INTRODUCTION

    Thanks to all the graphics cards released in 2023 and even so far in 2024 (today marks the launch of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE model by AMD) sales of ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 power supply units have risen significantly. Now the good news is that you'll have a really hard timing coming across an ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 compliant power supply unit with an 80 PLUS Gold and above electrical certification that's not good both at its job and in terms of build quality. Still with so many power supply units currently available in the market it makes sense to spend your money on one that's better than most others and since SilverStone is a name many of you have been asking for months now today I'll be testing their HELA 850R Platinum model.

    Founded in 2003, SilverStone is an established leader in its field, with an elite team of engineers; we started our quest of providing products that create inspirations. We have since expanded the lines of products as well as types of products we produce, giving our customers a wide selection of choices. With distribution centers in different areas of the globe, SilverStone products can be seen all over the world, not just for computer users but also for home entertainment use. Providing leisure with integration of advanced technologies that is functional and making them enjoyable to use.

    The HELA 850R Platinum is currently available also in 1200/1300W outputs and as its name suggests it conforms to the 80 PLUS Platinum certification specs by delivering over 89% electrical efficiency (just like with most likes by SilverStone nowadays it's not however 80 PLUS Platinum certified). The HELA 850R Platinum can deliver up to 850W of continuous power (988,6W peak - 1700W for up to 100ms, always according to ATX 3.0 specs - can't test it out however) and features a single strong +12V rail (70.8A) which can deliver the units entire power output (850W), single +12VHPWR connector (450W), active PFC, Half-Bridge & LLC converter technology, semi-fanless mode (fan doesn't spin until 30% load), 100% Japanese capacitors and several electrical protections including OVP (over-voltage), SCP (short-circuit), OPP (over-power), UVP (under-voltage), OCP (over-current) and OTP (over-temperature). As with past models SilverStone covers the HELA 850R Platinum ATX 3.0/PCIe 5.0 power supply unit with a 5-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The HELA 850R Platinum is shipped inside a blue and orange box that has a product picture at the front right under the company logo.

All features of the HELA 850R Platinum are printed on the left side of the box.

Some of the main features are also printed at the base of the box in 11 languages.

Available connectors, electrical table, efficiency graphs and some of the main product features are all placed at the rear.

The unit is placed between two thick foam spacers while the rest of the bundle is placed in another cardboard box.

Along with the HELA 850R Platinum its power cord and modular cables inside the box you'll also find 4 velcro straps, 4 mounting screws, specifications paper and a multilanguage manual.

THE HELA 850R PLATINUM EXTERIOR

The HELA 850R Platinum features low-profile modular cables including a single 450W +12VHPWR connector.

Measuring 150mm in width, 150mm in length and 86mm in height the HELA 850R Platinum is a standard ATX model.

SilverStone has used an 135mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan with this model which sits underneath a nice looking grille with their logo at the center.

The model name is placed on both sides of the enclosure.

You can find the electrical table on a large sticker placed at the bottom.

All of the 12 available modular ports are tagged and different in shape.

At the rear we find the semi-fan switch, power on/off switch, power port and the typical honeycomb perforation.

THE HELA 850R PLATINUM INTERIOR

The 135mm fluid dynamic bearing fan is manufactured by Globe Fan (2100RPM/156.19CFM/3.77mmH2O/38.7dBA).

Based on the numbers and partial topology High Power seems to be behind the HELA 850R Platinum.

Both primary capacitors are manufactured by Rubycon and are certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are also manufactured by Rubycon and are 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

    SilverStone made a name of themselves primarily due to their PC cases and then their power supply units so whenever I do get one by them, I have high expectations. The HELA 850R Platinum doesn’t disappoint, rail stability is for the most part rock solid, noise levels are way within acceptable levels (note that my test rig only drew about 750W out of this PSU so if your system draws more chances are noise levels will increase, alas by a little) and as for build quality, zero complaints by me. Still, this is a model that made its debut in late 2022 something which is easy to notice since it comes with a single 450W +12VHPWR connector (as opposed to the 600W ones found in most of the latest models). Yes, even this should be plenty for most graphics cards but for people who may want something more one of the higher output models in the HELA line could be a better choice.

    Currently the HELA 850R Platinum by SilverStone retails for USD219.79 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 237.50Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) so it’s a tad more expensive than expected. Overall, the HELA 850R Platinum is a very good power supply unit but being almost 18 months in the global market means there are many newer and higher performance models available, quite an few even by SilverStone themselves. Still based on its overall performance and build quality the HELA 850R Platinum clearly deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Good Build Quality
- Solid Rail Stability
- ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0
- 80 PLUS Platinum Certified
- Electrical Protections (OCP/OVP/SCP/OPP/UVP/OTP)
- Single Strong +12V Rail (70.8A)
- Semi Fanless
- 5 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- 18 Months In The Market
- Price (For Some)