Seasonic Focus GX-1000 (2024) ATX 3.0 80 PLUS Gold PSU Review

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

Seasonic is a well-known PSU brand. It has several lines of PSUs, most notably the Prime series, which is regarded as one of the best in the industry in terms of quality and performance. In addition to the Prime line, Seasonic has the Vertex, Focus, Core, and B12 series of PSUs. Seasonic has sent over one of its newest ATX 3.0 PSUs, the Focus GX-1000 ATX 3.0 PSU, for review.

A quick look at the Seasonic GX-1000 (2024) ATX 3.0 PSU

Why don't we see if the Focus GX-1000 ATX 3.0 PSU lives up to the Seasonic name and reputation?

Packaging

The box in which the Focus GX-1000 comes is very reminiscent of the 80s color scheme with the triangular pattern.

Again, the side where you would open is the name of the Focus GX-1000, along with the 80 PLUS Gold certification.

The backside of the Focus GX-1000 box shows the power efficiency curve and many of what Seasonic has deemed important facts about the Focus GX-1000 ATX 3.0 PSU.

This side of the box shows the same information, cable type, and length information on the large sticker at the bottom of the GX-1000.

Inside the box is a chance to win a $50 Steam gift card and the owner's manual.

Seasonic includes reusable velcro ties as well as zip ties. Also, black four mounting screws are included as well.

Seasonic has packaged the Focus GX-1000 cabling in a black cloth bag, a nice attention-to-detail addition.

The GX-1000 comes in the same bag as the cabling, which is flanked by two pieces of black open-cell foam.

Seasonic even sends a PSU tester with the GX-1000, another convenient addition if you are a water cooler and need to power your pump when bleeding your loop.

The fully braided-sleeved PVC embossed individual cables are something you usually don't see in sub $150 80 PLUS Gold rated ATX 3.0 PSUs. These cables are PVC embossed, thus giving them excellent flexibility, durability, and aesthetics. Cable combs are also included in the package to improve cable management.

Outside the Seasonic GX-1000 ATX 3.0 PSU

Moving to the GX-1000 ATX 3.0 PSU itself, we are greeted by the fan grille, which has white and silver accents and the Seasonic logo badge in the center.

Now, there is the coveted PSU sticker, which Seasonic has colored in black, gold, and white.

The power output side is where all the cabling plugs in. The PCIe 12V-2×6 connection, which has a full 600w at its disposal, is first in line, followed by 5 CPU or PCIe 8-pin connections. The remaining top two connections are the motherboard 10 and 18-pin connections. Lastly, there are 3 6-pin connections for peripherals, SATA, or MOLEX connections.

The rear rounds out the exterior of the GX-1000. It has a large Seasonic badge in the upper left corner, a C13 power input plug, a power rocker on/off switch, and a hybrid fan mode button. The remaining sections are a honeycomb-style mesh.

Inside the Seasonic GX-1000 ATX 3.0 PSU

Here is the fan SeaSonic has chosen, made from Ong Hua model HA13525H12F-Z. This 135mm fluid dynamic bearing fan runs at 2000 RPM at .5a on 12v and is a common choice for many PSU brands.

The internals of the Focus GX-1000 look really clean and thought out. In the upper part, next to the single large capacitor, is Seasonic's new OptiSing Design. According to Seasonic, this design helps keep heat down eightfold, which helps in terms of long-term reliability and more efficient operation.

The single large capacitor, made by Nippon Chemi-Con, is Japanese and of excellent quality. It is rated for 400v at 820 microfarads at up to 105C, making this capacitor very adequately chosen for this PSU.

The transformer, which has black shielding, is tucked right next to the power output section.

Finishing up the internal tour of the Focus GX-1000, the VRM daughterboard is on the opposite side of the OptiSink.

Test System, Installation, and Finished Product

Final Thoughts

Using the PSU test bench for this review, the CPU, which is the Ryzen 9 7950X, was set to auto vcore to allow the CPU to boost as high as it thermally can. The 16-core, 32-threaded CPU maintained a 5.12 GHz boost clock during most of the test while running the AIDA64 Engineer System Stability Test. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X's wattage ran up to a max of 195 watts according to BENCHLAB but averaged out to about 187.5 watts. The AM5 motherboard used here is a B650 AORUS Elite AX. The test RAM is a 32GB kit from Patriot, specifically the Viper Venom running at DDR5-5600. The test GPU, NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE, was power limited at 75% via MSI Afterburner to control the system wattage.

On average, the NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE drew on about 222 watts. The power drawn from the wall was measured with a Killawatt P3 digital electrical usage monitor, reading the total system wattage, which read between 490 and 525 watts during the duration of the testing, with the average usage being 507.5 watts.

All testing was completed using Aida64 Engineer's System Stability Test version v7.35.7000 for over 17 hours, with an ambient temperature of 20C. Other monitoring software used was BenchLab v1.0.0, HWiNFO64 v8.04-5470, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.60.0, and CPU-Z 2.12.0.x64.

In conclusion, Seasonic's Focus GX-1000 ATX 3.0 PSU does what Seasonic says it will do. In my testing, its efficiency curve at 50% load is rated for 80 PLUS Gold, which is 92% efficient while at 50%. It also happens that the GX-1000 does that with ease, with some gas still left in the tank, making a tick more than 95% efficiency. I fully understand why Seasonic has underrated this PSU. It's a much better practice to underpromise and over-deliver, especially if this particular PSU has a 10-year warranty.

Pricing for the Focus GX-1000 is $189.99, which is a tad high; however, if caught on a discount, the GX-1000 would be a very compelling option.