Gigabyte UD1000GM Power Supply Review

A Closer Look

Out of the box, the Gigabyte UD1000GM presents itself well with a stylish and professional-looking aesthetic. Yes, the boxwork might have been a bit of an assault on the senses, but this PSU seems to be all about business!

The top of the power supply features a lot of really nice small aesthetic touches. With the fan set in an octagonal pattern, this clearly first grabs your attention. The indentations/recesses on the metal to the surround, however, certainly adds an extra dimension to the look.

While there is, of course, branding to the sides, this is both well placed and well sized. In addition, it’s hard to deny that Gigabyte is clearly keen to make as many references to ‘Ultra Durable’ as possible.

The bottom of the PSU contains the technical specifications. While this sticker is larger than it probably needed to be, it should be noted that this is the side of the PSU that is usually hidden within a case. As such, although you can, of course, choose to peel it off (not that we’d recommend it as it might impact the warranty) it shouldn’t be visibly notable when installed anyway.

The exhaust section of the Gigabyte UD1000GM is pretty straightforward. In fact, it’s very straightforward with very little of interest going on here. The only slightly noteworthy aspect is the lack of any hybrid functionality switch. We will, however, explain why this is the case later in the review.

The cable input bank is well presented with clean and well-spaced ports. – With each itemised for its usage, there is clearly also a solid level of foolproofing going on here. I should note though that it did surprise me that a 1000W should have so few ports. With its PCIe Gen 5 compatibility, however, this is one of the expected perks of this new power standard (fewer of the old/current 8-pin PCI-E standard will be needed).

As noted in the image below though, Gigabyte is very adamant that you should only use the cables provided with this PSU rather than any from any other model. And yes, this includes any of their own models outside this very specific and new series! – Why? Well, mixing PSU cables is never a good idea to begin with, but perhaps this was part of the problem they had last year. Or, maybe, they simply want to avoid any more negative PR in what would clearly be a user fault rather than a product fault.

Cabling

As noted earlier in this review, the cabling quantity is certainly more than enough for the vast majority of gaming PC systems. In addition, the length is also pretty decent which should, by proxy, allow for some solid levels of cable management. The protective covering isn’t overly substantial, but this does, of course, allow for better levels of flexibility than PSUs that seem to wrap their cables up in sea prism stone (100 points if you get the reference).

The only mild complaint I have is that, unlike the vast majority of other manufacturers, the cables are not itemised. Usually, you’ll have a crude bit of print on the end of the cable signifying its use. On the Gigabyte UD1000GM, however, this is not present. Admittedly, it’s hard to get this wrong. At the same time though, pay attention to your cables folks because Gigabyte is not holding your hand here!

Internals – A Look Inside!

Getting inside the Gigabyte UD1000GM was not easy. Largely because it utilises an unusually small hex key which the fact majority of kits don’t go down to. I do, however, suspect that this was a deliberate choice on Gigabyte’s part. Possibly to ensure, once again in terms of past issues and reliability, that users can’t easily go poking around inside here trying to potentially make a drama out of nothing.

And in this regard, there really isn’t anything concerning going on here. Actually, the overall initial presentation shows a very clean and tidy layout. In fact, for a 1000W PSU, it’s surprisingly well organised.

A closer look a the cooling fan does show this to be a fairly generic (probably Chinese) stock solution. While this might sound like a criticism, however, we should note that fan operation in PSUs isn’t really about performance and more about low-acoustic output and consistency. Fans within power supplies don’t have to run fast, they just (generally speaking) have to run when needed.

As such, while perhaps a little disappointing this isn’t something a bit fancier, I see nothing of concern here.

A closer look at the PCB confirms that the overall design and layout are exceptionally clean. Components seem both well located and well-spaced which should allow for a solid level of passive airflow when it deems the operation of the fan unnecessary.

Containing two heatsink banks, these again are well situated with them clearly having excellent positioning in relation to the fan.

This PSU features one main capacitor (a factor of some moderate interest as usually PSUs in the 1000W+ range often have two). With that being said though, coming from ‘Nippon Chemi-Con’, a well-reputed Japanese manufacturer, and with it rated to 105C, this is definitely a top-quality choice that, hopefully, will be reflected in some positive test results.

Overall Thoughts!

Overall, the Gigabyte UD1000GM represents itself as a solid, clean, professional, and almost no-nonsense PSU. There’s nothing overly special going on here, but in truth, I suspect that this is exactly what Gigabyte was going for here. – With that in mind, therefore, we expect this overall ethos to be reflected throughout our extensive testing. In that regard though, there’s only one way to find out!

Let’s get this hooked up to our test bench and see what happens!