9-Way 850W Power Supply Roundup

Temperatures

For this test, we placed an Extech Type-K thermocouple probe approximately 2” away from the back of the power supply in order to measure temperatures.


This charts tells an interesting story, doesn’t it? First of all we see that despite the Antec Signature not being the most efficient unit around, it also posts the best temperatures of the bunch. There is also a large number of power supplies clustered around the 19 to 25 degree mark which is historically where most of the better units usually end up after the testing regime reaches its peak.

Meanwhile, the PSH-based units are quite hot running and that shows here but the real star of this little show is the Cooler Master Silent Pro M. The main issue with this particular unit is the fact that its fan controller sacrifices cooling performance for excellent acoustics which is fine and dandy right up until load increases to the point of no return. We hit a blisteringly hot exhaust temperature of 59 degrees (37 degree temperature delta) until the fan realized that it was time to wake the hell up and start moving some air.

All in all, we can really see the impact of slightly different fan speed profiles in this test.

Acoustics

To be perfectly honest with you, the vast majority of the power supplies featured in this roundup were quiet to the point where there is no way you would hear them over the sound of your case, CPU or GPU fans. The only exception here is the unfortunate Cooler Master unit which actually lived up to its name right up until its internal temperatures hit stratospheric levels. It then let out a plaintive wail as the fan whirled into motion in a vain attempt to cool things down as quickly as possible. While we are sure you will never push your 850W power supply to these levels, you should still be aware that the Silent Pro M exhibits a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde mentality when running near its limits.