There has been a lot of talk about PSU compatibility for Intel’s upcoming 4th Generation Core Processors (code named Haswell). We have observed a large amount of misinformation being spread. We would like to clarify the situation to calm and reassure our customers and partners that they will be able to upgrade safely. A full list of Cooler Master power supplies is listed here. Below are some quick facts that the public should be aware.
Most power supplies don’t support Haswell – False
I need a Haswell certified power supply to build a Haswell system – False
Haswell only works with DC-DC Power Supplies – False
Haswell only works with 80+ Gold and better Power Supplies – False
Haswell requires a second 12V rail and doesn't work with single rail Power Supplies – False
On some older power supplies, Haswell consumes 5W more in idle mode - True
Among other improvements of Intels latest Core Processors, power consumption in idle mode has been greatly reduced from around 6W to less than 1W. This might cause some older power supplies to shut the system off when the CPU enters idle mode, or prevent the system from waking up out of sleep mode. To our knowledge all mainboard vendors will disable this advanced power saving mode by default, and no customer upgrading to Haswell should experience any issues whatsoever.
Should customers experience problems nevertheless, or would like to enable the advanced power saving mode on older power supplies that might not support it, there is a simple fix. Simply adding a single silent case fan to the system, connected to the power supply, should provide enough additional load to keep the system running in advanced power saving mode. The only disadvantage would be that power savings in idle mode on such a system would only surmount to around 2-3W instead of ~5W.
Series Model Haswell-ready
V Series
V1000 Yes
V850 Yes
V700 Yes
Platinum Series
Silent Pro Platinum 1000W Yes
Silent Pro Platinum 550W Yes
Gold Series
Silent Pro Gold 1200W Yes
Silent Pro Gold 1000W Yes
Silent Pro Gold 800W Yes
Silent Pro Gold 700W * Yes
Silent Pro Gold 600W * Yes
Silent Pro Gold 550W Yes
Silent Pro Gold 450W Yes
Hybrid Series Silent Pro Hybrid 1300W Yes
Silent Pro Hybrid 1050W Yes
Silent Pro Hybrid 850W Yes
M2 Series
Silent Pro M2 1500W Yes
Silent Pro M2 1000W Yes
Silent Pro M2 850W Yes
Silent Pro M2 720W Yes
Silent Pro M2 620W Yes
Silent Pro M2 520W * Yes
Silent Pro M2 420W * Yes
M Series
Silent Pro M 1000W Yes
Silent Pro M 850W Yes
Silent Pro M 700W Yes
Silent Pro M 600W Yes
Silent Pro M 500W * Yes
GX2 Series *
GX2 750W * Yes
GX2 650W * Yes
GX2 550W * Yes
GX2 450W * Yes
GX Series
GX 750W Yes
GX 650W Yes
GX 550W * Yes
GX 450W Yes
GX 400W * Yes
GX Lite Series *
GXL 700W * Yes
GXL 600W * Yes
GXL 500W * Yes
i Series i700 Yes
i600 Yes
i500 Yes
G Series *
G700 * Yes
G600 * Yes
G500 * Yes
Thunder M Series *
Thunder M 620W * Yes
Thunder M 520W * Yes
Thunder M 420W * Yes
Thunder Series *
Thunder 700W * Yes
Thunder 600W * Yes
Thunder 500W * Yes
Thunder 450W * Yes
B Series *
B700 * Yes
B600 * Yes
B500 * Yes
Extreme2 Series
EX2 725W Yes
EX2 625W Yes
EX2 525W Yes
EX2 475W Yes
Extreme Series
EX 700W Yes
EX 650W * Yes
EX 600W Yes
EX 550W Yes
EX 500W Yes
EX 460W * Yes
EX 400W * Yes
EX 350W * Yes
Elite Series
Elite 460W Yes
Elite 400W Yes
Elite 350W Yes
