1200W PSU Roundup 2014

Chieftec Navitas 1250W Review

Manufacturer: Chieftec
UK price (as reviewed): £149.80 (inc VAT and UK shipping)
US price (as reviewed): Currently unavailable

Chieftec is a brand instantly recognisable to anyone who has been interested in hardware for a long time, and the brand is a regular mainstay in the PSU market. In this test we welcome the Navitas 1250W, which costs just £150 and is the second and last 80 Plus Gold rated PSU in the test. This price includes shipping, as it is currently only available from abroad.


It’s a single rail design, delivering up to 104A on the 12V rail, and measures 201mm in depth. Inside, a 140mm fan is responsible for cooling the somewhat sloppily soldered internals. The fan is semi-passive, meaning it won’t run at all as long as the PSU doesn’t get too hot. At 3.1kg, it is remarkably heavy even for a PSU in this market segment – the next closest to it is the Seasonic at 2.49kg.


The Navitas really falls a bit short in the cable department. There are a mere three Molex plugs, accompanied by an admittedly generous 12 SATA connectors, but there are only 6 PEG connectors (of the 6/8-pin variety) and cable lengths are middling to poor as well. In particular, the 51cm motherboard cable is liable to fall short in many high-end cases, but the PEG and CPU cables are also the shortest of all eight PSUs.

Fortunately the Navitas performs quite well indeed, with stable voltages, low ripple and efficiency averaging close to but falling just short of 91 percent, which is similar to many of the higher rated Platinum models. Under load, it is still whisper quiet, producing a mere 28 dB(A).


Nonetheless, we have a hard time recommending the Navitas outright, due to the overly-short cable lengths, which is certainly something of concern for 1,200W PSU owners, as well as the limited availability in the UK market. As such, it narrowly misses out on an award, but 1,250W of stable, reliable and low-noise power for £150 is indeed very good value.