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- Date:
- Thursday , December 10, 2009
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
XFX Black Edition 850W Power Supply Review
XFX jumps into the PSU market at the 850 watt mark which has proven to be the toughest watermark for many manufacturers when it comes to building a truly outstanding power supply. We have seen many fail here. Can XFX pull it off and continue to diversify its product lines while keeping the trust of the enthusiast?
Build Quality
As we already know the XFX Black Edition 850W features a single 135mm fan design that is used in the same vein as 120mm fans in that they can provide for quiet cooling environments due to the ability to move a larger volume of air at slower speeds than a smaller diameter fan. The 135mm fan is just short of the largest diameter fan we are likely to see in ATX power supplies given the physical constraints of the form factor. While great for quiet computing environments the key criteria in our evaluation is whether or not the cooling solution is sufficient, not necessarily it’s sound output level or form factor, although we certainly listen for offending units.
External Build Quality
Today's topic of discussion will be the assimilation of XFX by the Borg. Apparently, in an effort to assimilate the rest of us the Borg have produced a much smaller Borg cube, that users will voluntarily install in their brand new gaming PC, and sent it back in time thereby conquering the Alpha quadrant before their failed attempt to prevent the Vulcan/Human meeting in First Contact. Ok, or maybe not, but either way the XFX Black Edition 850W looks very industrial or /sci-fi-ish with its black angular design accentuated by some very bright green detailing. The unit is modular as we saw with the M12D-850, but with a bit of flair. The form factor is also like that of the M12D-850 as we see it is cooled by a single large overhead fan.
The XFX Black Edition 850W itself is ~6 3/4 inches long while the fixed cables provide a serviceable length of ~20 inches and the modular cables provide a serviceable length of ~22 inches to the first connector. The sleeving is complete and well secured.
Internal Build Quality
Once we open the XFX Black Edition 850W we find ourselves looking at the Seasonic M12D-850 once more. Like the M12D-850 and PC Power and Cooling Silencer 910 before it, the XFX Black Edition 850W shares the same general layout as previous high powered Seasonic units such as the x900 and PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750. In this setup we find the primary capacitors and main transformer situated in the center of the unit as opposed to having the primary capacitors on the traditional primary side. Also like the M12D-850, and unlike the Silencer 910, the heatsinks here are fingered and bent to match the overhead fan design that this unit employs. The fan charged with cooling this unit is a bright yellow ADDA fan rated at 0.33A at 12v, unlike the Sanyo Denki in the M12D-850 which I can't help but feel is a step down.
On the primary side we once more see two heat sinks with the smaller one hiding the APFC coil and some of the input filtering but housing the bridge rectifiers. The remaining primary side power components are on the large heatsink next to it while the transformer is in the center of the unit with the main filtering capacitors. These main filtering capacitors are the same as the M12D-850 as they are a pair of Nippon Chemi-con rated at 400v 390uF 105c.
Over on the secondary side we see part of the input filtering housed by the AC receptacle while the DC-DC VRM is tucked in behind the wiring. The secondary capacitors are all once more Nippon Chemi-con for the standard capacitors and for the solid capacitors on the DC-DC VRM. Towards the front of the unit we see the fan controller connection right where the wiring splits to go to the fixed connectors or to the modular interface. The wiring itself is sleeved all the way back into the housing for the fixed wires and well bundled/routed for the wires going to the modular interface. The modular interface itself is well constructed and has an acetate shield behind it. On the front side of the modular interface we seem some additional filtering capacitors which are also provided by Nippon Chemi-con.
Build Quality Summary
The overall build quality of the XFX Black Edition 850W is almost identical to the Seasonic M12D-850 which it is based on and that unit was very well built. The exterior of the unit is certainly NOT trimmed out in typical Seasonic subdued fashion but rather has a very unique (for a power supply) housing and bright color scheme. The fit and finish is still of high quality but the overall look is going to be something users either love or something they hate given how bold it is. Once we move to the interior of the unit we find that the build quality continues to be mostly excellent and mostly identical to the M12D-850. The one large change here is the use of an ADDA fan rather than the Sanyo Denki we saw in the M12D-850. The remaining component selection is top notch and all of the capacitors are provided by Nippon Chemi-con. The unit is in general once more very neatly built with good soldering all around. Let's move on now and see how the unit performs.