INTRODUCTION

   Time and again I’ve done my very best to point out the many reasons as to the why consumers and professionals alike always need to have a good power supply unit installed in their systems, especially if those systems feature high-end CPU's and graphics cards. I've also done my best to point out in previous power supply unit reviews that models released by large brands/manufacturers are almost always reliable and even though build quality, rail stability, electrical efficiency, number of connectors, output wattage and even noise levels all do vary from model to model things which can actually cause damage to your system (such as ripple) are no longer a serious concern (if at all). Fractal Design is a name you don't see a lot in our reviews but we recently received a good number of samples, the first of which is their latest ION+ 860P 860W Platinum Power Supply Unit.

   Fractal Design is a leading designer and manufacturer of premium PC hardware including cases, cooling, power supplies and accessories. Based in Gothenburg and with offices in the US as well as Taiwan, Fractal Design has gained a global reputation for innovative design, elegant aesthetics and solid build quality. Fractal Design products are available in over 45 countries worldwide, and are still growing.

   The ION+ line by Fractal Design currently includes 560/660/760/860W models all of which are fully modular and 80 PLUS Platinum certified (up to 93% electrical efficiency). The 860W output model which i have here with me today sports a continuous power output of 860W (maximum/peak power output of up to 998W) and comes packed with several interesting features including DC to DC design, DC to DC converter, semi-passive Zero RPM mode, 140mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan, 100% Japanese primary heavy-duty capacitors, ultraflex cables, single +12V rail (71.6A) which can make use of the entire total rated power output of this unit (860W) and an array of industrial-grade electrical protections including OVP (Over Voltage Protection), UVP (Under Voltage Protection), OCP (Over Current Protection), OPP (Over Power Protection), SCP (Short Circuit Protection) and OTP (Over Temperature Protection). Needless to say, Fractal Design covers their top-end PSU line with a rather generous 10-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

You can see most of the bundle from the front of the box along with the company logo of course.

The available connectors are printed on the left side alongside the electrical table and over two drawings of the unit.

On the right side Fractal Design has placed the type of power cord and all the serial numbers and barcodes.

Taking a look at the rear of the box we see 3 product pictures, a large warranty logo and some of the main features.

Typically, the PSU is placed between two thick pieces of foam.

Along with the ION+ 860P power supply units (the unit is also wrapped inside a cloth cover), its modular cables (also placed inside a cloth pouch) and its power cord you are also getting three cable straps, four mounting screws, user guide and an guide on what to do if you receive a defective unit.

THE ION+ 860P EXTERIOR

Even though for all secondary modular cables Fractal Design chose to go with slim ones the primary one (motherboard 24pin) is still thick (still thanks to the ultraflex technology it's more flexible than expected).

The chassis of the ION+ 860P measures 150mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height.

I was surprised to see that Fractal Design has used a no thrills grill over the 140mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan.

Just a small company logo is located on both sides of the enclosure.

At the front of the unit we find the zero RPM mode switch and the 11 modular ports which are not only different in configuration but are also tagged.

Moving at the rear we find the usual perforation right next to the power port, on/off power switch and a sticker with the units electrical table.

THE ION+ 860P INTERIOR

The 140mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan can hit speeds of up to 2000RPM.

Fractal Design has chosen High Power as the OEM manufacturer for their ION+ 860P model (probably the entire ION+ series) and as you can all easily see build quality is very good.

In our sample the primary capacitors are manufactured by Rubycon and are certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are manufactured by Rubycon and United Chemi-Con and are also certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However, it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a test rig. Certainly, limitations do apply and so you can't really push a 1000W power supply to its limits if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why over the years we saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact much closer to real world usage. So as always, we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

   Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say in order to get 100% accurate readings you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate, nor realistic for that matter). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

* After well over 10 years of testing PSUs the Intel Core i7-920 CPU of this rig failed and so we replaced it with a Xeon X5660 (we also swapped the GA-X58A-UD7 for the G1. Assassin).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   It’s been a while since Fractal Design had sent something over so the ION+ 860P (among others) was a good surprise. This is indeed one of the best sub-1KW models to ever arrive in the lab. Rail stability proved to be very good, build quality is pretty much great, the 80 Plus Platinum Certification is the 2^nd best around and as for noise levels even though at full load they do become somewhat annoying, or the most part they sit beneath what I’ve come to expect. My only “issue” with the ION+ line is that it stops at 860W and that output might just not be enough for some users with dual graphics cards.

   With a current price tag set at USD160.45Euros inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at around 160Euros inside the EU the ION+ 860P PSU by Fractal Design is among the most affordable models in its class. This together with its strong single +12V rail (71.6A) which can deliver its full output of 860W, the 80 Plus Platinum efficiency certification, available electrical protections and its very good rail stability are more than enough for you to check the ION+ 860P out and for us to give it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Solid Rail Stability
- Fully Modular (Future Proof)
- 80 Plus Platinum Certified
- Zero RPM Mode
- Electrical Protections (OCP/OVP/UVP/SCP/OTP/OPP)
- 10 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (Compared To The Competition)

CONS

- Noise Levels (At Max Load)
- Only Up To 860W