EVGA SuperNOVA 850 T2 Power Supply Review
EVGA's T2 series consists of Titanium-rated PSUs with capacities ranging from 750 to 1600W. Today, we're looking at the 850W model, which tries to prove it is worth a premium compared to the company's Platinum-rated 850W offering.
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Pros, Cons And Final Verdict
It looks like Super Flower designed an even better platform than its Platinum-rated Leadex (easier said than done, right?). After the ultra-high-end 1600 T2, which is overkill for all but the most affluent enthusiasts, the Titanium line-up is finally getting more realistic models featuring capacities from 750W to 1kW, and soon a 1.2kW version as well.
The SuperNOVA 850 T2 can be used in a potent system since it has enough power to easily feed two high-end graphics cards along with an overclocked CPU and other power-hungry components. Up in the $240 range, its price is sky-high. But its performance puts the PSU on top of our charts. Currently, this is the most efficient PSU we've ever benchmarked. Besides that, the 850 T2 is also the quietest power supply in our lab, passive models excluded. In fact, with Eco mode enabled, it behaves a lot like a fanless model. Even when the PSU delivers its full load for a prolonged period, the fan only spins slowly so long as your ambient environment is under 30 °C or so. In other words, if you want to build a dead silent system and you cannot use a passive PSU for whatever reason (like, you need more than 500-600W of power), then the 850 T2 should be your go-to.
The only flaws we uncovered, besides the obvious high price, were the 3.3V rail's average performance in our Advanced Transient Response tests and the short distance between the peripheral, four-pin Molex connectors. Everywhere else, the 850 T2 performed very well, registering tight load regulation, amazing ripple suppression, super high efficiency levels and a long hold-up time. Moreover, Super Flower upgraded the 5VSB circuit, enabling increased efficiency. The only thing left to do now is also increase its capacity, since 2.5A is a little light for a 850W unit.
Other notable features include a 10-year warranty, fully modular cabling (which most enthusiasts prefer nowadays) and Japanese caps. In addition to increased reliability, these features also ensure high performance is maintained over time, since the best caps age more slowly compared to lower-quality ones.
Given all of that, the SuperNOVA 850 T2 easily earns our Editors' Choice award. We strongly believe that a lower price would make this product a lot more attractive to enthusiasts who recognize the benefit of unprecedented efficiency beyond a slightly lower power bill. We are well aware that Titanium-class PSUs are still rare. But if EVGA could get the 850 T2's price closer to $200, the competition would have a really hard time keeping up. Right now, though, the 850 P2 is a better buy since it's so much more affordable. If money isn't an issue for you and you want the best 850W power supply out there, your best option is the SuperNOVA 850 T2.
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Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware, covering Power Supplies.
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Current page: Pros, Cons And Final Verdict
Prev Page Performance, Performance Per Dollar, Noise And Efficiency Ratings
Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
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turkey3_scratch Very great unit, as expected. I would have liked to see the threshold for when OTP really kicks in, if it even does. Perhaps duct taping the exhaust grill will do the trick. It's nice to see Superflower use a MOV for a change. I just wish that 3.3V rail would not get so near 3.14V during the transient response tests, but realistically I don't expect the 3.3V rail to get that sudden load these days.Reply
Also @Aris, are you sure there's only 4 y caps? I thought those blue sleeves store multiple y caps? Or do they not? -
Aris_Mp if you mean the blue components before/after the bridge rectifier, they are X caps and I didn't count them in the EMI filter on purpose.Reply -
ZeusGamer I've had the G2 model of this power supply and it's still working great after two years. I'm really impressed by EVGA with these G2 and T2 models.Reply -
JackNaylorPE Efficiency is nice... I guess .... but with that 3.3 and 5V performance, I'm not impressed.Reply -
Dark Lord of Tech 3.3 rail can vary per unit , doesn't worry me a bit. Every test model for a review can produce different results.Reply -
JackNaylorPE To each his own I guess... but for the ridiculous price of $240, I'd want better. The Corsair 860 and coolermaster V850 PSUs finish 1 and 2 and are much cheaper.Reply
The unit would fail to meet the ATX spec at 5%, and this comes in at a rather dismal 4.5 %... yes, this does vary from unit to unit (and this is a bad thing) If the unit that winds up in the hands of a review site gets two outta 3 rails at 4.5%, I shudder to think what we might get ordering off newegg. In the review graphs, it's the bottom of the chart against all the other PSUs with which its compared.
The focus on efficiency in the ranking of PSUs in an enthusiast box is a criteria which escapes me ... I never walked into a Porsche dealership where the salesman's first pitch was "this model is great, it has the best gas mileage in our entire line'. -
yyk71200 Differences in effissiency between gold, platinum, and titanium psus are rather small and do not justify price differences. Quality of output is more important criteria in choosing a psu than small differences in wattage consumed.Reply