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PC power supplies (PSU) are often an overlooked component that practically does all the heavy lifting for your system, basically it’s the heart of any desktop computer whether you’re building something essential or a raw gaming beast with multiple GPUs attached. Enter Super Flower, a brand that you probably never heard of by themselves but is actually a manufacturer that works behind the scenes as an OEM supplies for other companies known to charge a premium for their labels. The question is, does brand recognition really matter with the robust LEADEX VII XG Gold 1300W PSU?
It doesn’t get any simpler as the LEADEX VII is a fully modular ATX box filled with capacitors, heatsinks, and a PCB. There is a modicum of exterior detail as the top and front shell sports a linear combed pattern that shows off the internal bits nicely, and LEADEX badging with a butterfly logo. Also viewable is the large 140mm fan that disperses heat and a dedicated ECO switch meant to manually control thermal output.
Super Flower also states that their entire LEADEX family is designed and optimized for ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 specifications. As a pair, both offer technical enhancements such as improved power efficiency and overall output reliability, while retaining backward compatibility and interchangeability.
If you want to get more specific, ATX 3.1 features a shorter hold-up time of 12ms and the 12V-2×6 (12 Volt 2 rows of 6 pins) connector effectively replaces 12VHPWR (12 Volt High Power) with shorter 1.5mm signal pins to alleviate the annoyance of trying to plug everything in, and slightly longer 0.25mm power pins by enlarging the contact surface area and reducing temperatures. PCIe 5.1 on a similar note delivers better signal integrity and built-in ECC (error correction code) while maintaining the same 32GT/s (Giga-transfers per second) for each bus lane. Power users who upgrade on a regular basis will appreciate the convenience and physical futureproofing, but all your current or recent GPUs and motherboards will work perfectly fine too.
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X processor
- RAM: 32GB Kingston Fury Renegade 6400MHz DDR5 (16GBx2)
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE B650 Eagle AX AM5
- GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING OC 12G
- HDD/SSD: 4TB Nextorage G Series 4.0 NVMe SSD
- CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 150MM Cooler
If you’re a gamer, then LEADEX VII GOLD doesn’t skimp on power and achieves 89% maximum efficiency under 100% rated 115V internal load. Basically, any system that can support the wattage of both a flagship RTX 4090 and high-end Ryzen 9950X or 14th Generation Intel i9 processor (if your Intel CPU isn’t defective) will be perfectly suited for this PSU.
With my build, I observed a standard load of 488W, and an observed range of 625-703W when playing games at higher presets, running software like Adobe Premiere Pro or impromptu crypto mining via Unmineable. Essentially, you can take your machine much further before approaching the 1300W threshold if extreme overclocking or a multilinked NVLink or mGPU arrangement is your primary goal.
Super Flower also claims that the 140mm fan can produce near 0dB, which is somewhat true if you flip on the aforementioned ‘ECO’ switch. It wasn’t zero but I was able to record a single digit reading of 9dB when the PSU was not under any load, otherwise, the fan read between an average audible of 30dB in standard operation and 21dB with ECO mode enabled.
I also tested the LEADEX VII Platinum PRO 1200W and both are incredibly similar. The primary tradeoffs is that you’re getting efficiency and better internals with the 80PLUS Platinum model, versus going for raw wattage output seen here in the LEADEX VII XG. Overall, it’s going to come down to preference on what your computing needs are, as you really can’t go wrong with either one on a budget.
I was curious about Super Flower as they are one of many under-the-radar PSU brands that promise both performance and affordability, and the LEADEX VII XG GOLD 1300W PSU certainly delivered during my extended usage with it. The irony of all of this is that I discovered that the company also supplies components behind known favorites such as Corsair, EVGA and ASUS, with the only difference being exterior appearance and a slightly shorter lifetime warranty of 7 years. If you don’t care about brand snobbery, then this PSU is worth considering no matter what your dream build is.