PowerSpec PSX 850GFM PSU Review: Micro Center's House Brand Scores A Hit

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Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time & Inrush Current

To learn more about our PSU tests and methodology, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units. 

Primary Rails And 5VSB Load Regulation

Load Regulation testing is detailed here.

Hold-Up Time

Our hold-up time tests are described in detail here.

Unfortunately, we observed a hold-up time of less than 17ms. At least the power-good signal was accurate.

Inrush Current

For details on our inrush current testing, please click here.

Measured inrush current was very high because of the platform's less-than-optimal design. High Power should fix this as soon as possible.

Load Regulation And Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the PSX 850GFM’s efficiency. The applied load equals (approximately) 10 to 110 percent of the PSU's maximum load in increments of 10 percentage points.

We conducted two additional tests. During the first, we stressed the two minor rails (5V and 3.3V) with a high load, while the load at +12V was only 0.1A. This test reveals whether a PSU is compatible with Intel's C6/C7 sleep states or not. In the second test, we determined the maximum load the +12V rail could handle with minimal load on the minor rails.

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Test #12V5V3.3V5VSBDC/AC (Watts)EfficiencyFan SpeedPSU NoiseTemps (In/Out)PF/AC Volts
15.254A1.985A1.956A1.000A84.89386.265%655 RPM15.4 dB(A)40.25°C0.970
12.045V5.043V3.373V5.000V98.40944.42°C115.26V
211.512A2.980A2.945A1.204A169.38890.680%650 RPM15.3 dB(A)40.77°C0.986
12.030V5.033V3.361V4.984V186.79845.54°C115.16V
318.168A3.483A3.431A1.410A254.47791.777%537 RPM12.0 dB(A)41.13°C0.996
12.025V5.025V3.352V4.967V277.27846.52°C115.14V
424.845A3.990A3.952A1.617A339.68591.549%537 RPM12.0 dB(A)41.83°C0.995
12.013V5.016V3.341V4.950V371.04048.29°C115.02V
531.202A4.996A4.957A1.825A425.00091.095%533 RPM11.9 dB(A)42.16°C0.995
12.002V5.006V3.329V4.933V466.54649.39°C115.01V
637.507A6.008A5.968A2.035A509.51790.401%790 RPM19.3 dB(A)42.78°C0.996
11.990V4.995V3.317V4.915V563.61750.20°C114.90V
743.888A7.024A6.990A2.247A594.84789.547%987 RPM25.6 dB(A)43.28°C0.997
11.979V4.985V3.304V4.897V664.28851.30°C114.76V
850.285A8.044A8.021A2.461A680.18488.742%1100 RPM29.0 dB(A)43.68°C0.997
11.967V4.974V3.292V4.879V766.47152.75°C114.73V
957.092A8.562A8.535A2.465A765.10487.909%1395 RPM35.4 dB(A)44.43°C0.997
11.956V4.964V3.281V4.871V870.33753.86°C114.60V
1063.646A9.086A9.085A3.108A849.92386.957%1390 RPM35.4 dB(A)45.80°C0.997
11.944V4.955V3.270V4.828V977.40555.50°C114.56V
1170.809A9.101A9.110A3.115A934.69386.021%1380 RPM35.3 dB(A)46.76°C0.998
11.933V4.947V3.260V4.818V1086.58856.72°C114.42V
CL10.148A14.005A14.000A0.000A118.58181.805%660 RPM15.4 dB(A)44.79°C0.981
12.043V5.014V3.327V5.074V144.95653.63°C115.19V
CL270.846A1.002A1.002A1.000A859.26987.555%1390 RPM35.4 dB(A)45.51°C0.997
11.942V4.979V3.302V4.929V981.40755.18°C114.56V

Load regulation on the 12V and 5V rails was decent. However, deviations exceeded 3% on the 3.3V rail and 4% at 5VSB. Obviously, load regulation isn't one of the PSX 850GFM's strong points. It's not especially bad either. But the competition in this capacity/price range is tough, making every percentage point count.

Efficiency-wise, the PSX 850GFM easily satisfied the 80 PLUS Gold spec's requirements with 20% and 50% loads. It almost reached 87% under full load, too, despite our grueling 46°C ambient test temperature.

The fan's ramp looks really weird: from 30% load through our mid-load test, it spun slower than what we observed under light loads. Apparently, someone messed with our sample's fan profile. In a worst-case scenario, the fan's speed remained moderate, so noise was kept fairly low.

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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.

  • AnimeMania
    In the video, you should have turned on the PSU and shown all the RGB lighting choices.
    Reply
  • JQB45
    So what low Tier-2, High Tier-3?
    Reply
  • pureblackfire2
    I wouldn't consider this even if it's cheap. for non enthusiasts it's far from idiot proof enough to recommend. for power users they'd obviously want something better. meh.
    Reply
  • Rexper
    Low quality sleeve bearing fan without Over Temperature Protection or Fan Failure Protection? No thanks.
    Reply