INTRODUCTION

   Whether you're building a new system just in time for to greet the new year with, grabbing yourself a new graphics card or if you just want to upgrade your power supply unit to something more "future-proof" the new ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 models are clearly the way to go. Now, it's not quite clear whether or not AMD and even Intel are also going to use the latest 12VHPWR adapter for their upcoming graphics cards like NVIDIA already has but thanks to new ATX 3.0 features like 3X excursion tolerance, higher electrical efficiency and double the peak power output for a duration of up to 100ms that's the least important aspect of such power supplies. Seasonic was among the very first manufacturers to release ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 compliant power supply units and today I’ll testing what's probably their smaller one, the FOCUS GX-850 ATX 3.0 (SSR-850FX3).

   Sea Sonic Electronics Co., Ltd was founded more than 40 years ago by engineers. Since its early beginnings the company has rigorously maintained its focus on the research, development and production of technologically advanced, high quality products. In 1981 Sea Sonic expanded into the production of PC power supplies to become one of the first manufacturers in this market. Soon after, the manufacturing of high quality and performance PC power supplies became the core identity of Sea Sonic.

   Currently the newly released FOCUS GX line of ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 compliant power supply units (old FOCUS GX line first appeared in 2019 if I'm not mistaken) includes 3 different output models (750/850/1000W) in 2 different colors (black and white) all of which are fully modular and sport the 80 PLUS Gold certification (up to 92% electrical efficiency). As with other similar output units the FOCUS GX-850 features a single 12VHPWR power connector (600W), three 6+2 pin PCIe power connectors, single strong +12V rail (70A) capable of delivering roughly 97% of the units’ total power output (840W) and a peak power output of no less than 968W (peak should now be up to around 1.93KW for up to 100ms - once again however this is not something i can test). Other features of the new FOCUS GX-850 ATX 3.0 include a full-bridge LLC with DC to DC design, fanless mode (135mm fan starts spinning at over 30% load), high-quality Japanese capacitors certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius and a full array of electrical protections including over-current (OCP), over-voltage (OVP), under-voltage (UVP), short-circuit (SCP), over-temperature (OTP) and over-power (OPP). Needless to say, really since this is Seasonic we're talking about the entire FOCUS GX ATX 3.0 line of power supply units is covered by a 10-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Seasonic uses a black and yellow box that just has their logo at the front right over the model’s name, 80 PLUS Gold logo and the warranty period.

The specifications of the GX-850 along with numerous certifications and barcodes are all on the left side of the box.

Taking a look at the base of the box we see the product features printed in 11 languages.

An efficiency graph is located at the rear of the box along with several in-depth explanations about some of the product features.

Opening the box reveals the power supply unit which is placed inside a synthetic bag and between two black foam spacers.

Along with the GX-850 power supply unit and its power cord inside the box you'll also find the modular power cables (again, placed inside a synthetic bag), 10 cable ties, 3 cable straps, PSU tester, 4 mounting screws, coupon sweepstakes card, installation guide and the user manual.

THE GX-850 EXTERIOR

Just like with most models out there the GX-850 measures 140mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height.

Seasonic has once again gone and used individually sleeved cables which are easier to bend/route and yes, that also includes the 600W 12VHPWR cable.

The 135mm intake fan sits behind a very nice looking grill that has the company logo at its center.

The company and product line names are printed on both sides.

As expected, the electrical table sticker is located at the base of the enclosure.

All 12 modular ports located at the front are tagged.

Moving at the rear we find the power switch, hybrid mode button and the power port.

THE GX-850 INTERIOR

Hong Hua is behind the HA13525H12F-Z fluid-dynamic bearing fan used with the FOCUS GX-850 (up to 2300RPM).

Interior layout is very good as is build quality (notice the empty primary capacitor spot, this could be for the 1KW output model).

The model uses a primary capacitor by the Japanese Rubycon certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

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

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

   Seasonic doesn’t need any introductions, their power supply units have been top notch for pretty much as far back as I can remember and well, so has their reputation. So, I had no doubt in my mind that the FOCUS GX-850 would live up to my expectations and yes, it did. Both rail stability and build quality are very good and as for noise levels although quite high when the Hong Hua fan nears 2000RPM again I seriously doubt someone would get an 850W model to continuously draw close to 800W (still it is what it is). Availability in both black and white colors may not be a game changer (not many have white systems after all) but it’s always good to have as many colors as possible (one day I hope other colors like red make it to the mix).

   Currently retailing for USD168.21 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 159.90Euros inside the USA (Amazon.de) the FOCUS GX-850 ATX 3.0 (V3) power supply unit by Seasonic is priced well. Granted the FOCUS GX-850 ATX 3.0 unit is not Seasonic’s best but thanks to its performance, size and available features it’s still worth a spot in your system and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Very Good Rail Stability
- ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0
- 80 Plus GOLD Certified
- 12VHPWR 600W Connector
- Single Strong +12V Rail (70A)
- Fully Modular
- Electrical Protections (OVP/UVP/SCP/OPP/OCP/OTP)
- Available In Black & White Colors
- Hybrid Fan Mode

CONS

- Noise Levels (For Some)