Conclusion
The Fractal Design ION+ 560P is the first Fractal Design power supply we have seen here at The FPS Review. However, Fractal Design has been around for a while now and they have been a growing brand. One of the real issues this unit may face today is that this unit is a smaller capacity and more entry-level product than most we see. In this market, pricing is brutal and people often have outsized expectations for the unit they are seeing when they look at this segment. So, the biggest question today will be; can Fractal Design make everyone happy and price this unit right? Let’s see.
Build Quality
Today’s Fractal Design ION+ 560P starts things off with a build quality that is very good to excellent (especially when we consider the market segment this unit lives in). The overall build quality does just about everything right from exterior design to the interior component selection to the integration and soldering quality. The component selection is a prime example of excellent quality as it features Nippon Chemi-con and Rubycon standard electrolytics paired with FPCAP solid capacitors and a FDB fan. So, the Fractal Design ION+ 560P seems to hit all of the points needed to make a good unit. This is all coupled with a manual that is awesome and a huge 10-year warranty.
Load Testing
Today’s Fractal Design ION+ 560P provides us with passing and good results. We saw voltage regulation of up to 0.16v on the 12v rail, 0.14v on the 5v rail, and 0.12v on the 3.3v rail. In addition to that, we saw efficiency that ranged from 88.09% to 90.18% efficient at 120v AC input, 86.85% to 89.31% efficient at 100v AC input, and 86.85%-89.16%-86.88% in the 80 Plus tests. By themselves, these efficiency numbers would be very good/excellent except for the big miss in the 80PLus tests. The voltage regulation was a bit better than just passing and moving towards good. So, this unit is passing, and it is a bit better in voltage regulation than the BitFenix Formula Gold 550W.
When we look at the Transient Load Tests results for the Fractal Design ION+ 560P today, we see that these results are good/very good. When directly loaded, the 12v rail showed a peak change of ~250mV and the 5v rail had a peak change of ~130mV. During the 12v load, the unloaded 5v rail saw a peak change of ~65mV. In absolute terms, these results are excellent and in relative terms they are mixed with the BitFenix Formula Gold 550W! Therefore, this unit has continued its run as a viable contender for the BitFenix Formula Gold 550W.
DC Output Quality
The DC Output Quality results for the Fractal Design ION+ 560P were passing and, honestly, great. We saw peak values of ~20mV on the 12v rails followed by ~15mV on the 5v rail and ~10mV on the 3.3v rail. These values are well within specification limits and better than what we saw from the BitFenix Formula Gold 550W. So, overall, this unit is impressing us in this test.
Noise
Today’s Fractal Design ION+ 560P is small capacity unit with a FDB fan that has high efficiency levels, an open design, and advertising that says it will be a quiet unit. For quiet cooling enthusiasts, the stars seem to be aligning. How this all worked out in our load tests was bang on this prediction. Even during our full load tests this unit was undetectable in our load testing environment.
This is interesting as normally we would say it is unlikely for users to hit full load with a power supply when we are looking at 1000W or 850W units. But, today, we are looking at a 550W unit which is much easier to hit full capacity on. So, this unit seems to be very well behaved and should be a very good option for just about every user that is looking for a product in this class.
Final Points
The Fractal Design ION+ 560P is not just passing power supply today but a good power supply. The ION+ 560P gave us excellent build quality, good voltage regulation, very good DC Output Quality, and good Transient Load results while also being extremely quiet. That is a bit better across the board than we would expect from entry-level products as you can’t get everything for a low low price. That said, how low is that low price?
Today, we find that the ION+ 560P can be had for around $97.19. That is a price point that is hard to swallow for this unit as the units below it in price are not that far off from this units performance. Perhaps the most notable feature of this unit that might give it a reason to be purchased is going to be its noise output level as that was truly excellent. However, most lower capacity units in low powered builds are going to be “quiet enough”. For real quiet cooling enthusiasts perhaps that isn’t the case and that fact would dictate this units main target demographic it seems. If you want small capacity, and as quiet as possible power supply, then the ION+ 560P is an excellent choice. If you want most other characteristics, or can do with quiet enough, you will likely be able to find a better fit with other options at lower price points.
