Introduction and Features

The ITZ1300 has one of the largest output capacities of any PC power supply sold in the US but our testing suggests this PSU is being pushed a little too hard to get there.
Tagan has teamed up with ABS Gaming Lab to bring the new Tagan ITZ series of PC power supplies to the North American market.  Tagan is a well known name in Europe and you may recognize ABS from their long affiliation with Newegg.  The Tagan ITZ (In The Zone) series includes six models ranging in output capacity from 600W all the way up 1,300W and certified by ABS.  We will be taking a detailed look at the ITZ1300 in this review, which is rated for up to 1,300W maximum DC power output.

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The ABS Tagan ITZ1300 PSU has one of the largest output capacities of any PC power supply sold in North America (which is limited by our 115 VAC residential wiring).  Tagan claims their new ITZ1300 can support up to four graphics/physics cards and is NVIDIA SLI and ATI Cross-Fire certified.  They go on to say the ITZ1300 power supply is guaranteed to outlast and outperform any other PSU in the market today.  It appears ABS and Tagan are quite proud of the ITZ1300!  I can’t help but wonder then, why this unit only comes with a 3-year warranty on parts and only 1-year warranty on labor?

ABS Tagan ITZ1300 Key Features:

•    1,300 watts maximum power output
•    Supports EPS12V v2.92 and ATX12V v2.2 standards
•    Six +12V outputs (up to 92A combined)
•    Turbo Mode can automatically combine all six +12V outputs into one
•    Two 80mm variable speed cooling fans in push-pull configuration
•    High-Efficiency (over 80%) with 80 PLUS certification
•    Active PFC with Universal AC line input
•    Six PCI-E connectors (four 6-pin and two 8-pin)
•    Brilliant blue mirror finish and sleeved cables
•    3-Year warranty

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The ITZ1300 power supply comes packed inside a retail box that highlights the power supplies features and specifications.  Inside the outer wrapper are two more boxes; one contains the power supply and cables while the other smaller box contains the accessories.

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In addition to the power supply, the ITZ1300 package includes a heavy duty 14 AWG/3 power cord, mounting screws, silicone mounting gasket, Velcro wire ties, a 4-pin HDD to 4-pin FDD adapter cable and printed User’s Manual.

Establishing an accurate load is critical to testing and evaluating a PC power supply.  PCPerspective’s power supply test bench can place a precise 2,000 watt DC load on the PSU under test.  Each power supply is tested under controlled, real-world conditions up to its maximum rated load (at 40ºC), using both 115 VAC and 240 VAC line voltage.  Our current suite of tests includes:

•    DC Load Regulation
•    DC Line Regulation
•    DC Cross-load (unbalanced load)
•    AC Ripple and Noise
•    Power Factor
•    Efficiency
•    Differential Temperature
•    Noise

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The ITZ1300 power supply was evaluated on both features and performance.  A full range of equipment was used to test the power supply under controlled load conditions. 

•    (2) CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V ouputs)
•    (4) CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4)
•    FLUKE 87-III True RMS digital multimeter (Accuracy ±0.05%)
•    Extech 380803 Power Analyzer (Accuracy ±0.5% of full scale)
•    Hitachi V-650F 60 MHz dual trace oscilloscope (Accuracy ±3%)
•    Powerstat Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA, 0-140 VAC
•    FLUKE  52-II digital thermometer (Accuracy ±0.3ºC/0.5ºF)
•    Extech Model 407738 digital sound level meter (Accuracy ±1.5 dB)
•    Custom Lian Li PC60 enclosure to simulate real-world operating conditions




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