The Fractal Design Ion+ 760P 80Plus Platinum PSU Review: A High-End PSU For the Mainstream Builder
by E. Fylladitakis on August 6, 2019 9:00 AM ESTConclusion
Fractal Design is known for being patient and deliberate with their product releases, and the new Ion+ series are a paradigm of the company’s philosophy. The company did not release any new PSU families in years, allowing for the 80Plus Platinum efficiency-level platforms to mature and their retail price to drop to affordable levels, and only then set about releasing four new units to cover the bulk of of the advanced PC retail market. None of the units is overly powerful in terms of raw power output – with the best unit of the series doing just 860 Watts – indicating that Fractal Design does not care about having a halo product (or something for the cryptocurrency miners) amongst their line-up, but rather they are putting together products that actually entice regular users and are suitable for the mass market.
Electrically, the Ion+ 760P positively surprised us. As soon as we noticed that it is a design originating from Sirfa (High Power), we believed that most of the electrical figures would end up being mediocre, as Sirfa usually designs products that are competitive in terms of value, not performance. The Ion+ 760P is an entirely different story, delivering outstanding power quality across the entire load range and under any operating conditions, easily competing toe-to-toe with any other top-tier unit that we've reviewed so far. Furthermore, not only it is very efficient under normal circumstances, but it's able to maintain its exceptional energy conversion efficiency figures even when the ambient temperature gets very high.
The high efficiency of the Ion+ 760P allows the unit to maintain very low operating temperatures under all load conditions. This obviously has a positive impact on the longevity of the unit, but also allows for the PSU to operate without having to rely on the cooling fan too much. Under normal operating conditions, the fan of the unit will not even start until the PSU faces a significantly high electrical load. It is likely that users with a middle-class, energy efficient CPU and an equivalent gaming GPU may never get to hear the fan spinning, especially if located at colder climates. Otherwise, if the internal temperature of the unit is very high, the fan will quickly accelerate, sacrificing acoustics in order to ensure the longevity and performance of the unit, but such behavior should never occur in typical PCs.
Overall, the new Ion+ 760P unit is an exceptionally well balanced PSU, delivering excellent power quality figures while still operating quietly. With the company backing up the unit with a 10-year warranty, we feel that the MSRP of $119.9 is fair for such a quality 760 Watt PSU. With just a bit of luck (and a working free market), we expect the competition to bring retail pricing quite a bit lower than that, making the Ion+ 760P PSU a formidable competitive product that definitely deserves to be in the shortlist of anyone seeking to purchase a high-end PSU.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
27 Comments
View All Comments
mat9v - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
I wonder, did they not get the memo, that "Warranty void if seal is broken" stickers are illegal now?PeachNCream - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
They're not illegal. It's just that voiding a warranty based solely on breaking a factory seal (unless that seal is critical to the operation of the item in question like say opening a helium filled HDD casing) is no longer legally enforceable in the United States when it is reasonably possible for the owner to perform self-service or upgrades. In something like a desktop PC case filled with components that can be swapped or can accept new hardware it's an obvious thing that you can't void something out by adding RAM. A PSU that lacks user serviceable parts is an arguably different critter though so that sticker might actually pass muster in court.notashill - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
Those stickers have been unenforceable since before PCs even existed, the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act was passed in 1975.PeachNCream - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
Courts had to later decide whether or not the law applied to PC hardware and there was subsequent litigation regarding the matter that verified the voiding a warranty was not something that could be enforced for computing equipment. I'd be reluctant to say the decision was broad enough to encompass component-level items like power supplies though as there are no parts inside that are designed with end user modular upgrade capabilities in mind which circles back to my prior post. Where the is obvious user upgrade and replacement capabilities inside a PC, the lack inside a power supply gives the PSU manufacturer a lot more leverage to legitimately void a warranty if tampering is evident.mickulty - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
It's a PSU, not a laptop - you're not going to upgrade it with third-party components.The provision that made the stickers a problem on *laptops and games consoles* is that "No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer’s using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade, or corporate name".
In the context of games consoles this was decided to be relevant as people should be able to have a third-party technician upgrade their hard drive, or do it themselves - rather than being restricted to "PlayBox authorised technicians". However it is not relevant to a power supply.
It should also be noted that this law does not prevent the use of tamper seals, even in laptops and games consoles - it just requires that they not mislead consumers about their rights.
It's also worth mentioning that some GPU manufacturers who have been criticised for the stickers, such as XFX, will install a third-party cooler for *free* and so are completely entitled to condition the warranty on you not installing the cooler yourself (even though they'll usually be happy to authorise you to do so and make a note that your warranty remians intact if you make contact).
Ultimately it's complicated and '"Warranty void if seal is broken" stickers are illegal now' is at best a serious oversimplification.
kyuu - Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - link
While the stickers aren't "illegal", they aren't enforceable. There's nothing complicated about it. The law is that a company cannot void a warranty simply because a user breaks a seal. A warranty can only be legally voided if the company can prove that the user's actions actually resulted in the damage the user is attempting to make a warranty claim for. Otherwise, the company must honor their warranty. An arbitrary determination of what is "user-serviceable" or not by a company does not matter.TheUnhandledException - Wednesday, August 7, 2019 - link
Those stickers are unenforceable period. Unlike the prior posters claim they aren't "illegal" they are just a lie and totally unenforceable. To void a warranty requires that the manufacturer prove the user damaged the device. PERIOD. That is true for consoles, that is true for power supplies, hell that is true for lightbulbs.zepi - Wednesday, August 7, 2019 - link
Over 95% of world population doesn't live in US and therefore US legislation is mostly irrelevant for them.MobiusPizza - Thursday, August 8, 2019 - link
Exactly, I know Anandtech is a US site, but a lot of readers are international.I am surprised how narrow minded most Americans are about globalization, it's like they live in a bubble, no offense, just find it funny that's all. Surely that sticker is there not because they are targeting US customers and it may well be unenforceable in the US, but for majority of the population in the world the legislation is different. This should be the first thing that spring into the mind for those commenting.
Skeptical123 - Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - link
MobiusPizza come on man, I thought people on this site were better than that -"I am surprised how narrow minded most Americans are about globalization," that could be said about almost any other country on the planet. Brexit being the comically obvious example. We just have the largest English speaking population and trashing on "americas" is like trashing on one age demographic for the media. While not necessarily wrong there just doing it for the clicks/views. Also while globalization is very much increasing make no mistake we are still about a quarter of the GLOBAL GDP. Almost any product on the market at any reasonable scale is made for the US market and adapted for other countries. (I’m not saying this is a or bad thing) Do some research into standards body and that will become apparent. Phones, planes etc. Those warranty stickers are very much to deter US customers from opening up devices.