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Fractal release their new range of power supplies today, the ION Gold series. These will ship in four capacities, 550W, 650W, 750W and 850W, the latter of which we look at today. These will be priced at £68.99, £77.99, £86.99 and £94.99 respectively. All these supplies are fully modular and measure only 150mm deep, making them well suited to a wide variety of chassis designs.
Key features:
- 80PLUS® Gold Efficiency for reduced heat generation and energy consumption.
- Supports the latest ATX 2.52 standard with improved start-up time and transient load response.
- DC-DC design for more precise electrical output and full compatibility with modern components.
- Fully modular design for reduced clutter and maximum ease of installation.
- Temperature-controlled Dynamic Series 140 mm fan specially customized for power supply use with
extra-low minimum speed. - Premium Japanese 105° C capacitors on the primary side for 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. - Backed by 7-year warranty.
The box artwork is relatively simple, showcasing the product with a high resolution picture and a simple name above. Most PC components are bought online these days, so box artwork now seems almost redundant.
The rear of the box is home to some technical data, showcasing the efficiency level, the DC-DC and modular design, alongside the adoption of a large 140mm fan and the 7 year warranty.
The bundle includes a user manual, 4 felt cable ties, a regional specific power cable, and a bag of modular cables. All of these are thin ribbon cables except the main ATX connector cable which is sleeved.
The power supply is very neutral in regards to the colour scheme, meaning it will fit well into a variety of themed builds without a problem. The paint and overall finish is to a high standard. The power supply measures 150mm x 150mm x 86mm and weighs 2.81kg.
A large fan is visible from the top – we will take a closer look at this fan when we open the unit later in the review.
The modular bay is clearly labelled for ease of use during the build phase. The other side of the unit is home to the power connector and switch with a vented panel to aid with air flow during operation.
The 850W unit we are reviewing today can deliver 70.8A across the +12V rail.
Fractal are using a very large 140mm long life sleeve bearing fan, which is counter balanced to reduce axial tension on the bearing. This design uses an aerodynamic stator with embedded wiring to reduce turbulence. If you are paying attention you will see notched blade edges to eliminate fan hum.
The fans in each of the units are different – as you can see by the chart above.
We can see the partner of choice for this unit is High Power, the same partner Fractal used for the well received ION Platinum range back in 2019.
We can see the design incorporates high grade Nichicon Japanese 105C rated capacitors on the primary stage to help ensure reliability and durability. These are rated 330uF 400V for a total of 660uF. We see a lot of 105C rated Taiwanese electrolytic and solid state TEAPO caps on the secondary stage.
The design adopts a low loss, zero voltage soft switching with 12V Synchronous Rectification with improved efficiency, low RDS on and low conduction loss. A high efficiency step down DC to DC circuit provides stiff voltage regulation with low ripple and noise.
The unit has over voltage, over voltage, over power, short circuit, over current and over temperature protection.
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
|
3.33
|
0.92
|
5.02
|
6.00
|
12.03
|
0.50
|
5.01
|
0.20 | -12.01 |
|
170W
|
1.70
|
3.33
|
1.67
|
5.02
|
12.35
|
12.03
|
1.00
|
5.02
|
0.20 | -12.01 |
|
425W
|
3.00
|
3.33
|
3.05
|
5.01
|
32.20
|
12.02
|
1.50
|
5.01
|
0.30 | -12.01 |
| 640W | 4.05 | 3.33 | 4.05 | 5.01 | 49.00 | 11.98 | 2.00 | 5.01 | 0.30 | -12.01 |
|
850W
|
5.00
|
3.33
|
5.23
|
5.01
|
65.52
|
11.96
|
2.50
|
5.00
|
0.50 | -12.01 |
Load regulation is very strong with the rails holding with 1.5% of recommended specifications.
| Fractal ION Gold 850W | Maximum Load |
| 928W |
We managed to get the power supply to deliver 928W before it would shut down, delivering around 78W 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 | 3.33 | 1.0 | 5.01 | 60.0 | 11.98 | 0.2 | -12.01 | 0.50 | 5.00 |
| 165W | 15.0 | 3.32 | 18.0 | 5.00 | 2.0 | 12.03 | 0.2 | -12.01 | 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 11.98V. The other rails delivered solid 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 | 5 | 15 | 5 |
| 450W | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| 675W | 10 | 10 | 20 | 10 |
| 850W | 10 | 15 | 25 | 15 |
Noise suppression is very good indeed with both the primary and minor rails exhibiting great all round results and well within industry rated parameters.
|
Efficiency (%) 240V
|
|
|
100W
|
90.6
|
|
225W
|
91.2
|
|
450W
|
92.4
|
|
675W
|
91.7
|
| 850W | 90.2 |
As we would expect efficiency levels are very high across the range of loads – peaking at close to 92.5% and dropping to around 90.2% at full load.
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
|
31.7
|
|
675W
|
33.1
|
| 850W | 34.5 |
The fan in this unit is relatively quiet under most load conditions, and under 450W you would be hard pressed to hear it at all with a few system case fans running. At full load the fan peaks close to 35dBa, meaning it is audible, but still reasonably quiet. The fan never seems to spin close to its rated specifications (max 2,000RPM), peaking at around 1,200RPM when at full load.
|
Temperature (c)
|
||
|
Intake
|
Exhaust
|
|
|
100W
|
37
|
40
|
|
225W
|
38
|
44
|
|
450W
|
39
|
47
|
|
675W
|
43
|
51
|
|
850W
|
45
|
56
|
The large fan spins quite slowly at lower load levels as Fractal seem to be aiming for low noise even under heavy load conditions. Overall results seem very reasonable indeed.
|
Maximum load
|
Efficiency
|
|
928 watts
|
89.4
|
At 934 watts, this unit managed to deliver efficiency at 89.4%.
The Fractal ION Gold 850W power supply has shown itself to be a reliable unit in my last week of testing. The High Power partnership has proven quite a successful one for Fractal in the last couple of years.
On a technical level, the design of the power supply is robust. There are no major issues to report. Load regulation is solid and the unit handled our intensive cross load test without any concerns. It also was able to deliver almost 930 watts before shutting off safely.
The unit is nicely put together and the inclusion of 105c Japanese Nichicon polymer capacitors in the primary stage was pleasing to see. I was a little disappointed to note that they had opted for lower grade 105c Taiwanese TEAPO electrolytic and solid state capacitors in the secondary stage – but at least they decided against 85c rated caps.
The unit delivers excellent ripple noise suppression, with the +3.3V and +5V rails peaking at 10mV and 15mV respectively. The +12V rail peaked at 25mW under full load conditions, all well within industry rated tolerances.
Power supplies have been in high demand in recent months, and thankfully we are beginning to see more stock filter through the channels. While this unit we reviewed today is not yet available in the United Kingdom, Fractal told us the retail price will be set at £94.99 inc VAT. This makes it around £25 less than the modular, 80+ Gold rated Corsair RM850 available at Overclockers UK HERE. In fact when we look at the market positioning with other competing 850W units (HERE), the unit seems very competitively priced indeed.
Fractal are offering a 7 year warranty with this unit and while that is not class leading, I personally feel 7 years is long enough to cover at least 2 or 3 potential future system builds. If you can find it on sale in the UK for £95, I really do feel it is an excellent choice.
Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.
Pros:
- Competitively priced.
- Technically very capable.
- Fully Modular.
- 105c rated Japanese caps on primary stage.
- Nicely finished.
Cons:
- Cheaper Taiwanese caps used on secondary side.
KitGuru says: For £95, the Fractal ION Gold 850W is a fantastic offering. It is technically very capable and proved very reliable in our intensive stress testing over the last week.
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