The Fractal Design Ion+ 760P 80Plus Platinum PSU Review: A High-End PSU For the Mainstream Builder
by E. Fylladitakis on August 6, 2019 9:00 AM ESTHot Test Results
Although Sirfa (High Power) is normally known to have mediocre electrical quality figures, Fractal Design certainly improved the base design of this platform dramatically. The maximum ripple on the 12V line under full load and thermal stress is just 18 mV, way below the 120 mV design limit, and a figure that we only see on top-tier products. Voltage ripple is equally low on the secondary 3.3V and 5V voltage lines as well. Severely cross-loading the PSU will cause the ripple to increase a bit but the figures always stay very low. Voltage regulation is also exceptional, with the PSU holding the 12V line at just 0.3% across the load range. The secondary voltage lines are a little less strictly regulated, reaching 0.5-0.7%, which figures remain exceptional even for a top-tier product.
| Main Output | ||||||||
| Load (Watts) | 152,87 W | 381,53 W | 571,78 W | 761,73 W | ||||
| Load (Percent) | 20,11% | 50,2% | 75,23% | 100,23% | ||||
| Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | |
| 3.3 V | 1,96 | 3,41 | 4,91 | 3,4 | 7,37 | 3,4 | 9,82 | 3,39 |
| 5 V | 1,96 | 5,05 | 4,91 | 5,04 | 7,37 | 5,03 | 9,82 | 5,03 |
| 12 V | 11,31 | 12,05 | 28,27 | 12,03 | 42,4 | 12,02 | 56,54 | 12,01 |
| Line | Regulation (20% to 100% load) |
Voltage Ripple (mV) | |||||
| 20% Load | 50% Load | 75% Load | 100% Load | CL1 12V |
CL2 3.3V + 5V |
||
| 3.3V | 0,7% | 6 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 6 | 10 |
| 5V | 0,35% | 6 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 12 |
| 12V | 0,3% | 8 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 24 | 16 |
Fractal Design rates the Ion+ 760P at 50 °C, meaning that it is able to output its full power output when the ambient temperature is up to 50 °C. Efficiency testing takes place at 25 °C and it degrades as the temperature increases, meaning that most units will not meet their certification requirements while we are testing them into our hot box. The Ion+ 760P is a very rare exception, with the PSU meeting the 80Plus Platinum certification limits even while operating with an ambient temperature of > 45 °C. The unit’s efficiency barely degraded at all despite the massive increased of the ambient temperature, indicating outstanding resistance to thermal stress.
The high ambient temperature triggered the fan to start almost immediately after the unit was powered on inside out hotbox. This time the fan’s cooling profile was significantly more aggressive, speeding the fan up significantly more as the load increased, and even forced the fan to reach its maximum speed when the load was above 650 Watts. On the other hand, the internal temperature of the PSU was comparatively very low at any given load level, which hints why this particular model resisted thermal degradation so severely.
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Jane_JJ - Wednesday, August 28, 2019 - link
I thought people on this site were better than that -"I am surprised how narrow minded most Americans are about globalization," that could be said about almost any other country on the planet. Brexit being the comically obvious example. We just have the largest English speaking population and trashing on "americas" is like trashing on one age demographic for the media. While not necessarily wrong there just doing it for the clicks/views. Also while globalization is very much increasing make no mistake we are still about a quarter of the GLOBAL GDP. Almost any product on the market at any reasonable scale is made for the US market and adapted for other countries. (I’m not saying this is a or bad thing) Do some research into standards body and that will become apparent.fist003 - Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - link
thisSkeptical123 - Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - link
Zepi your point "Over 95% of world population doesn't live in US" is "irrelevant" in this case. As the US makes up ~24% of GLOBAL GDP. Ie we are the worlds largest consumers and while counties like China are close as I'm sure you know they play by a different rule book over there. So laws that are very applicable in the "western world" are not a factor (at least yet). So these stickers are very much for the US market even if they only are applicable in say Germany or the UK.evernessince - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
No, it wouldn't pass muster in court. The law doesn't make exceptions of non-user serviceable parts. If it did then every manufacturer would simply declare their products "non-serviceable". FYI power supplies ARE user serviceable if you discharge the capacitors, it's just not recommended for amateurs. To a certain degree all parts are serviceable assuming you have enough skill. The law isn't going to start guessing which are and which aren't.If companies want to void warranties they are going to have to prove the customer damaged the item, not because of some arbitrary definition of what is and isn't serviceable or some silly sticker.
Peichen - Wednesday, August 7, 2019 - link
Another Asian product with an European label for premiumAlyxSharkBite - Saturday, August 17, 2019 - link
They’re not illegal they are unenforceable in the US (regardless of what some people say about the user serviceable) but these are sold in the North America (content not region of the US) that includes markets such as Canada where it might be enforceable (I don’t know Canadian laws). It’s not a US Exclusive product. That’s why they are on there.YB1064 - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
I haven't seen this in any PSU review till date, but in addition to quoting ripple (rms?), it would be useful to show a voltage power spectrum (V^2/Hz vs Hz). This will clearly show noise at various frequencies. You could also integrate this PSD to get cumulative noise (should be equivalent to RMS).I would not suggest this to any other run of the mill review site, but you guys seem to do a good job of providing technical analysis and details.
PS: I can post a MATLAB script to do this if you want.
umano - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
That sounds good, upvote!Chaitanya - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
Compared to seasonic how good are the sirfa units?kyuu - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
While I can't speak from experience, the article itself seems to answer your question. Sirfa units, by themselves, are generally not high quality. However, Fractal's modifications to the platform has resulted in a product that is top-tier, and appears to beat other brand's products, even Seasonic, in most every measure.