EVGA Supernova 850 G2 Power Supply Review
by E. Fylladitakis on May 30, 2014 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- EVGA
- Super Flower
Conclusion
EVGA is not the only graphics card manufacturer that has tried to diversify into the power supply market, neither the Supernova 850 G2 is their first attempt to market a high performance computer PSU. It is however true that the particular segment of the market is somewhat saturated, making it difficult for companies to present something really innovative or exceptionally competitive. With the Supernova 850 G2, it would appear that EVGA attempted to deliver a high performance product balancing all primary selling points of a computer PSU -- aesthetics, performance, quality and value. In our opinion, they managed to do quite well.
Super Flower's Leadex platform is very popular for a reason. The power quality of this platform's output is exceptional, with the configuration of the Supernova 850 G2 presenting brilliant ripple suppression. It also is highly efficient, allowing the thermal control circuit to operate the unit without ever starting the cooling fan inside a good case. Higher temperatures do have a significant degrading effect on the efficiency of the Supernova 850 G2, dropping the overall efficiency of the PSU below the 80 Plus Gold certification requirements, yet the thermal control reacts well, ensuring that no quality-threatening temperatures will develop. Remember that the 80 Plus certifications are being granted for operation at room temperature (25 °C), so the Supernova 850 G2 does not fail to meet that requirement.
Quality should perhaps be the leading marketing point of EVGA for the Supernova 850 G2. It is a unit made by a very well-known ODM, based on one of their most popular platforms, and made with the highest quality components. The quality of the assembly is not perfect but it is well above average, leaving us no room for real complaints. Taking into consideration the ludicrous ten year warranty that the company offers, it is perhaps the most reassuring deal you can find for that kind of money.
The Supernova 850 G2 is also aesthetically different. Aside from the fully modular design and the grainy paint, the company performs several minor improvements, such as the all-black cables and the chamfered edges, which complete a very nice looking product. EVGA managed to design a unique product without making it overly flashy, which we believe that will be appreciated by all kinds of users.
The MSRP of the Supernova 850 G2 is $149.90 but we found it retailing for $129.99 after rebate. Simply put, for an 850 Watt unit this well-made, with an 80 Plus Gold certification, capable of delivering such overall performance and backed up by a ten year warranty, the price is more than reasonable. If you are in need of such a powerful PSU for your gaming system, workstation, or cyptocurrency miner, the EVGA Supernova 850 G2 should definitely be on your shortlist.
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Galatian - Friday, May 30, 2014 - link
Why so snark? At last try some constructive criticism.To the Author: a ATX power supply jumper is useful for example when you set up your water cooling loop and you need to bleed in first and to check if there are any leaks. Therefore you don't want the entire system to be powered on obviously.
JarredWalton - Friday, May 30, 2014 - link
Speaking as someone that has done plenty of time with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies -- and as the person that added that comment -- I can assure you that using it with BTC ASICs is indeed a plausible scenario, though perhaps becoming less so as everything moves to higher performance ASICs with built-in PSUs.patrickjchase - Friday, May 30, 2014 - link
An ATX P/S jumper is also useful if you want to power a storage enclosure.I use an 850W P/S in a Norco 4224 (4U rackmount case with 24 3.5" hot-swap bays) with an SAS expander in place of the motherboard.
Tunnah - Friday, May 30, 2014 - link
To the author of this comment: you do realise you sound like a complete and utter tool ? If you have something to add, add it, no need to be such a snarky git.bsim500 - Friday, May 30, 2014 - link
"EVGA 850w review, Corsair 1500w review, Corsair 1000w review, LEPA 1700w PSU coming soon", etc.All very nice, but for a change, given the increasing popularity of Mini-ITX, how about a low-end PSU series test of 60-360w PSU's for non-gamers/light gamers/HTPC/office box/net box, etc, that comprise the vast majority of general usage scenario's? I mean 60-160w pico-PSU plus maybe the Seasonic G360 (lowest wattage Gold rated full ATX)?
Removing the discrete GFX card from my main i5-3570 rig, it maxes out at all of 90w (exc monitor) 4T Prime load at 4GHz and idle's at a lowly 24w. An i3-based HTPC / office box typically draws 24-70w. Add a 7790 XBOne equivalent card, and it still barely pulls 120w max when gaming. Yet you wouldn't believe how many tech sites continue to test such usage scenarios with 800-1500w PSU's with low-watt efficiencies that are way down at 50-70%, which results in completely useless figures for the typical uses such machines are built for...
marc1000 - Friday, May 30, 2014 - link
I believe they already did one small-psu test over here, but I'm not able to find it now. google it around a bit.And I agree such big PSUs are not the best option currently. Of course for high-end gaming/computing it does make sense, but with midrange getting better and better each generation, we will soon have a hard time buying such power-hungry computers.
I myself use an i5+gtx660 and run a lot of games. Most of the time I'm limited by v-sync, and not the hardware. I'm not a professional, just play for fun, so no reason to upgrade. My system is powered by a simple 350w unit from Akasa - I'm living on the edge here, but it works: no bluescreens nor shutdowns nor performance hit.
DanNeely - Friday, May 30, 2014 - link
I'd like to see more small/mainstream PSU reviews too. The problem is that most hardware reviewed is whatever the OEMs are willing to provide; meaning there's a large bias towards halo devices over everything else.Death666Angel - Sunday, June 1, 2014 - link
Depends on wether or not people are interested in 120Hz gaming @ 1440p or even 60Hz @ 2160p. For that kind of stuff you need SLI/CF unless you - more or less drastically - reduce IQ.E.Fyll - Sunday, June 1, 2014 - link
True; most of our upcoming reviews will be of high output units. As mentioned, we are limited to what companies like to provide for testing and, for various reasons, every PR department likes to promote the best they have, even though it does not account for the majority of their revenue. This applies to virtually everything, from sewing needles to cars, not just PSUs. However, I have requested low output units from several manufacturers and some of them were positive, therefore we should be posting such reviews in the following months as well.teyink - Saturday, May 31, 2014 - link
Picked this up for $109.99 after rebate today.