+150mm (4x SATA) 1x 500+150mm (2x SATA)
Other Cable Types	None
Electrical Fail-safes	OPP (overload) OVP (overvoltage) UVP (undervoltage) OCP (overcurrent) SCP (short circuit) OTP (overheating)
Cooling Fan	135mm fluid dynamic bearing
Fan Stop / 0dB Mode	Not present
Warranty	10 years
Dimensions	160 x 150 x 86 mm

Test System

CPU	Intel Core i9-13900K
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux 30th Anniversary Edition Cooler Master MasterGel Maker
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition
Memory	Kingston FURY RENEGADE DDR5 RGB (DDR5-6400 CL32, 2x16GB)
Storage	ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX 1TB
Power Supply	GameMax GX-1050 PRO BK (ATX 3.1) 1050W
Case	VECTOR Bench Case (Open-air chassis)
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 23H2

Performance

Note: the following chart shall not be used as a direct reference to the power supply’s conversion efficiency as various other components – including RAM, SSD, other components and peripherals – may account for additional power draw that can’t be monitored directly on the system.

Loading and monitoring of both the CPU (Core i9-13900K) and GPU (RTX 3080 Ti) is done via OCCT. The load profiles define power draw as described in the following table:

Profile	Test Conditions
Idle	PC idle, no workload
Low Load	CPU MTP/PL2 65W, GPU 30% TGP (~117W)
Medium Load	CPU MTP/PL2 125W, GPU 60% TGP (~210W)
Heavy Load	CPU MTP/PL2 250W, GPU 90% TGP (~315W)
Extreme Load	Unrestricted CPU power, GPU 114% TGP (~377W)

Using our electricity meter to measure the socket power draw, we see that the GameMax GX-1050 PRO can pull up to 946 watts in the extreme load scenario (both CPU and GPU at maximum power). Note that the both the CPU and GPU load are exclusively on the +12V rail, which according to the max wattage rating is 1050 watts (12V / 87.5A).

Medium load is more representative of a typical gaming workload, and here we see both silicon pulls 335 watts, with the socket registering 449 watts to the whole system. On idle (with OCCT software opened for monitoring), the system consumes roughly 88 watts, though the actual reading fluctuates between 85 to 92 watts.

The Good

The good part of the GameMax GX-1050 PRO BK comes in two parts: the included accessories, and one minor but surprisingly neat feature. The wide range of included accessories makes it more beginner-friendly, and you’re definitely getting a bit more value out of purchasing the power supply itself; plus, if for whatever reason you lost your PC case’s screws, the extras provided in the packaging should be a lifesaver.

Another small detail I observed is when I was changing setups in the process of benchmarking other systems – the PSU will drain power quicker if it senses the PC has been reset. This doesn’t happen on the normal shutdown process, but when you force reset the system you’ll hear an audible click that completely drains the power from the system quicker than usual. Any regular user most likely won’t observe or benefit from this, but if you swap parts frequently for troubleshooting or other reasons, you’ll appreciate the few seconds that the power supply has saved for you.

The Bad

While this PSU has done pretty decently in our use, there’s a few things worth pointing out and needs improvement. For one, the PSU lacks a fan-stop (0dB mode as some call it), which means there will be a persistent noise as soon as the system is turned on. To be fair, it’ll be drowned out by the CPU fans most of the time, though this meant the PSU is an automatic no-go for silent PC builds. However, the more prominent noise is (presumably) coil whine, and there’s nothing can be done for this – but your mileage may vary.

Another potential issue is in cases where you have a high-end system but not quite high-end enough to use the 12V-2×6 connector for the GPU: suppose you have a RTX 3090 right now, with its triple PCIe 8-pin connectors, you must sacrifice one EPS 8-pin if you want to feed the GPU the power it needs. Worse yet, if you have a GPU that requires four of the 8-pin connectors, you’re certainly out of luck with this PSU.

Verdict

The GameMax GX-1050 PRO BK is available for $159.99 currently, though it is yet to be sold in Malaysia at this writing. Should it become available here, you can expect pricing somewhere around ~RM700, which is on the lower side of the spectrum. That being said, I do think this model can do with some improvements on the finer details to make it a better package overall.

Special thanks to GameMax for providing the GX-1050 PRO BK power supply for this review.