Conclusion
The Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD WHITE is the second SFX power supply we have seen here at TheFPSReview from Cooler Master. However, Cooler Master has been one of the biggest names in the enthusiast community for various components including cases, cooling, and power supplies over the last 10 to 20 years or so. So, while power supplies may not be the only thing they are known for, their business model does have a good emphasis on power supplies which means we have high hopes for their products. This, coupled with the recent good performance by the V650 SFX GOLD, leaves with high hopes for this unit today. The question is; do our hopes translate into reality? Let’s see.
Build Quality
Today’s Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD WHITE starts things off with a build quality that is very good/excellent for its market position. The exterior represents a well-branded and labeled approach that looks like what we have seen from many better-known OEMs previously. Most apparent in this effort is, well, the color. Whereas the V650 SFX GOLD we saw was flat black, this unit is a stunning all-white with black branding. Everything that was well done with the previous V650 SFX GOLD on the exterior carries over today with simply the color swap in place.
Moving to the interior, integration is about as clean as it can be with this design in such a small space and the topology is modern once more. The component selection features Nichicon standard electrolytics and FPCAP solid electrolytics. There is also an FDB fan from Hong Hua used to cool this unit. Lastly, the documentation with this unit is very basic but the 10-year warranty is an excellent length.
Load Testing
Today’s Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD WHITE started off testing in very good shape. We saw voltage regulation of up to 0.2v on the 12v rail, 0.07v on the 5v rail, and 0.05v on the 3.3v rail. These numbers would be good for any unit. However, this unit is an SFX-sized unit and it is showing numbers that are very comparable to its 200W smaller sibling. This is the first SFX-sized 850W unit we have seen, however, so it makes comparing to other units beyond its sibling a bit difficult. That said, offering these values in this form factor is definitely getting a bit of a bump to this unit’s testing record today. Moving on, we saw efficiency values that ranged from 87.07% to 90.12% efficient at 120v AC input and 85.22% to 89.19% at 100v AC input.
When we look at the Transient Load Tests results for the Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD WHITE, we see that the results are good but a bit surprising. When directly loaded, the 12v rail showed a peak change of ~340mV, and the 5v rail had a peak change of ~50mV. During the 12v load, the unloaded 5v rail saw a peak change of ~45mV. In absolute terms, these results are in the specification. The surprising part, mentioned above, comes from the fact that at 200W greater in capacity this unit did WORSE than the v650 SFX GOLD which is based on the same platform. This is a bit odd given this is not as hard a test on this unit as it was on the 650W model.
DC Output Quality
The DC Output Quality results for the Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD WHITE were excellent. Overall, we saw peak ripple/noise values of just ~25mV of ripple/noise on the 12v rail, ~15mV on the 5v rail, and ~10mV on the 3.3v rail during our regular load tests. These values are well within specification limits and that means, at a minimum, good in absolute terms. In relative terms, these results are going to be excellent given they are mixed with the V650 SFX GOLD while covering an additional 200W in capacity! This is a nice bounce back from the Transient Load Test results and a bit surprising given those results.
Noise
Today’s Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD WHITE is a larger capacity unit than the last power supply we saw from Cooler Master but it is trapped in the same SFX form factor. With that being the case, even though this unit has a large overhead fan and very good efficiency, it is constrained in a number of ways that make noise output more of an issue. One final good point for this unit is that it does feature a hybrid fan controller which means that it is going to be running fanless up to ~15% load (advertised). Of note, while ~15% is advertised our sample did not turn the fan on during our 25% load tests so it was silent to that point.
When testing this unit, it was rather quiet overall given all of the caveats surrounding this unit. That said, the V850 SFX GOLD WHITE did become apparent in our load testing environment starting at the 75% load level just like its smaller brother. From that point on, the noise it produced continued to increase. So, this unit seems to be a good option for folks looking for a quiet product offering in this market segment.
Final Points
The Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD WHITE is a very good mainstream 850W power supply no matter its form factor, and today that form factor is very small. From a Build Quality that looks stunning in white to voltage regulation and DC Output Quality results that are very good/excellent, this unit was hitting on all cylinders early on in testing as expected from this platform. Then, we had a bit of a head-scratcher when it came to the Transient Load Test results. They were passing but not as good as we had expected. Otherwise, we have very little to quibble about with this unit today. So, what is this very nice SFX unit going to cost us?
Today, we find that the Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD is $159.99 at Newegg with Free Shipping. Now, if this was, say, an ATX12v/EPS unit this would be a bit of a tough price to swallow. However, like the V650 SFX GOLD before it, this is an SFX unit. When you shrink things down that price goes up. As such, this is not a bad deal these days and we can not fault Cooler Master for where this unit is landing with pricing. On top of that, pure opinion based here, I would pay a premium for the badass white color scheme as well since it is very good-looking and different!
Users looking for a good SFX 850W unit with a long warranty need not look any farther than the Cooler Master v850 SFX GOLD WHITE. It does everything it should do, and it does everything it should do well. And, it looks damn good doing it!
