Fractal Ion 3 Gold 1000W PSU Review

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

It has been some time since we last looked at a power supply from Fractal, so today we check out one of their latest Ion 3 Gold units. The new range of Ion 3 power supplies are available in black (with the 1000W model also available in white) and are fully modular, are ATX 3.1 compatible, incorporate Japanese capacitors and are protected with a full 10-year warranty. The series is also 80 Plus Gold certified, though Fractal don't appear to be working with Cybenetics for any certification which is an oversight in my opinion as Cybenetics is the superior testing platform.

Fractal are releasing three units in this new range of power supplies, a 750W, an 850W and a 1000W. Scan have listed them for pre-order over HERE. UK release date is said to be sometime in December 2025.

750W Ion 3 = £99.98 inc. VAT.
850W Ion 3 = £109.99 inc. VAT
1000W Ion 3 = £139.39 inc. VAT (white and black options are the same price).

Fractal are working with Seasonic as the OEM for the new Ion 3 Gold series.

Key features:

• ATX 3.1 compatible for next-generation components, supporting ATX 3.0 power excursion to ensure stability with upcoming graphics cards.
• 16-pin PCIe Gen5 12V-2×6 600W cable provides native support for modern graphics cards. Shortened sense pins improve reliability and powers down the GPU
  if the connection comes loose.
• 80PLUS Gold certification delivers high efficiency, with reduced energy use and heat generation thanks to optimized power delivery.
• Fully modular design simplifies installation with reduced clutter inside the system.
• Zero RPM semi-passive mode keeps the fan off until 30% load and allows silent operation under lighter loads.
• Fractal UltraFlex cables provide superior flexibility for clean cable management.
• Unsleeved 24-pin ATX motherboard cable improves handling and routing.
• 140 mm Fractal Momentum fan with fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) ensures lower noise, cooler operation, and a longer lifespan.
• Premium 105° Japanese capacitors provide maximum reliability and durability.
• 10-year warranty and full electrical protection suite offer long-term peace of mind.

The Fractal Ion 3 Gold 1000W box is very simple and elegant, in traditional Fractal Design fashion.

If you remove the brown outer sleeve, you are presented with a white inner box.

Opening the inner box, we find four smaller boxes holding the accessories such as documentation and cabling.

The power supply is protected between two cardboard slabs and a little felt bag around the outer case. Fractal include some white cable ties, mounting screws, literature and a tester.

The cables are all sleeved, and we were pleased to see a white power cable as well included inside the box. These cables are soft and flexible, so the Fractal marketing team came up with the name ‘UltraFlex'.

The 1000W version of the power supply ships with plenty of cables and connectors to suit a variety of system build demands, including a 12V-2×6 and a total of 10 SATA connectors. There are no in-cable capacitors.

Length and connector spacing is fine, the primary cables are all 16-20 AWG.

Fractal sent us the white 1000W version to review – the only one of the new units to be offered in white as well as black. The unit measures 150 x 150 x 86 mm and it weighs 1.8kg.

Behind a chrome panel, we can see the white fan. There is no doubt there will be plenty of airflow available with a design such as this! We will take a closer look at the fan later in the review, when we open the unit.

On the power side of the unit we have a connector port, a power switch, and a zero RPM fan mode as we see on most modern Seasonic units. When the zero RPM mode is turned on the fan will remain idle at lower loads, approximately 30% or less. If zero RPM is turned off, then the fan will operate at all loads. If you live in a hotter, humid environment I would recommend you turn this off.

The modular side is simply split across two lanes, all labelled for ease of operation.

The Ion 3 Gold delivers 83A on the +12V rail, with 25A available from the +3.3V and +5V rails. This is a pretty traditional kind of setup for a 1000W unit.

Fractal are using their latest ‘Momentum 14 Power Supply Edition' fan in this unit which has a life expectancy of around 100,000 hours.

This is a 140mm fan and as you can see in the images Fractal have placed a plastic sheet across the bottom to focus airflow below onto specific sections of the power supply. While detailed data on this fan is somewhat limited, it would seem to me to be one of their case fans rebranded. I have not tested these fans before, but I would surmise that the fan has been tuned to a specific profile to suit the adoption into these power supply units.

Technically, it's a high-grade fluid dynamic bearing fan rated with a maximum speed of 2,000 rpm, 12V 0.24A and is ‘designed in Sweden' but made in China.

As mentioned previously, this Ion 3 Gold is based around a Seasonic OEM design and it is built to very high standards. This power supply is a LLC, Synchronous Rectifier with DC-DC conversion topology. It is single rail with OPP, OVP, UVP, SCP, OCP and OTP protections.

Fractal have adopted 105c Japanese capacitors inside the power supply and the primary capacitor is a high grade Rubycon Cap, rated 105c, at 820uF. Soldering quality on the PCB is top notch as well, as is the component selection.

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 test ambient temperatures 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
• SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa)
• 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
100W	0.90	3.34	0.90	5.02	7.35	12.04	0.50	5.01	0.20	-12.01
200W	1.60	3.34	1.64	5.02	15.13	12.04	1.00	5.01	0.20	-12.01
500W	3.21	3.33	3.24	5.01	38.60	12.03	1.50	5.01	0.20	-12.01
750W	4.03	3.33	4.17	5.01	58.53	12.02	2.00	5.00	0.30	-12.01
1000W	5.45	3.33	5.51	5.01	78.13	12.00	2.50	5.00	0.30	-12.00

The load regulation of this power supply is good.

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.

The power supply had no problems sustaining a constant 1000W load.

Cross Load Testing	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		-12V		+5VSB
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
885W	2.0	3.34	2.0	5.00	72.0	12.01	0.2	-12.02	0.50	5.01
240W	20.0	3.32	21.0	4.98	2.0	12.04	0.2	-12.01	0.50	5.01

The supply handled our cross load test without any major problems.

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	9	7	13	5
250W	12	9	16	5
500W	14	12	17	7
750W	15	13	20	9
1000W	17	14	22	11

Ripple noise suppression results are excellent, with the minor rails hitting around 15mV under full load. The +12V rail peaks at around 22mV which is well within industry rated parameters. Superb results.

Efficiency (%) 230V
100W	88.3
250W	89.4
500W	92.7
750W	91.4
1000W	89.2

The efficiency results are fantastic for a gold rated unit, peaking at around 92.7% in the sweet spot between 40-60% load. At full load the efficiency drops to around 89%.

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 SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa) 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
250W	<28.0
500W	31.0
750W	33.4
1000W	35.5

This fan is really an excellent performer, inaudible most of the time, and it's only above 750 watts load that you can hear it ramping up to deal with rising temperatures inside. At full load, the noise levels hit around 35.5dBa. Even at full load it is not that intrusive of a design.

Temperature (c)
	Intake	Exhaust
100W	37	44
250W	38	47
500W	40	53
750W	45	60
1000W	46	65

Temperatures inside the PSU are really good, aided by the quality operation of the large fluid dynamic bearing fan.

If you are in the market for a quality, high power supply with a strict budget of £150, then the Fractal Ion 3 Gold 1000W should be right at the top of your shortlist. The design is minimalist and Fractal offer both a white and black version of this supply to suit a variety of builds.

First impressions are positive, the Fractal packaging is very modern, with little waste, and the bundle includes a little tester, as well as colour matched cable ties, with white ribbon cables, and a white power cable to keep it all uniform.

Technically, the Ion 3 performed well in our testing, as we would expect from a Seasonic-based OEM part. The Ion 3 Gold really excels in regards to noise output, the inclusion of a noise tuned Fractal Momentum 14 fluid dynamic bearing fan has really helped improve the overall performance of this supply. Most of the time you wouldn't even know it was turned on, and it's only in the last 25% of total power output that the fan spins up enough that you can hear it. It never is intrusive, and it's one of the finest power supplies in regards to fan-tuning that I have tested this year.

Noise suppression, load regulation and cross loading all delivered solid results with no real issues I can report. The unit is populated with quality Japanese capacitors from Rubycon and Nichicon and the build quality and soldering is very good across the board.

The pricing in the UK means this is going to be a very high value unit, at £139.99 inc. VAT. Scan have them currently listed for preorder (HERE), and we have been told that they will become available for sale sometime in December, with a date to be confirmed in the coming weeks. If I get an update, I will append this page.

The Fractal Ion 3 Gold 1000W is supported by a full 10-year warranty and we know that Fractal do tend to support their customers better than many other manufacturers based on reader feedback.

Pros:

• Fully modular.
• Quality 105C-rated Japanese capacitors.
• White and black options available.
• Great design.
• Technically solid.
• Very quiet under all conditions.
• Tight ripple suppression.
• Gold-rated efficiency levels.
• High build quality.

Cons:

• Fractal really should work with Cybenetics to get their certifications. They mean a lot in today's market.

KitGuru says: We really rate the new fully modular Fractal Ion 3 Gold 1000W power supply. It has performed exceptionally well in our testing over the last week. The power supply is very quiet, and delivers high quality power for almost any gaming system on the market today. The use of high grade 105C-rated Japanese capacitors and a 10-year warranty bring peace of mind.

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