XFX XTR Series 850W PSU Review

XFX cooperates closely with Seasonic for its PSU products. That's a major advantage, since Seasonic is a top OEM. The XTR line is XFX's second-best, after the XTS family, and today's review focuses on the 850W model.

By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

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Packaging, Contents, Exterior And Cabling

Packaging

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At the front of the box you'll find a close-up photo of the fan's grille, which is the most interesting part of its external design. Up top, a series of icons depict Haswell compatibility, the Japanese caps and the 80 PLUS Gold efficiency. Right below is the model number. A short features list, a description of included cables and a power specifications table are found on one side, while on the other side XFX shows some marketing material. This includes a description of the fan's semi-passive feature called hybrid fan mode. Right next to that is a mention of the SolidLink technology, which reduces the number of wires to benefit efficiency. There is also a talk of something called ultra voltage regulation, and we are pretty sure XFX means load regulation instead. Finally, EasyRail Plus is a fancy name for a single +12V rail.

Around back, the most interesting part is a diagram depicting the most important features, including modular cabling, the (selectable) semi-passive mode and the large number (eight) of provided PCIe connectors.

Contents

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The cardboard is sturdy enough to efficiently protect the PSU, which is also protected by a bubble-wrap.

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A smaller box contains all modular cables. The AC power cord is hidden in a compartment right next to the PSU. The rest of the bundle includes a set of fixing bolts and a user's manual that's common across all XTR members.

Exterior

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The fan grille is unique enough to make this PSU stand out from its competition. The finish is of high quality, and it seems to be fairly scratch resistant. Around front, we find the typical honeycomb exhaust grille and a small power switch installed next to the AC receptacle. On the sides, the series name is printed in large letters, while the power specifications label is visible on the bottom.

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XFX applies a sticker that mentions the two fan operating modes. The modular panel has multiple sockets, and our only complaint is that the ATX cable occupies two of them. They're not placed conveniently, making it difficult to attach/detach this cable.

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Compact dimensions, good performance and appealing design are not often found together in the XTR 850W's price range. Color us impressed.

Cabling

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All cables but the main ATX one are flat. Moreover, they all feature dark wires to make them easier to hide inside of black enclosures. Since the ATX cable doesn't feature any extra filtering caps, we wonder why it's not flat as well.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • turkey3_scratch
    How come on the ripple page the 5VSB rail always stays under 15mv (except CL1) but on the crossloads page the 5VSB ripple graph is completely blue, hence greater than 30mv the entire time? Also, you have two "and"s in a row on Page 5. Anyway, what I love about Seasonic is they don't fall short in any category. This PSU excels everywhere, I guess except fan noise, of course.
    Reply
  • BadActor
    Nice. Any chance you might have a look at the budget XT's?
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    18155380 said:
    Nice. Any chance you might have a look at the budget XT's?

    ^^ Yes please review one of these. Though he only reviews units that the companies actually send to him, so it could be they don't want the XT units to get reviewed, so it'd probably have to be bought retail.
    Reply
  • apazeus
    I've had the 550w version since around October. At one point it was powering an FX-8350 and a 290X with no hiccups. (Nowadays it's paired with a 6600K and a GTX 1080, uses was less juice.) Nice PSUs.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    I cannot explain why ripple at 5VSB during the Crossload tests is higher than the high-temperature tests. This is strange indeed.

    As for the XTs I will try to find one.
    Reply
  • gofasterstripes
    Lol XTR and XT - Someone call Shimano and tell them their electric groupset is looking a big fat!
    Reply
  • Shankovich
    Excellent review. Could you guys possibly redo the Corsair HX 750i and up with the new review parameters? Really interested to see how it is in more detail now.
    Reply
  • damric
    "All XFX PSUs are made by Seasonic"

    Not quite. These are built by Hydance.

    http://www.orionpsudb.com/news/the-mystery-of-xfx-budget-xt-line-solved-oem-and-platform-discovered
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    When I state that a unit is made by Seasonic (or any other OEM) it doesn't necessary mean that it is made in its own factories. It is a common practice OEMs to outsource their products to other factories if they cannot meet demand (or in case they want a more affordable production line). However still the original design and the specs are set by the original designer.

    Many other models of various OEMs are also made in other factories but there is no safe way to know it without having info from the OEM itself.

    Finally, this specific article states about the XFX XT units: "If the available information is correct, XFX XT is designed by Seasonic, but the manufacturing is outsourced to Shenzhen Rui Sheng Yuan just like the Hydance. "

    As you can see there is an "if" at the beginning of the sentence. In any case, Seasonic is also behind the XT line. Given that this is an XTR review though, I thought it would be better to spare all above and just state that all XFX PSUs are made by Seasonic and not dive into such detail mentioning the outsourcing of XT line, for which there is no solid information.

    Given the opportunity I would like to mention the great work that Orion does and also thank him for the tip about the KM3S platform of the XTR-850 unit. I will try to find some details about the actual differences between the KM3 and KM3S platforms.
    Reply
  • Math Geek
    i got REAL happy for second there thinking this was one of the budget XTFR units. been waiting for someone, anyone out there to review one so we can see how it performs. they are priced awesome and if they perform even average, they will be worth the low cost for mainstream pc's

    either way, nice review :) always solid work
    Reply