INTRODUCTION

   Deciding on the right hardware component for your brand new PC is always hard but it's surprisingly easy when it comes to power supply units (PSUs) primarily because most people don't really consider them to be nearly as important as most of the others. However, if you're not such a person choosing your next PSU could get a lot harder and that goes double if you're looking for a compact small form factor (SFF/SFX) model. This is because of three reasons, fist manufacturers focus most of their resources in the development of full sized units (allows for higher wattage units), second there aren't nearly as many mATX and mITX cases out there as there are Mid/Full towers and third SFF/SFX models tend to cost more (always compared to regular sized units). Fractal Design may not be the very first name to come in mind when talking about SFF/SFX power supply units but their ION line has been extremely successful and so today I’ll be testing the SFX 650G model.

   Fractal Design is a leading designer and manufacturer of premium PC hardware including cases, cooling, power supplies and accessories. Based in Gothenburg and with offices in the US as well as Taiwan, Fractal Design has gained a global reputation for innovative design, elegant aesthetics and solid build quality. Fractal Design products are available in over 45 countries worldwide, and are still growing.

   The ION SFX-L line of PSUs by Fractal Design is available in 500/650W outputs and features an 80 Plus Gold efficiency certification (up to 92% electrical efficiency). The 650W model which i have here with me today can deliver up to 766W (peak) and features a fully modular design (future-proof), strong 54A single +12V rail (can deliver up to 99% of the units total power output - 648W), minor rails with a total output of 118.6W, 100% Japanese capacitors, ATX v2.4 support, semi-passive Zero RPM fan mode for complete silence and several industrial grade electrical protections including OPP (over-power), OVP (over-voltage), SCP (short-circuit), UVP (under-voltage), OCP (over-current) and OTP (over-temperature). Finally, in order to show just how much trust, they have in their ION SFX-L line Fractal Design covers both models with a rather generous 10 year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

As usual at the front of the box we see a product picture and the company logo.

The available connectors are printed on the left side alongside the electrical table and over two drawings of the unit.

On the right side Fractal Design has placed the type of power cord (region) and all the serial numbers and barcodes.

At the rear of the box, we see 3 product pictures, a large warranty logo and some of the main features.

Typically, the PSU is placed between two thick pieces of black foam.

Along with the ION SFX-L 650G power supply unit (the unit comes wrapped inside a cloth cover) inside the box you'll also find its modular cables (also placed inside a cloth pouch), power cord, SFX to ATX mounting bracket, 8 cable ties, three cable straps, four mounting screws, user guide and a guide on what to do if you receive a defective unit.

THE ION SFX-L 650G EXTERIOR

Fractal Design ships the ION SFX-L line with Ultraflex DC cables (flat) for easier routing and improved airflow levels.

Measuring just 125mm in width and length and 63.5mm in height the ION SFX-L is a very compact model.

For cooling Fractal Design decided to go with an 120mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan.

Both sides have the company name/logo on them but the left side is also partially perforated.

A sticker with the units electrical table is located at its belly.

All the modular connectors are different in size and tagged.

The rear of the unit is almost entirely perforated and just has the on/off button and the power port.

THE ION SFX-L 650G INTERIOR

I may not have the full specifications of the slim 120mm FDB fan used in the ION SFX-L 650G (up to 2200RPM speed) but it does seem to be of good quality.

Judging from the topology of the ION SFX-L 650G the OEM behind it should be Seasonic.

The single primary capacitor is manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con and is certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

As for secondary capacitors these seem to be manufactured by United Chemi-Con and are again rated for use up to 105 degrees.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However, it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a test rig. Certainly, limitations do apply and so you can't really push a 1000W power supply to its limits if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why over the years we saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact much closer to real world usage. So as always, we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

   Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say, in order to get 100% accurate readings, you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate, nor realistic for that matter). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

* After well over 10 years of testing PSUs the Intel Core i7-920 CPU of this rig failed and so we replaced it with a Xeon X5660 (we also swapped the GA-X58A-UD7 for the G1. Assassin).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   The ION SFX-L line by Fractal Design has been around since the second half of 2019 so it’s far from the newest one around. Still as you can certainly tell from the charts the 650W variant performs extremely well and this is to no small part due to Seasonic (since they are the OEM for this line). Now 650W may not seem much to many of you but they are actually more than enough to power small mATX/mITX systems. The same of course applies for the 80 Plus Gold certification which may not be the best but it’s more than enough for such systems. On the other hand, noise levels are somewhat high but that was expected from a slim (15mm) fan which can spin all the way up to 2200RPM.

   Retailing for USD140 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for roughly 130Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de – currently out of stock) the ION SFX 650G power supply unit by Fractal Design lands right in the middle of several similar models. Overall, the ION SFX 650G PSU by Fractal Design is a high-quality model that performs very good for its size/type and has a large range of electrical protections which is why it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- SFX L Form Factor
- Very Good Rail Stability
- Up To 650W Continuous Output
- 80 Plus Gold Certified
- Japanese Capacitors
- Fully Modular
- 4 PCIe Power Connectors
- 10 Year Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Current Availability
- Noise Levels