Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsProblems, Problems, Problems, aka the NZXT C1200 PSU
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2023
This NZXT C1200 PSU is not a PSU that I would recommend, as the one I received had a number of problems, not just with the design itself, but with its quality control.
Problem 1: the cables are round and extraordinarily stiff. Their lack of give actually made it difficult to put the PSU in the PSU shroud of my Lian Li Lancool 216 (ATX), which is a quite a large case.
Problem 2: the PSU's cables were not just stiff, but shorter than average. I had to play "Tug-of-War" with them to get them into the the CPU and 24-pin slots on the motherboard, and adjusting them so that they didn't stick them quite far out from the motherboard made me more than a a little nervous about how well my board was going to hold up over time.
Third Problem: the larger of the two heads of the 24-pin cable--the part that should have connected to the PSU itself--would NOT lock in right, and you could actually wiggle that one once it was supposedly fully plugged in.
In fact, when I decided to return the PSU (see the coup de grâce below), I had to work to pull the other cables free of the PSU, but the larger part of the 24-pin cable head simply popped right out without any--and I do mean ANY, resistance at all. It had never actually locked into the PSU, even though it "clicked" as if it had.
The Fourth Problem: despite the fact that the head of the 12VHPWR cable also "clicked" to indicate that it had fully connected with my RTX 4090, a not very close inspection showed that it was NOT fully inserting into the GPU. You could clearly see the individual plug ports on the pin, and the slightest bit of wiggling caused it to sit at an angle in the port.
Since there have been a number of reports about this cable not only melting if it wasn't fully connected, but destroying the GPUs in the process, having a 12v cable that won't seat in my appallingly expensive GPU is definitely a deal-breaker.
Extra: there is no User's Manual for this GPU. There is a QR code and/or a web address that's supposed to take you to the page where the manual once lived--but that code and we address lead only to NZXT's Home Page, where they're trying to sell you a custom build.
This isn't really a problem for someone with a bit of experience at building PC's, like me, but it definitely could be one for someone who is building their first gaming computer. You shouldn't have to search through YouTube to find out which cords go where when you've paid more than $200 for your PSU.
So, all of the above are why I can't recommend the NZXT C1200 PSU to you, and why I'll be sending mine back.
I bought this PSU because it was listed as an "A Tier" PSU on site that supposedly measures these sorts of things. Maybe it is, when it's built right, but it seems to me that NZXT has some quality control issues that could end up being VERY costly, if you aren't paying attention, and that's not good.
