Fractal Design Ion+ Platinum 860P PSU Review

1. Introduction2. Bundle & Cabling3. External4. Internal5. Testing Methodology and Results6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

We recently analysed the new Fractal Design Ion+ 660P power supply, and today we follow up with the big brother of the family – the Ion+ 860P (860 watt). These new power supplies are Platinum rated, fully modular and ship with Fractals' new ‘UltraFlex DC Cables'. They are all single +12V designs.

As we noted in our previous Ion+ review, Fractal are attempting to bring Platinum power supplies to a larger audience, by lowering price points noticeably. The 860P model is priced at £124.99/$129.99. There are three other models in the range, a 560P (£94.99/$99.99), a 660P (£104.99/$109.99) and a 760p (£114.99/$119.99).

Their OEM of choice for these units is High Power.

One of the companies key focus points for these new units are the aforementioned UltraFlex DC cables. These are high stand count cables with specially formulated insulation which make it possible to reduce the conductors to just 0.08mm in diameter without loss of efficiency or current capacity.

Key features:

• 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
• 80 PLUS® 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

The Fractal Box artwork is effective enough, if rather uninspired.

The rear of the box highlights the 80 Plus Platinum efficiency, the 10 year warranty and the semi passive zero fan mode alongside some photographs, including one that highlights the full modular bay.

Inside the box, is literature on the power supply, a handy little storage bag, mounting screws and cable ties. The power supply is wrapped in a little bag, protected between foam slabs.

The Ion+ 860P ships with 6 PCIe connectors, the same as the smaller ION+ 760P model.

The larger 760P and 860P ship with 6 PCIe, and 10 SATA connectors. The higher powered models also incorporate an extra EPS/ATX12V connector for more CPU demanding systems such as AMD's Threadripper. Fractal are using an extra long 600mm 24 pin ATX cable and a 700mm 4+4 pin cable.

We like this cable design, and while we can somewhat take all the buzz words with a pinch of salt, these cables are in reality very flexible and we can see them being quite easy to route during a system build. We can believe that due to the flexible nature, they would put less stain and resistance when bent in tight spaces.

The Fractal Ion+ 860P is a very clean, nicely finished unit with a neutral colour scheme which will likely appeal to system builders focusing on a new themed rig.  Likely it may get hidden behind a PSU shroud, but the neutral scheme is beneficial.

The chassis measures 150 mm x 150 mm x 86 mm and it weighs 1.665 kg, slightly more than the 560P and 660P (1.61kg).

Beneath the metal grille is a large 140mm FDB fan. This is a low noise fan with high reliability and long life characteristics (100,000 hours MTBF).

One side of the unit has a vented panel to help with airflow, as well as a power on and off switch and connector.

The other side of the power supply is home to the modular bay, all clearly labelled. There is also a switch here to toggle the semi passive fan mode.

Fractal Design Ion+ Platinum 860P PSU
DC Output	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	-12V	+5Vsb
Max Output	22A	22A	71.6A	0.3A	3A
Total Power	120W		860W	3.6W	15W
	860W

The single +12V rail is able to deliver 71.6 Amps for 860W of the total load. Interesting to see that Fractal have placed the power characteristic sticker on the rear of the chassis – this can be seen from the outside of the system build when the power supply is installed.

The fan inside is an FDB model, measuring 140 mm x 140 mm x 25 mm. It has a counter balanced magnet to reduce axial tension on the bearing and has an optimised fan geometry to balance airflow and static pressure. There is an Aerodynamic stator with embedded wiring to reduce turbulence. Fractal have notched the blade edges to reduce fan hum at higher speeds. Life expectancy of the fan is 100,000 MTBF.

You may notice there is a piece of plastic covering one quarter of the fan – this is intentional, so the company can specifically direct air flow over key components on the PCB.

Below - a High Resolution Gallery of the internal layout of the Power supply.

Looking inside we can see that the Fractal Design power supply is created by OEM partner High Power. The design is 12V Synchronous Rectification to improve efficiency with low conduction loss. High Power are incorporating a high efficiency step down DC-DC circuit to help improve voltage regulation and to improve ripple suppression. There is a MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor) used for AC line surge and transient protection.

The 860P uses Japanese capacitors throughout the design with two very fine Japanese 105C rated capacitors in the primary stage, from the excellent Rubycon. They are both rated 400v 470uF, for a total output of 940uF.

Due to the high rated efficiency of this power supply there are only several rather small heatsinks visible over one side of the PCB design cooling certain components.

Soldering quality on the board is certainly acceptable. The PSU offers Over voltage protection, under voltage protection, over power protection, short circuit protection, over current protection and over temperature protection as well.

Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. We run at 35c in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions.

We use combinations of the following hardware:
• SunMoon SM-268
• CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs)
• CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4)
• Extech Power Analyzer
• Extech MultiMaster MM570 digital multimeter
• Extech digital sound level meter
• Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC)
• Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA

We test in a single +12V configuration.

DC Output Load Regulation
Combined DC Load	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		+5VSB		-12V
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
85W	0.95	3.34	0.92	5.03	6.00	12.04	0.50	5.02	0.20	-12.03
170W	1.70	3.34	1.67	5.03	12.35	12.03	1.00	5.02	0.20	-12.03
425W	3.00	3.34	3.05	5.03	32.20	12.03	1.50	5.01	0.30	-12.03
640W	4.05	3.33	4.05	5.02	49.00	12.03	2.00	5.01	0.30	-12.03
860W	5.00	3.33	5.23	5.01	66.52	12.01	2.50	5.01	0.50	-12.04

Load regulation is very good, within 1.5%

Fractal Design Ion+ Platinum 860 PSU	Maximum Load
	955W

We managed to get the power supply to deliver 955W before it would shut down, delivering around 95W more than rated specifications.

Next we want to try Cross Loading. This basically means loads which are not balanced. If a PC for instance needs 500W on the +12V outputs but something like 30W via the combined 3.3V and +5V outputs then the voltage regulation can fluctuate badly.

Cross Load Testing	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		-12V		+5VSB
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
760W	1.0	3.34	1.0	5.03	60.0	12.00	0.2	-12.02	0.50	5.01
165W	15.0	3.33	18.0	5.00	2.0	12.04	0.2	-12.02	0.50	5.01

The power supply dealt with the demanding cross load test very well exhibiting little fluctuation. It was tasked with 60A on the +12V rail and it held at 12.00. The other rails delivered excellent results also.

We then used an oscilloscope to measure AC ripple and noise present on the DC outputs. We set the oscilloscope time base to check for AC ripple at both high and low ends of the spectrum.

ATX12V V2.2 specification for DC output ripple and noise is defined in the ATX 12V power supply design guide.

ATX12V Ver 2.2 Noise/Ripple Tolerance
Output	Ripple (mV p-p)
+3.3V	50
+5V	50
+12V1	120
+12V2	120
-12V	120
+5VSB	50

Obviously when measuring AC noise and ripple on the DC outputs the cleaner (less recorded) means we have a better end result. We measured this AC signal amplitude to see how closely the unit complied with the ATX standard.

AC Ripple (mV p-p)
DC Load	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	5VSB
100W	5	5	10	5
225W	5	10	10	5
450W	10	10	15	5
675W	10	10	15	10
860W	15	15	20	10

Noise suppression is great, peaking at 15mV on the +3.3V and +5V rails. The +12V rail peaked at 20mV at full load. Excellent results

Efficiency (%) 240V
100W	90.7
225W	93.7
450W	94.1
675W	93.6
860W	92.6

Efficiency is yet again top of the field, peaking at around 94% at close to 50% load. At full load this drops to around 92.6%.

We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

Today to test the power supply we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the unit. We have no other fans running so we can effectively measure just the noise from the unit itself.

As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 Player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

Noise (dBA)
100W	<28.0
225W	<28.0
450W	31.6
675W	32.5
860W	33.8

This is a quiet power supply throughout the range, peaking at 33.8dBa when the power supply is at full load. The pitch of these FDB fans are very low, meaning the fan is never intrusive.

Temperature (c)
	Intake	Exhaust
100W	37	39
225W	38	42
450W	39	45
675W	43	51
860W	45	58

The high efficiency of the unit helps maintain good internal thermal temperatures. The cooling works well.

Maximum load	Efficiency
955 watts	91.5

At 955 watts, this unit managed to deliver efficiency at 91.5%.

The Fractal Design Ion+ Platinum 860P is another very high efficiency power supply which will suit those running multiple graphics cards. We reviewed the 660P unit in this range recently, and both are clearly well thought out, cleverly designed power supplies.

Fractal are using High Power as their OEM of choice for this range of units and its worked out well for Fractal. Its a cool running, technically capable unit.

The overall quality of finish is excellent and the neutral scheme will suit those of you without a PSU shroud wanting to ensure the power supply won't clash with a specific set of colours.

Load regulation is very tight, and the 860P dealt with our cross loading test without a problem. Ripple suppression is another high point for this product, hitting a maximum of only 10-20mV from all rails under a full load situation. Thanks to the adoption of a quality Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan, noise levels never get too intrusive either, even under very high load situations. You could happily run this unit at 700w all day long without noticing fan noise.

While the 660P will suit the majority of single GPU systems on the market today, the more beefy 860P is clearly designed for higher draw systems with multiple graphics cards, and the dual ATX/EPS connectors will better serve overclocked AMD Threadripper rigs.

The modular cabling is one of the key talking points with this new range of Ion+ Platinum power supplies. The trademarked ‘UltraFlex DC cables' are a very high strand count cable with specially formulated insulation to reduce the conductors to just 0.08mm in diameter. While we look at marketing ‘buzz' words with a raised eyebrow, in reality, these cables are very soft and flexible, ensuring they are pleasant to use during a system build. You can bend and twist them to ease routing in tight spaces for instance, without fear of damage. I give them a resounding thumbs up.

The 860P model featured in this review will be available for $129.99/£124.99 in the coming weeks. At this price, the 860P deserves serious consideration.

Pros:

• Well built.
• Very well priced.
• We love the new bendy, flexible cables.
• Very quiet.
• Quality Rubycon 105C Japanese capacitors used.
• Fully Modular.
• 10 year warranty.
• Delivered 955 watts before shutting down.

Cons:

• None.

KitGuru says: Another extremely proficient Platinum rated supply from Fractal Design. At the very competitive £125 price point its is one of the best buys on the market today.

 

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