9-Way 850W Power Supply Roundup

XFX Black Edition 850W

XFX has made a name for themselves first as a forward-thinking NVIDIA board partner and more recently have made an extremely successful dive into the world of ATI GPUs as well. However, there were quite a few people with raised eyebrows when this division of Pine Technologies let slip images of its first power supply: the Black Edition 850W. They may not yet have street cred when it comes to power supplies, but XFX is moving forward with not only this product but will have units in the 750W and 650W ranges within the next few weeks as well. For the time being though, we will be looking at their flagship 850W model which is backed up by a 5-year warranty and shouldn’t run you above the $190 mark here in Canada.


From the moment you look at the box and start unpackaging the power supply, it is obvious XFX is aiming for something unique with this product. The accessories and modular cables are in their own separate box which is held in place by flaps and when removed shows us the top of the Black Edition. This makes for an extremely durable setup and you won’t have to worry about any shipping damages.


The modular connectors come in their own carrying bag but the accessories that XFX gives with their 850W unit are basic and without any frills. You get silver mounting screws, a power cord and a quick install guide.


If you thought the packaging was unique, get a load of the Black Edition itself! XFX seriously pulled out all the stops and designed a power supply that not only has funky looks but also breaks the standard “boring box” mentality in a big way. In this case, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I personally love the fresh thinking this brings to the table.

The modular interface meanwhile is basic and quite well laid out with large gaps between the connectors which makes finding them in a dark case all the easier. The two 8-pin connectors you see are used for PCI-E cables while the others are used for peripheral cables.


Attached to the power supply are cables you will be using on a normal basis: the ATX, two 6+2 pin PCI-E, a 4+4 pin CPU and an 8-pin CPU connector are all there for the taking and are perfectly sleeved to boot. The modular cables are completely sleeved as well and use quick-release Molex connectors which will come in handy every now and then.


Unlike every other power supply we have seen with a top-mounted fan, this one needed to be designed differently due to the unique layout of the casing. As such, the 140mm fan is screwed directly to the sides of the housing instead of the upper fan grille.

The XFX Black Edition is OEM’d by Seasonic and is based off of their high-end M12D design which we should all know by now is one of the better 80Plus Silver-rated platforms on the market. Its robustness and built quality are above reproach. For those of you wondering, both primary and secondary caps are industrial-rated 105°C units from Nippon Chemi-Con.


The modular interface is a picture of perfection but what really caught our eye was the small daughter board with solid capacitors that is hiding under a heatsink. This daughter board seems to control the +5V and +3,3V rails which through the DC to DC conversion process are derived from the +12V rail.