The XPG Core Reactor II VE 850W PSU Review: Our First ATX 3.1 Power Supply
by E. Fylladitakis on May 2, 2024 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- 80Plus Gold
- XPG
- ATX v3.1
Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient Temperature)
During its hot testing phase, the XPG Core Reactor II VE 850W PSU exhibits a marked decrease in efficiency under heavy loads, with figures dropping to 88.9% under a 115 VAC input and 89.7% with a 230 VAC source, compared to 90.9% and 91.7%, respectively, during cold testing. This significant decline is accentuated at higher load levels and is accompanied by signs of significant thermal stress. Although this PSU is rated for operation at an ambient temperature of up to 40°C, the effect that higher ambient temperatures had on its performance are rather severe.
In hot testing conditions, the fan of the XPG Core Reactor II VE 850W PSU operates continuously, at higher speeds than with a low ambient temperature and further increasing its speed as the load surpasses 400 Watts. It also nears its maximum speed as it approaches 80% capacity. This operational characteristic keeps the PSU relatively tolerable up to 60-65% load. However, beyond that point, the noise level rises significantly, making the unit audibly noticeable.
With its 120 mm fan, the XPG Core Reactor II VE 850W PSU effectively handles cooling, but temperatures do become uncomfortably high when the load exceeds 75%. Despite this increase, the temperatures remain below the threshold necessary to trigger the over-temperature protection (OTP). The designer seems to have made a major effort in balancing acoustics and thermal performance/reliability.
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Reflex - Friday, May 3, 2024 - link
Tesla announces a lot of unverifiable things. No point in doing their PR for them. Replyzodiacfml - Saturday, May 4, 2024 - link
true but they can revolutionize efficiency in datacenters as they have existing solar and battery products and services. it's just a matter of scale which is likely the cause of delays, like they can't simply ask Nvidia to make 48 volt power AI graphics cards-unless Tesla buys so much or convince other tech giants to go 48V ReplyTheinsanegamerN - Monday, May 6, 2024 - link
That would require sweeping industry wide changes and break decades of compatibility. Fat chance that happens. Replyballsystemlord - Thursday, May 2, 2024 - link
@Ryan , the "hot box testing" section has 2 images of the conversion losses and 0 images of the fan curve. Please fix this. Thanks! ReplyRyan Smith - Friday, May 3, 2024 - link
D'oh! Thank you for catching that.Unfortunately that's a problem with the image itself (right image, wrong data), and needs to be regenerated by hand. So I'm not able to immediately fix it. I'll have Tracy upload the correct one as soon as possible. Reply
Ryan Smith - Saturday, May 4, 2024 - link
And fixed. Replywr3zzz - Thursday, May 2, 2024 - link
What's the safest way to use previous gen 1000W PSU for RTX4090/5090? ReplyrUmX - Friday, May 3, 2024 - link
For 5090, we don't know. That GPU didn't release yet. ReplyRyan Smith - Friday, May 3, 2024 - link
Make sure the cable you're using is making very good and tight connections at both ends.If there is a problem, it's much more likely to occur on the video card end of things, and those are already by and large using the new 12V-2×6 connector since it's such a quick swap. Reply
shabby - Friday, May 3, 2024 - link
Keep a fire extinguisher close by... Reply