be quiet! is always a name we like to see here at Enos Tech. They have a good reputation and we have seen first hand that they offer quality products that can be trusted. They also offer products across multiple categories which include Cases, Coolers, Fans, and Power Supplies.

be quiet! has been a staple in the industry for many years now and as such, they even attend events like CES and Computex to show off their new and upcoming products. We have seen quite a bit from them recently and do hope they keep up the good work.

The Pure Power 11 FM is now end of life, but still a more than capable PSU should you come across one.

Pure Power 11 FM Specifications

For a full list of specs and details please visit – be quiet! Pure Power 11 FM Product Page.

Closer Look

Starting with the box and we can tell this is a be quiet! product from miles away. We have a nice image of the Pure Power 11 FM in the middle. We can also see the 80 PLUS Gold rating logo that this PSU carries and below the image, we can see that this is the 1000W variant of this power supply.

On the back of the box and we have a bit more info about be quiet! as well as some of the power ratings.

This is a fully modular power supply and all of the cables are flat except for the 24-pin power connector. It also comes with mounting screws and a couple of zip ties to help tidy up your cable management.

The Pure Power 11 has more than enough cables for most builds. They are also long enough to fit in most cases that aren’t overly massive.

As always, we have one side of the PSU that has all the technical information on it. As it is an electrical item and there is a chance of being shocked, this is all necessary especially the do not open warning!

Moving our way around the Pure Power 11 and we have the power cable input which also has an on/off switch.

The other side of the PSU has a nice be quiet! logo. The logo is the same color as the PSU and is just ever so slightly raised to make it more noticeable.

All of the cable inputs are labeled nicely to give you the easiest chance possible of installing this PSU. Also, as you can see all of the connectors are different sized so will only fit where they are designed.

The Pure Power 11 features a silence optimized 120mm fan to make it as quiet as possible while still providing optimal airflow for cooling.

Final Words

While the Pure Power 11 may be at its end of life cycle, there is no denying that there will probably still be a good few out there in the wild. Should you come across one of these, don’t be afraid to pick it up.

Originally, it came with a 5-year warranty which says to me that be quiet! has faith in it. While this is not the longest warranty we have seen on a power supply, it is still more than adequate. Most people will likely change their PSU in this time frame so should be nothing to worry about.

As always, be quiet! has given us another great offering. The flat black modular cables are a nice touch and should blend in with most builds. It’s also nice to see that companies such as be quiet! are not including some zip ties as you can never have too many when it comes to trying to keep your cables as tidy as possible.

At the end of the day, if you do not need the latest and greatest and aren’t worried about ATX 3.0 capabilities, then this is a great power supply for your needs.

The Thermaltake TOUGHPOWER GF3 1200W PSU is a Modular 80 PLUS Gold, ATX 3.0 / PCIe 5.0 single rail power supply that should be more than enough power for most Gaming PCs. When building or buying a new PC, the power supply is one thing you don’t want to cheap out on. Considering this is going to power up all your other components, it is better to go with a well-known high-rated PSU.

This power supply is designed to power some of the most powerful Gaming PCs and workstations alike. Yes, that is a lot of power but nothing that the GF3 range can’t handle, especially as the one we are looking at today is 1200W. While it is designed to with newer hardware and graphics cards in mind, it can still power older hardware so worry not if you haven’t completed all of your upgrades yet.

The TOUGHPOWER GF3 Power Supply is currently available from SCAN UK for £199.99 at the time of review. Click Here to purchase. 

TOUGHPOWER GF3 Specs

TOUGHPOWER GF3 Closer Look

Packaging

Taking a quick peak inside the box and we can see everything is very well protected.

The GF3 power supply itself comes in a sleeve which is then pretty much fully covered on all sides with protective foam. This will ensure the PSU gets to you with no damage! While this is the norm now, I can still remember when PSUs were just thrown in a box and shipped with no real protection at all!

The cables come in a plastic bag which then comes inside a black portable carry bag. There is not too much worry of the cables getting damaged but it is still nice to see that they are packaged nicely.

Cables

There are more than enough cables to power your system, we have the following:

PSU Unit

The TOIUGHPOWER Gf3 features a 135mm fluid-bearing fan that is fully protected with a covering. This grill also has more than enough holes in it to allow for the PSU to pull in air to keep the internal components cool and running as intended.

As always, the fan grill is easily removed by taking out a couple of screws. However, we don’t recommend doing this unless you are 100% positive about what you are doing as you could easily damage something.

As we saw, there are several cables and of course, they need to be plugged in somewhere! Now, as you can see in the below image, everything is labeled properly and as all connectors are different, you really shouldn’t have any issues connecting things.

All cables are also labeled on their plastic connectors and generally will only fit where they are designed to.

Around the other side of the GF3 and we have the mains cable input and power switch. There is also a Smart Zero Fan which will make the fan stay still and not spin at all unless the PSU load hits 30% or above. This will help with noise and increase the longevity of the fan which is a nice bonus.

Both sides of the TOUGHPWER GF3 1200W feature the same writing on them. This is a bit more writing than I would care for personally. I don’t mind a bit of branding, but generally speaking, just the company name would be more than sufficient here. There is no need for putting the model/series twice – it’s a bit redundant.

As always, we have this lovely sticker with all the technical details on it. There used to be a time when this was on the side of the PSU for everyone to see. Now, it is on the top and in most cases, will not be visible in your standard PC build.

However, this has one thing on it we’ve not yet seen. The TOUGHPOWER GF3 series of PSUs come backed with a 10-year warranty. This is nuts and means this PSU will be able to be used for multiple upgrades for years after you first buy it.

Well played Thermaltake, well played.

Final Thoughts on the TOUGHPOWER GF3 1200W PSU

Currently available for £199.99 from SCAN UK and backed by a 10-year warranty, the GF3 series of PSU from Thermaltake has a lot to offer. While we don’t have a load tester, I have used the TOUGHPOWER GF3 1200W PSU for a couple of weeks now and ran my normal tests on it. I have a small PSU tester that measures the voltages at idle and lets me know if they are within their given standard, and they were. Aside from this, I do check some software to make sure everything seems OK.

For me, the main selling point of this power supply is going to be the 10-year warranty. Most companies don’t offer such warranties on any products, let alone a power supply. This ultimately means that Thermaltake has the utmost faith in their GF3 series and while things can happen, they hopefully shouldn’t. However, if they do, you have one of the industry’s best warranty periods in place.

The rather simplistic design is also refreshing to see. Too many times now we are having RGB thrown down our throats or some random and crazy design. Now and again, it is nice to see something simple and plain that will fit in with most other products without having to worry too much about a color scheme or any of that!

Pros

+ ATX 3.0
+ PCIe 5.0
+ Great Quality
+ Fully Modular
+ 10-year warranty

Cons

– None we can see

The TOUGHPOWER Gf3 1200W Power Supply is going to be a great option for any PC Build. It offers all of the connections you will need including 12VHPWR and is backed by a 10

PCCOLER may not be a name many have heard of until very recently, but that is likely to change soon. What has started as another Chinese company is now looking to make a name for themselves in other parts of the world? PCCOOLER has a nice range of Cases, Coolers, Fans, and as we are taking a look at one today, Power Supplies. The PCCOLER GI-P 650W PSU features a new 7-Defense system. The 7-Defense system is said to help and protect against things that may be out of the user’s control. From insects to dust and static prevention, the PCCOOLER GI-P 650 7-Defense protection system will help keep your PSU as safe as possible.  Alongside its protection, PCCOOLER has added some other great features that we will go ahead and take a look at!

Packaging and Accessories

The outside of the box has a bit of flash going on but not without a bit of helpful information. We can see that this PSU features an 80PLUS Gold rating and has the 7-Defense system when mentioned in the introduction. We can also see that we have the 650W model and some of the RGB motherboard manufacturers that this PSU is compatible with.

On the side of the box we can see exactly what cables it comes with, their lengths, and some more detailed specifications of the GI-P 650W power supply.

The back of the box goes into a bit more of an explanation of how the 7-Defense system works. It also lets us know a bit more about some of the other features it has to offer.

Opening the box and we can see the GI-P 650W Power Supply is packaged quite nicely. Alongside the PSU and cables coming in their own bags, there is also plenty of foam padding to protect the PSU from getting damaged during transit.

Getting everything out of the box and we can get our first proper look at the power supply itself, the modular cables and there is also another small bag. This small bag has the RGB sync cable so you can connect the PSU to your motherboard and it also has the screws so you can secure it to your case.

Cable List

• 1 – Motherboard 20+4 Pin (600mm)
• 2 –  CPU 4+4 Pin (650mm)
• 2 – PCI-E 6+2 Pin (650+150mm)
• 2 – SATA Power (450+150+150+150mm)
• 2 – IDE/Molex (450+150+150+150mm)
• 1 – FDD Adapter (150mm)

GI-P 650 Closer Look

On the top of the PSU is that horrid sticker we have all come to put up with on electronic products such as power supplies. This sticker is a requirement for all companies to include on power supplies and as such, there really isn’t much they can do about it except try and hide it. As this is an RGB PSU, I would imagine PCCCOLER is thinking that most users will have the PSU showing in the build which would mean that you won’t even see this side of the PSuy once it is installed in the case.

This is likely going to be the side of the PSU most are going to want to show off in their case. While it may not look like much at the moment, when the RGB gets lit up, it does look rather nice!

Down the side, we have the 7D Power Supply which to me, seems a bit of a marketing scheme. While most of the 7-D’s sound OK, one of them in particular sticks out!

• Safe From Dust
• Resist Humidity
• Anti-Vibration
• Insect-Proof
• Flame Retardant
• Corrosion-Free
• Static Prevention

While most of these sound good, I have never heard of a PC power supply being insect-proof. While I am grateful for the extra protection, it is a bit of an odd one. Personally, I have never had issues with insects in my power supplies but maybe PCCOOLER knows something we don’t. Either way, I’ll chalk it up to their marketing team trying to use some new buzzwords.

Around to the back where the power cable will plug in and we have a standard power button and another button that will allow us to control the RGB of the GI-P 650W PSU. This PSU is compatible with most RGB motherboards and as we will see it comes with the sync cable, but for those who don’t have an RGB motherboard, you can at least still change the color of the PSU with this button.

All of the cables for the GI-P 650W power supply are modular. All of the connectors on the PSU itself are labeled for easy installation so you know exactly where every cable goes.

As mentioned the GI-P 650W PSU is compatible with a number of RGB motherboards from most manufacturers on the market. Simply plug this small cable into the PSU and connect the other end to your motherboard and you will be able to sync it with your all RGB hardware.

Now, this is where things get interesting! PCCOOLER has added a layer of high thermal performance silicon rubber to the inside of the GI-P range of power supplies. This rubber layer is going to add an extra layer of protection to the PSU and is likely where the insect-proof feature comes from. It is also said that this silicon layer has amazing thermal conductivity and can lower the power supplies temp by up to 5c. Unfortunately, I was unable to test these claims at this time as it would be impossible for me to remove this silicon layer without damaging the PSU. This is a nice touch from a newer manufacturer and it will be interesting to see if others follow suit and start doing this, or if they already are.

GI-P 650 RGB

As mentioned the PCCOLER GI-P 650W power supply features RGB. Both the fan and the side of the PSU have RGB zones and can easily be synced with compatible motherboards. This will allow users to make sure their RGB effects are flowing nicely through their whole build and if you are a fan of RGB, motherboard sync is a must! While most RGB software is crap, it’s good to see more and more compatible hardware if nothing else.

Final Words

Well, it’s the moment of truth and I’ve got mostly nice things to say about the PCCOOLER GI-P 650W power supply, except for the price. Reaching out to PCCOOLER and they sent over a complete price list which has this PSU prices at $198USD! This is absolutely shocking in my opinion. We did mention this to them and they said there will be another cheaper model coming soon at around $100. However, the GI-P is 2-3x more expensive than most standard 650W 80+ GOLD Rater power supplies and around 2x more expensive than similar RGB ones. While I can appreciate the extra coasts of the internal rubber coating for the 7-Defense system, it doesn’t warrant such a price. Also, the GI-P only comes with a 3-year limited warranty whereas most of the similar cheaper ones come with 5 or 7-year warranties.

As mentioned this unit only comes backed by a 3-year warranty. For an 80PLUS gold-rated power supply at this price, one would hope for it to at least have a 5-year warranty, if not a 7 or 10-year warranty! The PSU is a critical part of any build and if the manufacturer doesn’t have the faith in it to extend the warranty by a couple more years, why should anyone else have the faith in putting it inside their system? While I don’t have the facility to test this for 3-years or stress it that much, I would assume from the little amount of testing I have done that it will last more than 3-years during general use. In what testing I could complete with it, it performed as it should, and all readings were fine and in line with other similar power supplies.

One of the features I like the most is the low power mode. Basically, the PSU fan will shut off if the PSU is being used under 30%. This will help the longevity of the fan which is normally one of the issues people run into with power supplies. I know personally, I have changed a number of PSU fans over the years and they have continued to work. Fan bearings wear down and while we are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were years ago, they still don’t quite last forever!

All in all, I have no problem recommending the PCCOOLER GI-P power supply on a performance level. It looks nice, performs well, and should be a good addition to almost any system! While some of the marketing terms seem a bit funny, the unit itself is solid and hopefully, we will see betting pricing and extended warranties from PCCOOLER in the near future. The product may be innovative in a sense of the word, but it is fixing an actual issue? Or is it just a gimmick? Personally, I have never had an issue with insects in my PSU so would not be willing to pay twice the price to own this VS a similar PSU with a better warranty.

It has been quite some time since we have reviewed anything for the good folks over at Deepcool. However, that is all about to change and we should start seeing more of their products again. Today, we are taking a look at one of their newer models of PSUs. The PM500D is a non-modular PSU that boasts an 80PLUS Gold rating. Deepcool has recently undergone some rebranding if you will, and it has allowed for them to have a more quality look. Not only does their packaging look a bit nicer, but their products are also offering better performance and aesthetics instead of just focusing on being budget-friendly. Deepcool has been in the market for a good few years now and they are starting to make a great name for themselves and I look forward to seeing what else they may come out with as they branch out into new products categories. However, today, it is time to take a look at the PM500D power supply and see just what it has to offer.

Deepcool PM500D PSU Closer Look

Since their rebranding, Deepcool has done a good job at making their packaging look a bit more professional I guess you could say. It wasn’t bad before, but it has a more premium and quality look to it now. The front of the PM500D box features a sleeve that has an image of the PSU on it, the model, and an 80PLUS Gold sticker and that is it! Simple and to the point, something which I quite enjoy.

On the back of the box, we have a more detailed specifications list here. We can also see the efficiency curve which states that at %100 usage, the PM500D still operates at 87% efficiency which is great to see. While hopefully, no one is making out their PSU all the time, with smaller units is bound to happen from time to time so being able to have that faith in the unit itself is important.

Getting everything out of the box we have the PM500D itself, installation screws, and a single power cable and that is it. Just enough to make sure we can get the PM500D installed, secured, plugged in, and working with ease.

The sides of the PSU are the same and feature a very minimalistic design, which is great to see. There is a small logo in the bottom right and then, in Deepcool’s new brand colour, a nice turquoise line to add a little something to a rather big and plain area. I am liking this approach, while I am all for a small bit of branding, most companies tend to overdo it these days. Well done to Deepcool for keeping it simple.

The top of the PM500D has that lovely info on it that companies are forced to put on all power supplies. Depending on how you install your PSU into your case will determine whether or not you will be able to see this sticker once the PSU is in your PC.

While I am on board with Deepcool’s new branding and whatnot, I am still not so sure about the logo. While it looks nice, to me it looks more like DR than DC and I am sure they have had many people mention that to them. As you can see right in the middle of the fan protection grill, it is a nice and simple logo but yeah, kinda looks like something other than what it is supposed to be.

Around the back and again, we have a bit of that lovely turquoise colour to add a little something extra. It’s only on the power button so it isn’t overly done which is fine by me. Deepcool has also cone and added a fair bit of ventilation to this area as you can see.

The PM500D is a non-modular PSU and what this means is that the cables are always attached to the PSU itself. While this isn’t always ideal, to help keep prices down, sometimes companies chose this over going modular or fully modular. One thing that bodes well for Deepcool in this aspect is the fact that the cables are flat black cables. So while you may not be able to remove them, they do look nice and the flat design should allow for easier cable management.

The PM500D comes with the standard cables and connectors you would hope to see on a 500W power supply. There are a total of six SATA power cables and four MOLEX connectors.

We also have the main 20+4pin main power connector, two 6+2 PIN PCIe GPU power connectors, and a single 4+4 EPS Power connector. While a lot of power supplies are starting to come with dual 4+4 EPS connectors, as this is only a 500W it comes with a single EPS connector.

Deepcool PM500D Final Words

At the time of review, the only pricing we can find for the PM500D is around £80 here in the UK. This is pretty much the standard price you will pay for a 500W 80PLUS Gold Rated Power Supply during the current time.  Over the years, Deepcool has stepped their game up and it is nice to see them competing with market leaders, across a wide range of products! Power Supplies are something you never want to cheap out on so where possible, make sure to do some research and get a decent one!

While we can’t hook the Deepcool PM500D up to a load tester, we can run it through our normal set of tests to at least make sure it won’t pop during normal usage. Using some different software and tools, the Deepcools performance on the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V lines was well within the respected limits.  While our tests are not flawless, they have held up well over the years and do give us a good general understanding of how a PSU will hold up.

The PM500D passed all our in-house tests and I have no problem recommending it for your next build. The only thing that could make it a better option is if the price was a bit better. While the price is fine and is in line with the market, dropping it even just a few GBP could make it stand out a bit more in a currently highly saturated market.

Cougar has done a great job of making a name for themselves over the last few years. Today, we will be taking a look at their GEX 650W Power Supply. While they originally looked like they could’ve gone down the only budget ranges available rabbit hole, they have proven that they can make quality products. Cougar products, in general, offer a great amount of performance at a price that is normally slightly better than the bigger manufacturers. One of the first products we ever saw from Cougar was their 550M Gaming Mouse which if memory serves was a nice and big mouse that had some amazing performance for its time. From there, we have seen a few other cougar peripherals and products come through our office for review.

I am always happy to review Cougar products as not only are they good, their staff is friendly as well. The whole process is just rather enjoyable and really can’t fault them at all. If you are in the market for some new PC peripherals or components, it’s definitely worth checking out their Website (CLICK HERE) and taking a look at the different ranges they have to offer. Enough of all that though, let’s take a look at the GEX 650W PSU that we have in front of us!

GEX 650W Video Unboxing

GEX 650W Packaging

Cougar goes for a black and orange looking packaging on most of their products. Here on the front of the box for the GEX 650W, we can see that it is an 80PLUS Gold Rated PSU and also comes with a 5-year warranty. Both of these details really do speak on the quality of the GEX 650W PSU and hopefully, its performance will live up to the specs and warranty details.

Jumping over to the back of the box and we have a bit more details into the efficiency, durability and stability that the GEX 650W has to offer. We can also see that it has a Zero-Noise operation which means the fan won’t spin until a certain percentage of power is being used by the PSU. This is a great feature that we are starting to see more and more of on power supplies lately.

On one of the sides and there is even more info on what the GEX 650W PSU is going to offer. We can see AC/DC inputs and there is also a section to let us know exactly how many of each connector comes with the various wattages of GEX power supplies.

Opening up the box and we can see everything comes very neatly packed. There are three different compartments with the one on the left holding our power cable. The one on the right has the PSU modular cables and smack in the middle is the GEX 650W PSU itself. Notice how it is covered in a cloth type bag, this is to ensure it gets to the end-user in the best condition possible.

Getting everything out and as you would imagine, we have the power supply, power cable and modular cables and even some screws so we can install it into our case right away. All fairly standard stuff.

The 24-pin cable is a bit different in look from the others and this is going to be down to the size of it and the number of individual cables that it has. The 24-pin has a braided look to it while the rest of the modular cables are flat black. The flat black cables will allow them to be easily tucked out of the way and should also not cause any eyesores in your builds.

Cougar GEX 650W PSU Closer Look

With most power supplies, there isn’t a whole lot going on with them. They are generally made to be tucked out of the way and a lot of times aren’t even visible these days. However, Cougar has done a nice job at making it so that if you do see the GEX PSU, it still looks nice. On the top part that will most likely never be seen in any build, we have the sticker that as all the various info that companies have to include on power supplies as they are electrical items. They have tried to make it look as best possible by including their logo and model number which is nice to see.

On the two sides is going to be a very subtle Cougar logo. It almost goes unseen if you don’t know that it is there. You will notice that the image may look upside down on one side or the other, this is to make sure the logo is always right side up no matter how it is installed into a case.

As we have seen, there are quite a few cables to use with the GEX 650W PSU. On the power supply itself, they are all labelled nicely so you will know where they go. You will also notice that the cables will only fit where they belong, so you don’t have to worry too much about connecting them to the wrong port. I’m not saying that it is impossible to do so, just that it shouldn’t be easy and as you can see, a lot of the connectors have a different amount of wires.

On the opposite side from where you will connect the modular cables, we have the power cable input and a power button. Any time you are plugging the cable in, it’s best to have the PSU button turned off. Same as if you are swapping components out in the case. Now, that’s not to worry you if you have left it on and changed things about, it’s just a good habit to cut the power off when changing components just to be on the safe side more than anything.

Final worlds

Value

Currently coming in at £90 on Amazon UK or £78.99 on BOX, Cougars GEX 650W is sitting right where we would want to see it in the market. When it comes to power supplies and especially Gold rated ones, you don’t want them to be overly cheap as they aren’t meant to be. They are designed to be quality units and as such, you want a price that also reflects this. Now, no one wants to pay over the top for ‘Brand Tax’ as we see from some so thankfully, this is not the case with Cougar. Alongside the price, it is also worth remembering that the GEX 650W power supply comes with a 5-year warranty, only further adding to the value that it has to offer.

Performance and Design

While we don’t have a proper load tester, we can still run a few standard tests through our test system to try and get an idea of how the power supply performs. When doing this, we used our Ryzen 9 5900x test bench which also has a PowerColor 6700XT in it and 32GB (4x8GB) 36500MHZ Patriot Viper Steel RGB RAM just to see what we could do. From gaming to benchmarking and even a bit of stress testing, the power supply was more than up for the task. While we couldn’t monitor ripple in the lines etc, we could see that the 12v/5v/3.3v lines were all within their allowed ranges. As far as our testing goes, this is all we can ask for from a power supply. Outside of this, it will come down to what components you are using as to which wattage PSU you will also need. The Cougar GEX 650W also looks nice in a completed build and comes with more than enough cables/connectors to power up most anything you could need from a 650W power supply. Coming with an 8-pin and 4+4-pin EPS connector, four 6+2-pin GPU connectors and a host of Molex and SATA connections, you can run everything from a standard PC to a gaming beast with the GEX 650W.

While our testing is limited, we have no problems recommending the GEX 650W power supply from Cougar for your next unit. Backed by a 5-year warranty and coming in at an affordable price, it offers everything you could need from a power supply of this size. 

Many thanks to Cougar UK for sending in this sample of their GEX 650W Power Supple for this review.

Fractal Design has recently released the ION+ 2 series PSUs. The key difference between the ION+ and ION+ 2 is the compliance to the Intel ATX 2.52 standard which would result in improving start-up time and transient load response. The other difference would vary from unit to unit. Fractal has released the following SKUs in the new lineup:

• 560W
• 660W
• 760W
• 860W

Fractal has retained all the key features including the UltraFlex DC cabling in the ION+ 2 series PSU and they have the same footprint as well. Fractal Design has sent us the ION+ 2 Platinum 860W PSU along with the Torrent PC case for testing and use in the test build. We are not equipped with the required equipment to fully test the PSU hence we will only be giving a general overview and use experience of using this PSU on the build comprising of Intel i9 9900k overclocked to 5.0GHz and MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming Trio X overclocked and will see if the PSU is able to handle the steady power under load.

Item:                     ION+ 2 Platinum 860W

Manufacturer:  Fractal Design

Price:                    $149.99 [MSRP at the time of review]

Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

The PSU is shipped inside a cardboard-based packing box in black and white color.

The unit has 80 PLUS PLATINUM certification. One general misconception is that having a higher 80 PLUS certification would imply the better build quality of the unit. While in theory, this could imply but the reality is far from it. So, always check for the other data including the built-in protection system, capacitors, single rail vs multiple rails, and relating current limitation per rail, etc.

Salient features of the unit are printed in 4 languages.

The ION+ 2 retains the Semi-passive Zero RPM mode from the ION+ series. The PSU will run in silent mode on the light loads. Fractal Design is offering a 10-year warranty on these PSUs which is remarkable. High Power is the OEM of the ION+ and ION+ 2 series PSUs.

When we opened the box, we found a container with a few Velcro strips, 4x screws, and the user guide.

The PSU is tucked inside two black colors Styrofoam pads. The cables are placed inside a separate bag. The power cable is placed separately on the top.

The PSU is placed inside a Fractal branded pouch which is a nice touch.

The cables are placed in a Fractal branded bag.

Closer Look

Let’s start with what Fractal Design is saying about these units, “The Ion+ 2 Platinum is a modular, high-performance power supply unit with emphasis on quiet operation, enhanced cable flexibility, and superior output quality. The newest generation features a multitude of electrical design improvements and pack-in accessories to ensure all models meet and exceed the requirements of the latest high-end motherboards and ATX 2.52 specifications. A user-selectable semi-passive “Zero RPM” mode maintains pure silence under light loads, and the custom-tailored 140mm fan with FDB bearings remains barely audible even during heavy use. All models include Fractal Design’s revolutionary new UltraFlex DC cabling, a super high strand-count wire with specially formulated insulation that allows for extreme flexibility without loss of efficiency or current capacity. UltraFlex cables bend and twist effortlessly to simplify installation in tight spaces, allow precision cable-routing, and eliminate the inherent hassles of traditional rigid power supply wiring. Ion+ 2 is available in 560, 660, 760, and 860-watt capacities, all with 80PLUS® Platinum Efficiency, 10-year warranty, and a full electrical protection suite.”

The salient features include:

• Fractal Design UltraFlex DC wires have game-changing flexibility for effortless cable routing and connectors that twist and bend to fit your installation
• Custom-tailored Dynamic Series 140 mm fan with exceptionally low minimum speed and true long-life FDB bearing
• 80PLUS® Platinum Efficiency for optimized electrical performance and reduced heat generation
• User-selectable Zero RPM mode allows for either silent, passive operation in low load situations or continuous low-speed fan operation for additional cooling
• Outstanding output quality with tight voltage regulation and extremely low noise and ripple
• Fully modular design for reduced clutter and maximum ease of installation
• Premium Japanese 105° C capacitors provide enhanced reliability and durability
• Compact 150 mm depth easily fits compact spaces, allowing extra headroom for cable management
• Full electrical protection suite includes Over Power Protection, Over Voltage Protection, Short Circuit Protection,
• Under Voltage Protection, Over Current Protection, and Over Temperature Protection
• Extra-long 600 mm 24-pin ATX cable and 700 mm 4+4 pin cable
• Extensive 10-year warranty
• ATX 2.52 compliance with improved start-up time and transient load response
• Premium cable and PSU storage bags
• All models include two 8-pin ATX12V/EPS cables

The ION+ 2 PLATINUM 860W is a compact unit measuring 150x150x86mm. This will allow the user to use this unit in space-constrained cases easily. The unit has a gunmetal and black coloring on the housing. Both sides have a plain layout in two-tone with Fractal branding towards the connectors’ side. The switch over between the two tones is simple yet attractive. Two screws are used here to secure the housing.

The base of the unit has a solid surface with no branding or any other info on it.

The top side of the unit has a solid grill covering the custom-designed, high-performance Dynamic GP-14 fan. The fan has a rated speed of up to 2000 RPM producing a maximum of 36.6 dB(A) generating a maximum airflow of 119.03 CFM at a static pressure of 2.82 mmH₂O.

This is a 140mm fan. The fan is using FD bearings for a long life span standing at 100,000 hours. The top cover is secured using 4x screws. Salient features of the fan are:

• Size: 140 x 140 x 25 mm
• FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) offers low acoustical noise, long life, and high reliability
• A counter-balanced magnet reduces the axial tension on the bearing
• Optimized fan geometry balances airflow and static pressure
• Aerodynamic stator with embedded wiring reduces turbulence
• Notched blade edges eliminate fan hum
• Trip Wire technology increases blade efficiency and decreases noise

The unit has a vented design on the power input side. We have an On/Off switch below the 3-pin header. The power label is printed here. The ION+ 2 PLATINUM 860W PSU is using a single 12V rail with 71.6A giving a total output of 859.2W. The power table is as under:

AC Input is 100-240V AC, 10-5A, 50-60Hz.

Let’s take a look at the side of the connector of the unit. We have a total of 11 connectors here. The connectors are properly labeled to help the user in the identification. The top two on the left are for the ATX 24-pin cables. We have a total of 5x 8-pin ATX12V/PCIe connectors. 4x connectors are for the SATA/Peripherals.

There is a switch labeled as ZERO RPM MODE. It is On by default. Which would mean the fan would not spin at all under the light load. Switching this feature Off would let the fan run continuously on low-speed operation for additional cooling.

Cables

This PSU is fully modular. The modular approach has made it convenient for the users and saved them the hassle of dealing with all the cables clutter. Now, users can connect only the required cables and keep the not-needed cables away. This would help in better cable management and improve airflow (later is a subjective term).

Fractal Design has provided the following cables:

The cables are flat and are in black color. The really good feature is their flexibility particularly the ATX24 cable. Fractal is using what they call UltraFlex in which the cables are extremely flexible for better cable management. The 24-pin ATX cable if not flat, is quite challenging to handle but with UltraFlex design, this is of no consideration at all. Key features of the cables include:

• Combining an increased strand count and reduced diameter of just 0.08mm allows thinner, more flexible cables
• Specially formulated insulation increases flexibility without impacting efficiency or current capacity
• Cables flex and flow with ease for near-effortless routing and superior cable management opportunities
• Connectors bend and twist to make for easy connections in tight spaces with less resistance and strain

Connectors

The connectors information is as under:

Cable Configuration

Following is the length of the cables in mm between the connectors:

The above picture shows the length of the cables pictorially.

Fractal has provided a standard 2-pin plug for the power input.

The above picture shows the unit with all the cables connected to it. A nice squid!

The above is a close-up on the connectors side with all cables connected.

In power supplies, capacitors possess a critical place in defining their behavior. They are susceptible to change their original behavior due to their constant engagement with high power. Especially, their ESR values and temperature tolerance are important in deciding their aging factor, endurance, and reliability. The peculiar role of the capacitor’s ESR value depends on the position of the capacitor in a power supply. For example, two important capacitors that use in power supplies are the capacitor which is soldered at the input filter after PFC, and secondly, the capacitor that use as an output filter after the main transformer secondary rectification. Fractal Design is using 105°C Japanese Polymer capacitors with low ESR, long life, and better stability. They have employed Metal Oxide Varistor for AC line surge and transient protection.

Fractal has used a black color PCB with key characteristics of:

• 99+ Power Factor Correction and low THD (Total Harmonic Distortion)
• Low-loss, zero-voltage soft switching for improved efficiency
• 12V Synchronous Rectification: Improved efficiency, Low RDS(on), low conduction loss
• High efficiency Step-down DC-DC circuit provides stiff voltage regulation with low ripple and noise
• NTC Thermistor and Bypass Relay protects against high inrush current
• Supervisor IC provides Over Power Protection, Over Voltage Protection, Short Circuit Protection, Under Voltage Protection, Over Current Protection and Over Temperature Protection

General Improvements

These include:

• Tighter start-up timings and transient load response in adherence to stricter ATX12V 2.52 requirements
• Increased 5 VSB efficiency minimizes vampire power drain
• More responsive over-current protection with 130% trigger point (vs. 145% nominal on Ion+)
• Lower initial current draw on 230V systems
• 560W and 660W now include additional EPS cables, ensuring all versions are capable of powering the latest high-performance mainboards which require a second 8-pin connector
• Longer SATA/Peripheral cables with an additional 30mm spacing between connectors

Here is a quick note on the 80 PLUS. Unit is 80+ PLATINUM-certified with an efficiency level of 92.13% at 50% load. 80 PLUS is a voluntary certification that classifies the PSUs by their efficiency levels. Idea was to promote energy efficiency consumption by encouraging the manufacturers to produce units with the efficiency of 80% and above at 20%, 50%, 100% of the units rated load. It also takes into consideration the power factor which should be 0.9 or higher at 100% load. All this to ensure that less heat is generated in wasted energy; this would also put less stress on the utility bills. Here is the ION+ 2 PLATINUM 860W PSU’s 80 PLUS data:

Above are the mean values.

Above is the test result as shared by the Fractal Design.

Protection and Safety Features

When buying a PSU, users must give due consideration to the rated safety and protection features of the particular unit as a slight negligence can put the expensive machine at higher risk of getting damaged. This is where these safety features come in handy. Ideally, as soon as any short circuit or surge is detected, PSU should shut itself down before the damage occurs on the components. After PSU, the most likely component to fail is the motherboard because of the circuitry design but that puts the CPU at higher risk as well.

High-quality PSUs include protection features such as Over Voltage Protection, Over Current Protection, Over Power Protection, Short Circuit Protection, Under Voltage Protection, Over Temperature Protection, etc. Usually, these features are mentioned as synonyms like OCP stands for Over Current Protection.

The Fractal Design ION+ 2 PLATINUM 860W PSU has the following protections:

• OVP (Over Voltage Protection)
• UVP (Under Voltage Protection)
• OPP (Over Power Protection)
• SCP (Short Circuit Protection)
• OCP (Over Current Protection)
• OTP (Over Temperature Protection)

Following is the certification and safety data:

Circuit General Guidelines

Foregoing all in view, the qualitative review of power supply comprised of some parameters to assess and grade it in terms of efficiency, robustness, reliability, and performance. To further stimulate the interest in readers, these parameters have been outlined as follows, on basis of their classification.

1. Control dynamics of PSU features:

• Transient response
• Steady State response
• Load Regulation
• Cross Load Regulation

2. Input and Output Power Quality is described by its:

• Harmonic Suppression and filtration at Input Power Cord
• Power Factor Improvement (Active and Passive)
• Power Efficiency (Switching Losses, Magnetics etc)
• AC Ripple Factor in secondary output voltages of the transformer

3. Safety measures includes:

• Dedicated Power supervisor chip at secondary side of transformer for OVP (Over Voltage Protection), UVP (Under Voltage Protection) and OCP (Over Current Protection) etc
• Fuse, MOV (Metallic Oxide Varistor) and relayed thermistor at Input Power Cord
• Proper Isolation of low and high power components on PCB, insulation and grounding
• Electromagnetic Compatibility

4. Durability includes:

• Selection of components
• Proper Soldering
• Heat dissipation of components

5. EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) Compliance

The most significant factor that determines the aforementioned parameters is the topology that is being employed in the power supply for a particular application. However, there are fundamentally 6 sub-stages involves in shaping up an intelligent power supply unit.

1. Input Harmonic Filter at the Input Power Cord (Impedance Matching, Insertion Loss and)
2. Rectification (Full Bridge)
3. Power Factor Improvement PCB (Active and Passive)
4. Magnetics (Power Conversion)
5. Transformer Secondary Side rectification, filtration and supervisory IC
6. Embedded Control Board (Modular PCB)

All building blocks are working together to form a complete unit.

Test Configuration

Following configuration is used to power by the PSU:

• Intel i9 9900k (5.0GHZ @ 1.350V)
• ASUS RPG STRIX Z390-E GAMING
• Ballistix 16GB RAM
• EK Water Blocks EK-AIO-360 D-RGB Elite
• MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio [Overclocked]
• Lexar 256GB NVMe SSD
• Fractal Design ION+ 2 PLATINUM 860W

As mentioned at the start of the content, we don’t have the necessary equipment to test the PSUs hence a simple PC base synthetic testing was done to put the configuration under heavy load. We have used the overclocked PC to run stress tests like AIDA64 Extreme with the synthetic load. The PSU was able to withstand that all and proven a solid design. We did not see any radical drop in the voltage or any reset/shut down during the operation. It was running quite as well. Overall, job well done, Fractal!

Concluding Remarks

The ION+ 2 PLATINUM series PSUs from Fractal Design have retained the same footprint as is on the ION+ series but brought a few key improvements, the salient of which is the compliance to the Intel ATX12V version 2.52 for better start-up timing and transient load response. These PSUs are available in 560W, 660W, 760W, and 860W SKUs. The following points sum up the improvements:

• Tighter start-up timings and transient load response in adherence to stricter ATX12V 2.52 requirements
• Increased 5 VSB efficiency minimizes vampire power drain
• More responsive over-current protection with 130% trigger point (vs. 145% nominal on Ion+)
• Lower initial current draw on 230V systems
• 560W and 660W now include additional EPS cables, ensuring all versions are capable of powering the latest high-performance mainboards which require a second 8-pin connector
• Longer SATA/Peripheral cables with an additional 30mm spacing between connectors

The ION+ 2 PLATINUM 860W is the high-end premium PSU in the ION+ 2 series with High Power being the OEM of the unit. This is a completely modular design with ZERO RPM Mode. The user has the option to switch on the mode in which the fan will not spin under the light loads or switch the mode off for the continuous fan operation for effective cooling.

The unit is using custom-designed Dynamic X GP-14, 140mm fan using Fluid Dynamic Bearings having MTTF of 100,000 hours. We have a black color PCB using 105°C rated Japanese Polymer Capacitors and features 0.99+ Power Factor Correction with low THD (Total Harmonic Distortion). The unit is using 12V Synchronous Rectification and high-efficiency Step-Down DC-DC circuit along with NTC Thermistor and Bypass Relays for protection. There is a Supervisor IC chip to ensure the safety features, speaking of which this unit has Over Voltage Protection, Under Voltage Protection, Over Power Protection, Short Circuit Protection, Over Current Protection, and Over Temperature Protection. The unit is rated at 50°C for maximum operating temperature under full load. The unit is 80 PLUS PLATINUM certified.

The unit comes with a braided ATX24 pin cable which is extremely flexible thanks to the UltraFlex technology employed by the Fractal Design. The unit has 2x ATX12V/EPS cables, 3x PCIe cables, 3x SATA cables, and a Peripheral cable. A total of 6 PCIe 6+2-pin format connectors are provided and an 8-pin plus 4+4-pin format EPS/ATX12V connectors are provided.

The Fractal Design ION+ 2 PLATINUM 860W PSU is rated at $149.99 MSRP and is able to handle heavy load within the specified wattage with silent operation and comes recommended by us.

Thanks to the Fractal Design for the provision of ION+ 2 PLATINUM PSU.

SilverStone Technology was founded in 2003 on the principle of recognition that merely having innovative expertise within the industry is not enough. Their objective is to ensure that their expertise is delivered to all products with consistency, in response to user’s needs, and with maximum user satisfaction. SilverStone Technology thrives on challenges of rapid technological advancements and creating aesthetic standard for the industry. Their products are of high quality. Product lines include PC Chassis, PSU, Cooling Solution, Storage devices, etc.

SilverStone has released its highly flexible power supply cables under naming convention of PP06E. They are a set of cables compatible with the modular PSUs from SilverStone. These cables are an ideal solution for the SFF users who have to work with limited space. These cables are available in 4 configuration:

• PP06BE-MB35
• PP06BE-PC335
• PP06BE-PC235
• PP06BE-EPS35

Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

Each cable or set of similar cables comes in a single pouch container with one side being transparent to show the cable and the other side showing the specifications and other data of the cable.

The above picture shows the backside of the packing container for the 24-pin ATX to 24-pin cable.

The above picture shows the specifications of the PCIe 8pin to PCIe 6+2 pin cables.

The above picture shows the specifications of the EPS/ATX 12V to PCIe 6+2 connector cables.

The above picture shows the specifications of the EPS/ATX 12V 8-pin to EPS 4+4-pin connector cables.

Closer Look

The salient features of the cables are:

• 08mm ultra-fine copper wire with great durability and excellent flexibility
• 16 AWG high current resistance wire
• Compatible with SilverStone modular power supplies

The above picture shows the set of these cables. These cables have silicon coating which makes them super flexible that can easily be bent to form any shape as per requirement. These cables feature 0.08mm ultra-fine copper wires rated at 16 AWG high current resistance. These cables have a length of 350mm which is more suited for SFF modular PSU for SFF build with space restriction. This length would not only reduce the cable clutter but also helps is routing the cables from the tight spaces in the required shape.

These cables feature 16AWG rating and are wrapped in silicon coating, with UL 94V-2 flammability standard connectors, capable of withstanding high current and high heat tolerance of up to 200°C on the cables and 105°C on the connectors.

SilverStone power supplies have three generations based on the connector designs. Following is the compatibility of PP06E cables with the PSU generations:

The above picture shows the 24-pin ATX cable connector. This cable is for ATX 24-pin to 24-pin connectivity between the PSU and the motherboard. We have a solid build quality.

The above picture shows the flexibility of these cables with 24-pin connector bend and sitting in parallel to the cables.

The above picture shows the block diagram of the MB35 cable.

The above picture shows the compatible SilverStone PSUs with MB35.

The above picture shows the 12-pin EPS/ATX cable connector. This cable is for ATX 12-pin to 12-pin connectivity between the PSU and the motherboard.

The above picture is again showing the super flexibility of these cables.

The above picture shows the block diagram of the EPS35 cable.

The above picture shows the compatible SilverStone PSUs with EPS35.

The above picture shows the 8-pin PCIe to 6+2-pin PCIe cable connector. This cable is for the graphics card.

The above picture is again showing the super flexibility of these cables.

The above picture shows the block diagram of the PC235 cable.

The above picture shows the compatible SilverStone PSUs with PC235.

The above picture shows the EPS/ATX 12V to 6+2-pin PCIe cable connector.

The above picture is again showing the super flexibility of these cables.

The above picture shows the block diagram of the PC335 cable.

The above picture shows the compatible SilverStone PSUs with PC335.

Conclusion

SilverStone PP06E is a set of PSU cables which are designed for their modular power supplies and are intended for SFF builds with space constraints. These cables are available in 4 configuration:

• PP06BE-MB35
• PP06BE-PC335
• PP06BE-PC235
• PP06BE-EPS35

Each of these cables has 350mm length. These cables are super flexible thanks to silicon that can easily be bent to form any shape as per requirement. These cables feature 0.08mm ultra-fine copper wires rated at 16 AWG high current resistance. These cables feature 16AWG rating and are wrapped in silicon coating, with UL 94V-2 flammability standard connectors, capable of withstanding high current and high heat tolerance of up to 200°C on the cables and 105°C on the connectors.

SilverStone has three generations of their PSUs based on the connector design. The PP06BE-MB35 and PP06BE-EPS35 are compatible with all three generations whereas the PP06BE-PC235 is compatible with second generation only and PP06BE-PC335 is compatible with third generation only.

These cables are rated at USD 36.99 for MB35, USD 13.99 for EPS35, and USD 25.99 for PC235/PC335. Don’t take these cables as extension cables since these are PSU cables designed for SilverStone modular PSUs. Unfortunately, we don’t have their PSU which is why we could not put these cables to use for testing. We found these cables to be very flexible with good build quality and recommend these for SFF user employing SilverStone PSU in the SFF build.

I really try my hardest not to be biased as my job is to be open and objective, but I do love me some be quiet! products! They always come with a very sleek and stylish look and have a very distinct aesthetic. I mean, even when they add RGB to products, they do it in such a way that it’s not overpowering and looks very stylish and will still fit in with any build, even if minimalistic. Today, we are taking a look at their Dark Power 12 750W 80 PLUS Titanium Power Supply. As you will soon see, this PSU looks amazing and the Titanium rating lets us know that this PSU is no joke and will do its job very well. If there was a question of how good it is, be quiet! have added in a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty. I personally can’t remember ever having the same PSU for 10-years, not for any particular reason, just normally upgrade and change my personal system around every couple of years. A 10-year warranty is absolutely great to see and speaks volumes on the faith that be quiet! has in their Dark Power 12 range of power supplies.

The Dark Power 12 range of PSUs comes in 750W, 850W and 1000W models while the Dark Power Pro 12 series comes in 1200w and 1500w. This range of PSUs offer some serious power and are going to give users the options they need to power and build almost any standard system out there! The Dark Power 12 750W comes with six PCI-e connectors for multiple high-end GPUs and even has the standard 8-pin EPS connector and an additional 4+4 pin EPS connector for those looking to overclock and put some serious power through their system. Again, we can’t forget about that massive 10-year warranty that shows be quiet! is putting their money where their mouth is and making sure their customers are covered on the off chance anything should go wrong.

Dark Power 12 750W Specifications

Dark Power 12 750W Closer Look

If you’ve ever seen the packaging for a be quiet! PSU, the Dark Power 12 box will look quite familiar. be quiet! go with a nice black box with an image of the PSU on it with the 80 PLUS Titanium logo in the top left! Simple and to the point, just what we would expect.

On the back up the box is very limited information but there is a QR code you can scan to take you to the be quiet! website to find more info on the Dark Power 12 power supply.

There are a few things inside the box to help you get up and running and make sure things stay as tidy as possible. Alongside the user manual, be quiet! have included some normal PSU screws and some Thumbscrews depending on which you prefer. They have also gone ahead and included some standard zip ties and some velcro ones as well! It’s not much but it is more than enough to get you going and make sure your cables are managed nicely!

Now, here is where things get serious! be quiet! have included an overclocking switch that can be installed into one of the PCI expansion bays on your case. This is going to allow you to switch from the default four 12 rail mode to a single-rail mode for better overclocking. The best thing is if this is not something you’re interested in but you still want this Dark Power 12 PSU, you don’t have to install this at all! Not installing this will not cause any adverse effects to the operation of the PSU and it will just run at its default four 12V rail mode.

Here we go, the Dark Power 12 in all its glory! This is one of those power supplies you really need to see in person to appreciate as pictures just don’t it justice. If I had to be blunt, I would say this is the best looking be quiet! we have seen and that says a lot. While we can’t see it in the image below, be quiet! have gone with a split fan inlet to help increase airflow to the internal components of the Dark Power 12 power supplies. They have also gone with a wire-free design so the internal components get more of the cool air which should help improve longevity.

All of that air will no doubt need somewhere to escape. be quiet! have ventilated the backside of the PSU which in most builds, will allow the air to escape out the back of the case and into the room instead of recycling it back through the case itself. This is going to be one of the best ways to expel the hot air from a PSU and is a fairly standard feature these days.

The Dark Power 12 has plenty of connections and hopefully more than you will need. On the power supply they are all nicely labelled though as you will see, they are all different sized plugs so you shouldn’t be able to plug anything into the wrong port. The image below will show you what connectors come with the DArk Power 12 and will also show you the length of the cables so you can make sure they will fit where you need them!

As always, there has to be that one annoying side of the PSU with the info companies are forced to include on such products! However, worry not as this will likely be the side you don’t see once the PSU is installed into your case.

The side you will see looks very elegant and no doubt, most will have no problem showing this off in their builds! Sleek, subtle and without colour should allow it to fit right in with your PC.

With a power supply of this calibre, you surely need the cables to match and be quiet! has done a good job with the included cables. While I know plenty love some custom cables, when you are getting ones similar to those included with the Dark Power 12, it makes justifying the need for custom cables that much harder. These all-black cables with all black connectors look quite nice and surely won’t cause an eye-sore in your PC.

I mean, honestly though just look at that cable! For a standard cable that comes with the PSU, it doesn’t get much better than that!

Each cable comes with its own velcro zip tip on it, which you could also use inside your case if you need some more help with cable management. While be quiet! did include plenty of extra zip ties, you can never really have too many, can you?

Final Words

Currently coming in at £178.11 on Amazon UK or $199.90 on Amazon US the Dark Power 12 is not for those who are just looking for any old power supply to power their PC. Rather, it is for those that want to take the best care of the PC as possible and make sure it has the power it needs and deserves. The Dark Power 12 not only comes with an 80 PLUS Titanium rating, but it also has a 10-year warranty which is almost worth the asking price alone! Over the course of 10-years, you’re looking at less than £20/$20 a year for a top-tier power supply, hard to beat that in our opinion. This PSU is worth every penny of the asking price and will not let you down.

You’ll notice that there is no official testing done and that is because we don’t personally have a PSU load tester and while we used to use a multimeter to do the minimal testing we could, we feel it’s now best to leave this to those who have the proper equipment. What we can say is that the Dark Power 12 750W power supply had no problem powering an X570 based rig with a Ryzen 5950X CPU and a pair of RX 6800 GPUs. Yes, a pair of 6800’s! Why you may ask? Well we do like to try and test the hardware we review to the best of our abilities and as mentioned, this Dark Power 12 750W was able to keep both of them running even at 100% load without issue.

The design is second to none and the overall aesthetic is amazingly sleek and will fit in well with most colour schemes. As mentioned, this is probably the best-looking power supply we have seen from be quiet! and it is a shame that it gets hidden in a case! It would be amazing to use this in a build where it gets shown off and has the fan side on display as it really just looks that good. The Dark Power 12 ticks all the boxes for us, value for money, performance and design and has been a pleasure to use.

Many thanks to be quiet! for sending in a sample of their Dark Power 12 power supply for this review. 

Manufacturer: NZXT

Product Page: C650 Power Supply

Purchase:  $109.99 at the time of review on NZXT’s product page.

NZXT is a company that really needs no introduction these days, they stand behind their Mission Statement “We relentlessly evolve products and services of the highest quality to make extraordinary gaming experiences achievable and fun.” NZXT likes to foster a community full of passion that is willing to look further into what gaming can really be as an experience.

Today NZXT has sent over their 650-watt version of their new C-Series Power Supplies or NZXT C650 if you will. The C-Series line up is a more budget-oriented high-end power supply compared to NZXT’s E-Series which has Digital readouts that feed straight into CAM, like the NZXT E850 we recently took a look at. No matter digital or not NZXT is offering a power supply here that is of the 80+ GOLD class and with shrinking power requirements one that has enough wattage for a fairly high-end gaming build. So let’s take a look and get on with the overview!

Specifications

Closer Look

Just like the packaging with the NZXT E850 the packaging is minimalistic with a plain and straight to the point two-tone white with purple accents box. Keeping it simple with just a photo of the product, and unit branding.

Turning the box around has a few more images with a shortlist of specifications, and features such as ‘Power and Protect’ ‘Built for Builders’ ‘Peace of Mind’ and ‘Silent Operation’.

Popping the lid open you are greeted with a foam clamshell casing holding your NZXT C-Series Power Supply and next to it is a bag of cables with manual on top.

Lifting up the top foam piece to the clamshell PSU protection shows the C650 itself sitting in a little cloth bag.

Everything that comes in the box before fully unpacking.

Taking a closer look at the C650 itself here on the back we can see the power plug, on/off switch, and a ‘Zero RPM Fan Mode’ toggle switch. The C650 with a push of this button will operate in a fanless mode for as long as the unit stays sufficiently cool.

Here is a good look at all of the connector options on the back of the fully modular unit. As you can see there is only a single CPU power connection and that is because in no way is a 650w unit ever going to be designed for a system that will require more than a 4-pin or 8pin CPU Power connection. This level of wattage is not intended to be able to hold up to and feed such a CPU and the rest of the system.

Here on the top, you will find the FCC regulations, some specifications as well as a few cautions you should really follow, and the 80 Plus Gold standard golden symbol.

Here on the bottom side is where the cooling for the NZXT C650 happens. You can with a press of the button on the outer side of the unit run this power supply in a fanless mode and or just allow the 120mm fan to do its job. In my testing under load, the C650 is by far quieter than the system fans used in the test rig.

Again just like with the E850 we took a look at the C650 uses branding colors that are not an eyesore on the side of the unit. This is nice to see since not everyone builds in a case with a basement.

Bunch of cables to look at now but in a nutshell, you can power your mainboard (24pin) and CPU (dual 4pin) as well as 2xGPU (if within the units power range of course) as well as up to 6x Molex devices, and 8x SATA devices with the NZXT C650 Power Supply.

I have also taken to using a Power Supply Tester, not that I expect to find anything reading improperly with a new unit like this. I just started using one to match what it reads to what I see in software like HWiNFO. This is in no way representative of actual lab results and things like voltage clamps. With that said for what I can see with my level of testing I am getting the required voltage at all times with the NZXT C650 and that is not only good in my book but also what you want to see with an 80 Plus GOLD standard power supply.

Conclusion

Performance

As stated above I do not have the required lab equipment or tools to do in-depth testing of Power Supplies but in my experience, I can see when something is not right with the power delivery in a PC. The C650 never gave me any issues in my test build used:

Test System

• ASUS Strix B350-F
• Ryzen 3 2200G – OC (CPU Cores 3.9GHz 1.38v / iGPU 1500Mhz 1.3v and 1.2v SOC)
• 2x8GB CL16 3000 G.Skill Trident Z RGB
• 2xSSD and 4xHHD

Not a system that is going to push this 650-watt unit to the limits but even when adding in a GTX 980 Ti never once did I have any issues with power delivery or the unit getting hot.

Design

The overall design of NZXT products, as usual, are minimal in nature. This is good and I tend to really like the look of their products a lot. Couple this with a solid 10-year warranty and modular design you are getting a solid little power supply for your gaming system. NZXT really has its design down for its lineup of power supplies.

Value

At $109.99 NZXT really is coming in competitively here with the C650, there are lots of cheaper units for sure but there are also as many that cost $20-40 more easily. So all in all NZXT is delivering a solid 80 Plus GOLD power supply that will do what it is supposed to do which is power your system. All doing so while being backed by a solid 10-year warranty. I can strongly recommend the NZXT C650 to anyone looking to build a system with these kinds of power requirements.

I want to thank NZXT for sending over the C650 PSU sample.

• Manufacturer: Thermaltake
• Product: Smart BX1 RGB 550W
• Purchase: £50.33 At the time of review

Following on from our overviews on the Smart RGB 500W and 600W power supplies, today we will be looking at the Smart BX1 RGB 550W power supply. The Smart BX1 RGB is a more budget-friendly PSU that still manages to feature a RGB fan. While I know some won’t see the point in a RGB fan on a PSU, especially a more budget-friendly model, some will find it nice. As we make our way into 2020, RGB is more prevalent than ever. Whether you are a fan or not, almost every company now makes some products that utilize RGB lighting in some way. Now, back to the BX1. Alongside the RGB fan, the BX1 comes with a 5-year warranty and carries an 80PLUS bronze efficiency rating. All of this for around £50? Well, that doesn’t sound like such a bad deal to me. Enough of the talk, let’s get to the review and see just what the BX 1 has to offer.

Specification

Closer Look

The box for the BX1 has a bit of info on it. everything from the RGB PSU fan to the 5-year warranty and letting us know it uses a Main Japanese Capacitor can be found on the front along with the wattage and 80PLUS rating. While it doesn’t matter so much in the days of online shopping, should you be looking at this product in a physical store, you will appreciate the amount of information Thermaltake has delivered on the packaging.

On the back of the box we can see more on the features the BX1 has to offer as well as the included connectors specifications.

Opening the box up and everything is packed nicely. The PSU comes in a bubble wrap bag with a small piece of home separating it from the cables.

This is a non-modular PSU so that means that the cables are always connected. Even with this being the case, Thermaltake have gone the extra mile and made sure the cables are black and not the horrible mustardy colour that we see on a lot of cheaper PSUs. The grill on the bottom of the PSU will allow you to see the RGB fan on the inside that will not only light up but it will also keep the internal components of the PSU cool.

Both of the sides are similar, e can see the 80PLUS badge, model name and Thermaltake logo.

There are a couple of buttons on the back of the power supply where we will plug the mains power cable in. There is a simple on/off switch and then we also have the RGB lighting switch. The RGB switch, as you would imagine, will allow us to change the colour of the fan to our preferred with ease.

The top side of the PSU has a couple of stickers with the more technical info on them. These are a bit of a pain and don’t do any favour for the aesthetics but are a requirement on any PSU. If nothing else, at least they are in a spot that can be hidden with a bit of luck. Unlike when they used to put all this info on the side of the PSU and you have no options but to show it off in your PC.

“The 10 RGB LEDs come preinstalled on the 120mm fan. Capable of displaying 7 colours (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Purple, Light Blue, and White), 3 illumination modes including Pulse, Full-lighted and RGB Cycle, and an LED Off mode.”

Conclusion

While we don’t have a proper ATX load tester to really stress PSUs out for testing, we do still hook them up and run some basic tests. During the testing on the BX1, it passed without any issues and all readings were well within their respected ranges at both idle and gaming load. The BX1 should have enough connectors on it for most standard builds and the 5-year warranty really makes things interesting. When you figure it out at £50 over 5 years, that’s less than £1 a month for a PSU that not only offers good performance, it also offers some nice aesthetic features as well. The BX1 will help users add even more ‘Bling’ to their builds with ease. Even without the RGB, the BX1 is still a worthy PSU and for those that don’t like the RGB, it can be easily turned off using the RGB button on the back. Thermaltake have not compromised on their integrity by using cheap components in the BX1 either even with the fairly cheap price they are selling it for. Another major thing the BX1 has going for it is that it is part of Thermaltake’s massive ecosystem and if you are one of those people that likes to have as many parts as possible from the same manufacturer, the BX1 can surely help there. Thermaltake offer a load of hardware and components for PC gamer’s and enthusiast’s who want to get the most from their PCs. If you’re looking for a PSU with a nice RGB effect that won’t break the bank, the BX1 is for you then.

Many thanks to Thermaltake for sending in a sample of their BX1 for this review.