Packaging, Contents, Exterior And Cabling
Packaging
The box is large and heavy. On the front, we find a model description in large letters. The 80 PLUS Titanium icon is in the front, bottom-left corner and it's quite small. Right next to it EVGA mentions the PSU's capacity along with the efficiency certification.
There's some interesting information about the PSU around back. Specifically, you'll find a long features list in five languages, plus a description of the bundled cables. Unfortunately, EVGA neglected to mention cable length, so you only get a connector count. Also on the back are three pictures illustrating the punched fan grille, the modular panel and the APFC converter's bulk capacitors, which are provided by Japanese manufacturer Nippon Chemi-Con. A graph shows the fan operation with EVGA's semi-passive mode enabled, while a power specifications table is in in the bottom-right corner.
Contents
As usual for a high-end EVGA PSU, two thick packing foam spacers cover the product's front and rear sides, offering increased protection. In the next compartment, a box contains all of the modular cables and included accessories. The PSU is also stored into a nice cloth bag.
EVGA's comprehensive bundle includes several Velcro straps, a set of fixing bolts, the user's manual, an AC power cord and a pouch that can be used for storing unused modular cables. EVGA also provides an ATX bridging plug you can use to start the PSU without a motherboard.
Exterior
The matte coating is of high quality, resisting scratches and fingerprints. The characteristic punched fan grille provides a distinctive look, although it is starting to get old. It may be time for EVGA to start considering a new chassis design. Up front, the small power switch is installed right next to the AC receptacle.
On the PSU's sides are decals showing the model number and power specifications table, while a smaller sticker on the bottom depicts the serial number and country of manufacture, China.
The modular panel includes many sockets, one of which is displaced by the Eco switch. We would prefer to see that switch up front where it'd be more accessible. As it is now, you have to open your system up to flip it one way or the other.
The dimensions of the 850 T2 are significantly larger than the 850 P2, even though the external design is identical.
Cabling
All cables are stealth and have the normal round shape. Only the floppy adapter is flat. The ATX, EPS and PCIe cables are quite rigid due to their thicker wires. On top of that, Super Flower equips them with extra filtering caps to provide better ripple suppression. These particular cables can make the installation and wire management process difficult. Overall, the cable quality is decent, though the heat-shrink tubing covering the filtering caps doesn't look all that great.
Also @Aris, are you sure there's only 4 y caps? I thought those blue sleeves store multiple y caps? Or do they not?
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'.