Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850 PSU Review

[Guest]

After evaluating Seasonic's 750W Focus Plus Gold power supply, which left a good impression on us, it's time to review that family's flagship, the SSR-850FX.

Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850 PSU Review : Read more

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Nice review. I'll add it to the psu recommendation list I maintain.

Last week newegg had the 650 watt model on sale for $74.99. There was a $20.00 mail-in rebate which brought the price down to $54.99. On top of that there was a free $30.00 gift certificate for a fresh food vendor online which my wife wasted no time in using. That brought the final price down to $24.99. Best deal I've taken advantage of this year.

 

[JohnUSA]

I just found this model selling for just $74 at SuperBiiz-dot-com, which I think is a great deal.

 

[buzznut47]

This was rated highly by JonnyGuru, and based on that I made a purchase 2 or 3 months ago. I have been mostly happy with its performance. I am running an FX 8320 @3.8 Ghz, 2 R9 280X, custom loop with 8 fans, and a couple of drives.

Initially I was really impressed that there was so much power in such a small package. Until I saw the cables, and the ridiculous capacitors. I know this brings a fantastic level of ripple, but I don't like it at all.
I gotta say, I really don't like this trend with higher end power supplies. As a modder, my cables are visible. And these cables would be satisfactory, if the capacitors were located ON THE PSU SIDE!! But they are located on the component side where they can be seen in all their glorious ugliness. It is not recommended to change the polarity..
I will be checking the units I buy more carefully moving forward. I would much rather have a longer power supply unit that has the caps inside.

Bottom line though, it is a gold 850W unit at an affordable price and a 10 year warranty. For efficient cards like the RX570/580 and GTX 1060, there are enough cables for 6 video cards. Pretty good for mining, but as for a visible gaming rig I have to say 4 out of 5 stars for functionality. Just put the caps at the other end of the cable, ya big dummy.

 

[berezini]

Still haven't changed my mind on getting one after killing my new motherboard and couple other components. Just would never recommend seasonic ever again.

 

[ZRace]

Great review, looks like this will be my next PSU unless something better releases by the time I need a replacement. Definitely gonna recommend this to others!

 

[JohnnyLucky]

ARIS - Are you still here?

The PCIe cables are a little different than what I am used to. The 850 model and my 650 watt version have PCIe cables with two connectors instead of just one at their device end. Does that mean one PCIe cable can be used for both connections on a graphics card? On the other hand do I still have to use two PCIe cables and let one connector on each cable just hang there?

Anybody else know?

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Still haven't changed my mind on getting one after killing my new motherboard and couple other components. Just would never recommend seasonic ever again.

Even the best manufacturers produce the occasional lemon. It's too bad you're one-and-done -- you're really missing out on quite possibly the best power supplies out there.

It's okay though ... they will survive without your money.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

ARIS - Are you still here?

The PCIe cables are a little different than what I am used to. The 850 model and my 650 watt version have PCIe cables with two connectors instead of just one at their device end. Does that mean one PCIe cable can be used for both connections on a graphics card? On the other hand do I still have to use two PCIe cables and let one connector on each cable just hang there?

Anybody else know?

You can certainly use the two connectors from a single cable. However, a video from JayzTwoCents showed it was better to use two separate cables.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Leaps - Thanks for the info.

I went back and read the review. In the specs it shows 3 PCI-e cables and 6 connectors. It also indicates the 3 cables could be used with 3 video cards, each requiring 2 connectors.

I'll take a look at the video. I've watched some of his other clips.

Don't know how I missed this development.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Leaps - Thanks for the info.

I went back and read the review. In the specs it shows 3 PCI-e cables and 6 connectors. It also indicates the 3 cables could be used with 3 video cards, each requiring 2 connectors.

I'll take a look at the video. I've watched some of his other clips.

Don't know how I missed this development.

Here it is, in case you couldn't find it...
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL7KIVI_hJg"][/video]

 

[Aris_Mp]

When you have a PSU with 4x PCIe cables and you need 4x PCIe connectors it is better to use one connector from each cable. However today's GPU's aren't so power hungry and if the PSU has tight load regulation and the PCIe cables have 16-18AWG gauges, there won't be a problem by using both connectors of each PCIe cables. But if you plan to overclock hard the VGA or use high loads for prolonged periods (e.g. mining), better stick to one connector per cable use. PCIe cables with 16AWG gauges are more tolerant of course to higher Amperes.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Aris_MPP - Thanks you for the information.

I am going to connect two PCI-e cables to my GTX 1070. I checked my spare parts boxes and found a couple of old matching Seasonic PCI-e cables with just one connector. I am going to use them for a cleaner look.