Conclusion
The Cooler Master XG PLUS 850 Platinum is the third 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 good performances we saw from the two previous SFX-sized products (V650 SFX GOLD and V850 SFX Gold White) leaves us with high hopes for this unit today. The question is; do our hopes translate into reality? Especially as this unit is Cooler Master’s first trip into working on the design of a power supply (though not building it). Let’s see.
Build Quality
Today’s Cooler Master XG PLUS 850 Platinum 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 very nice and fairly high-end. We, of course, can not skip out on the real star of the show here and that is the aRGB display and fan.
Obviously, this is popular with many users but there are two issues. 1) If you have a bottom-mounted PSU position in your case you are screwed. 2) The acrylic of the aRGB display scratches very easily. Cooler Master should definitely have gone for a better material here. Other than that, we get a full complement of Flex Force style cables which many users will appreciate.
Moving to the interior, integration is about as clean as it can be and the topology is modern. The component selection features Nippon Chemi-con standard electrolytics along with FPCAP and Nippon Chemi-con solid electrolytics. There is also an FDB fan from Huizhou City Xunshuo Technology Co Ltd 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 XG PLUS 850 Platinum started off testing in very good shape. We saw voltage regulation of up to 0.1v on the 12v rail, 0.04v on the 5v rail, and 0.01v on the 3.3v rail. These absolute values are easily in the specification and excellent overall. In relative terms, this unit was mixed with the Enermax REVOLUTION DF 850W, ASUS ROG THOR 850W, SilverStone DA850 Gold (barely), and MSI A850GF.
Moving on, we saw efficiency values that ranged from 87.97% to 90.09% efficient at 120v AC input and 86.62% to 89.34% efficient at 100v AC input. In addition, the unit passed the Torture Test. That was not the same case for the 80 Plus test where this unit missed its 80 Plus rating at every step by up to 2.44%. Yikes!
When we look at the Transient Load Test results for the Cooler Master XG PLUS 850 Platinum, we see that the results are good. When directly loaded, the 12v rail showed a peak change of ~330mV, and the loaded 5v rail post a peak change of ~40mV. The unloaded 5v peak change during the 12v load was ~35mV. Those numbers are, in an absolute sense, passing.
In a relative sense, this unit is better than the SilverStone DA850 Gold and MSI A850GF while being mixed with the ASUS ROG THOR 850W and Enermax REVOLUTION DF 850W. That would make these results the best we have seen from this unit so far in relation to other 850W power supplies we have reviewed.
DC Output Quality
The DC Output Quality results for the Cooler Master XG PLUS 850 Platinum were very good. Overall, we saw peak ripple/noise values of just ~35mV followed by ~15mV on the 5v and 3.3v rails 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 slightly trailing the SilverStone DA850 Gold, MSI A850GF, ASUS ROG THOR 850W, and the Enermax REVOLUTION DF 850W.
Noise
Today’s Cooler Master XG PLUS 850 Platinum is a larger capacity unit but it has a large overhead fan and very good efficiency. So, the unit should be fairly quiet. And it was. In fact, it seemed to be too quiet as during testing the unit started to emit a very strong hot electronics smell that started to become a burning smell during Test #4 at 100v. It was at this point that the fan finally kicked it up a notch and it was definitely obvious at that point. This is less than ideal as, while this very interesting fan profile kept the unit very quiet, I have my doubts on how well it will cool the unit long term. Good thing the unit has a 10-year warranty. Keep your information!
Final Points
The Cooler Master XG PLUS 850 Platinum is a very good 850W power supply. From a Build Quality that looks stunning to voltage regulation and Transient Load testing results that are very good/excellent, this unit was checking all the right boxes. However, when we got to the DC Output Quality and efficiency aspects of the unit things went a bit awry. Rather than being competitive with other, similar, 850W units the XG PLUS 850 Platinum started trailing those units and missing its 80 Plus rating by a wide margin.
While some may care about those aspects others may not (Obviously, the aRGB is going to add some more value to some users so you have to consider that as well). What everyone will care about, however, is the price. So, what is this unit going to cost us? Today, at the time of publishing, we find that the Cooler Master XG PLUS 850 Platinum is in the mid-$250 range.
The price has been more competitive than this in its lifetime, with deals taking it down to around $180 for short periods of time. During these deals, it is an extremely competitive price when we compare it to the prices we find for the units we compared the XG PLUS 850 Platinum to. The price has been fluctuating, so make sure to keep checking. Indeed, with a rebate, it is a better buy. And, you know, it has that blingtasticness thing going for it as well, if that is your bag baby.
Users looking for a good 850W unit with a long warranty need not look any further than the Cooler Master XG PLUS 850 Platinum. It does everything it should do, and it does almost everything it should do well at a price point that is currently hard to ignore.
