Fractal Design Ion 2 Platinum 860W PSU Review Introduction
Fractal Design Ion 2 Platinum 860W PSU Review Introduction
Highly flexible modular cables and a product that looks fantastic, meet the Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 870 which provides excellent performance, silent operation, ease of installation, and all at a reasonable price of 150 USD. The unit features 80 PLUS Titanium certification and is all digital, in short at 50% load, this puppy is 94% efficient and even 92% at 20% of its capacity (based on 230V). From the entire scope of certifications, Bronze, Silver but really Gold, Platinum, and Titanium sit at the end of the energy efficiency spectrum. And while we’re sure that if ever a 98% efficient model can be made we’ll see a Plutionuim model, Titanium currently is the best the industry can offer. If your PC is on 24/7, this is what you want. Surely does cost a pretty sum of money. And you know it by now, efficiency does matter; many years ago PSUs were rated as low as 70% efficient, meaning that 30% of the used power simply vanishes somewhere in that electric circuitry, while you are paying for it on that electricity bill. For example; if your components would consume 500W directly from the PSU, then with that 70% efficient product, you’d use and draw 650W from your wall power socket, that difference is the efficiency loss. With a Titanium PSU, that very same PC now would be using 520W depending on the PSU model). The math is that simple. Here in the lab we have been using 80 Plus Platinum models for well over 10 years and all are still going strong. A high-quality power supply is always suggested as we say, it’s an investment that will last you a long time.
It goes without saying that the latest ION+ 2 Platinum 860W Power Supply Unit from Fractal Design is such a series and the subject of today’s review. Models in the latest ION+ 2 series of power supply units from Fractal Design are presently available in 560/660/760/860W configurations, all of which are fully modular and have earned the 80 PLUS Platinum certification (up to 93~94 percent electrical efficiency).
Admittedly we see little reason for close to kilowatt power supplies these days, that is, unless you are a hefty overclocker or need something really efficient for cryptocurrency mining. An average high-end PC these days (and yes multi GPU isn’t a thing anymore these days also) will be fine with say a 750 Watt PSU as a modern Ryzen 9 5950 X PC under full computational load paired with say a GeForce RTX 3080 consumes maybe 400~450 Watts. We do always state this though, calculate and double up your wattage, as at half the estimated PSU load, your power supply will be the most efficient. In the aforementioned example, that would mean something in the region of an 800 Watts PSU. And what do you know? We have the 860W model available for testing. Let’s have a peek at the product and then let’s head onwards into the review.
Certification
Fractal Design offers the ion+ 2 Platinum series PSU now as a Titanium 80 Plus product certified by the 80PLUS organization. We already explained a little what that literally means. But what does such a certification entail? Well, 80 Plus is an optional certification program intended to promote efficient energy use in computer power supply units (PSUs). Launched in 2004 by Ecos Consulting, it certifies products that have more than 80% energy efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% of rated load, and a power factor of 0.9 or greater at 100% load. That is, such PSUs will waste 20% or less electric energy as heat at the specified load levels, thus reducing electricity use and bills compared to less efficient PSUs. The higher the rating, the less power you will consume.
There certainly is plenty to choose from, we have Standard, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and thus Titanium certifications. A PSU that is certified 80 PLUS Titanium is more efficient than your regular unit. The Series 12 power supplies are certified by the 80PLUS organization to deliver a 96 energy efficiency at 50% load and still 90% efficiency when your PC is in idle. These days we suggest you get at least a 650 Watt PSU for any standard PC, but considering your PC / PSU is the most efficient and energy-friendly at half its load, it might be wiser to purchase a higher rated power supply. The 860W model tested thus is the most efficient at that region of 430 Watts, which is pretty spot-on for a modern powerful PC with a proper high-end graphics card.
the latest ION+ 2 series of power supply units from Fractal Design are presently available in 560/660/760/860W configurations, all of which are fully modular and have earned the 80 PLUS Platinum certification (up to ~93 percent electrical efficiency). A single +12V rail (71.6A) that can make use of the entire total power supply is provided by the model with an 860W continuous power output (maximum/peak power output of up to 998W). The model with an 860W continuous power output (maximum/peak power output of up to 998) comes with a number of features including DC to DC design, DC to DC converter, semi-passive Zero RPM mode, temperature-controlled 140mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan, 100% Japanese primary heavy- (Over Temperature Protection).
