Seasonic Focus GX-850 V4 ATX v3.1 PSU Review

Epilogue

The new Seasonic Focus V4 line uses an interesting PCB design, allowing for lots of room between components, so airflow can be high without pushing the fan speed. Nevertheless, the PSU’s average noise output is not as low as I expected, and I suspect that the lack of proper heatsinks on vital parts plays a role here. Moreover, don’t forget the extended warranty for this product. An extended warranty means that the manufacturer has to play it “safe” with the fan speed profile, or else the elevated operating temperatures can bring trouble in the long run. This is why I no longer care for the provided warranty, as long as it exceeds 2-3 years. You buy a new car and get 2-5 years of warranty and a restricted number of miles or kilometers, while you buy a new PSU and get 10, 12, or even 15 years of warranty. I believe you see the paradox here! EVGA started this aggressive warranty marketing, offering a ten-year warranty for the first time to some of its PSU offerings. Look where EVGA is now with such decisions.

The average efficiency is satisfactory, but I cannot tell the same for efficiency under light loads. The new PCB design didn’t improve overall performance, with the previous GX-850 unit achieving a bit higher overall performance. The low starting voltage level of the 12V rail affecting its load regulation, the low power factor readings, the sky-high inrush currents, the increased vampire power at 230V, and the high voltage drops at 12V in the ATX v3.1 transient response tests are the main culprits behind the unit’s low overall performance. At least, similar to its 1000W sibling, ripple suppression is good, but it is still not competitive.

Seasonic should go after higher performance with this new PCB design and lower the unit’s overall noise, which is pretty high for this category’s standards. Unfortunately, not many brands focus on reducing the noise of their products because this is among the most challenging and expensive problems to deal with. Still, the number of users wanting silent IT products grows larger, and at some point, all brands should embrace their needs. There is already the Cybenetics LAMBDA noise standard, which can help them improve their designs and offer lower noise output.

The Seasonic GX-850 V4 is expensive at $140, but the NZXT C850 costs way less, at $120 at the time of the review, and offers notably better performance in most sections. On the other hand, the Corsair RM850x (ATX v3.1) is 10 dollars more expensive, but it also provides about 5% higher overall performance. The best-performing unit in this category is the Super Flower Leadex VII XG, which has a 7% performance gap with the GX-850 V4.

 

 

Before investing in a new power supply, read my Best ATX v3.x PSUs article to check all alternative PSU offerings. You help me a lot by using my affiliate links, which don’t increase the product’s price. I get a commission from Amazon every time you do it, which can make a difference for me, especially now that I am on my own, working exclusively for my media and not for someone else.

 

 

 

Pros:
  • Delivered full power at 46°C
  • ATX v3.1 and PCIe 5.1 ready
  • High build quality
  • Cybenetics Platinum efficiency
  • Good ripple suppression
  • Tight load regulation at 5V
  • Higher than 70% efficiency with a 2% load
  • Alternative Low Power Mode (ALPM) compatible
  • Good quality FDB fan
  • Selectable semi-passive operation
  • 3x PCIe on dedicated cables and 1x 12+4-pin PCIe connectors
  • Adequate distance between the SATA connectors
Cons:
  • Increased MSRP
  • Not competitive overall performance
  • The fan speed profile needs improvements
  • Mediocre transient response at 12V (ATX v3.1 transient loads) and 3.3V
  • High inrush currents
  • Not high Power Factor readings
  • Loose load regulation at 12V (20W load starting point)
  • The minor rail OCP triggering points need adjustments
  • Increased vampire power consumption at 230V
  • Lower than 150mm distance between the 4-pin Molex connectors
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6 thoughts on “Seasonic Focus GX-850 V4 ATX v3.1 PSU Review

    1. I can confirm the fan in GX-850 V4 is way too loud (I have the PSU here). Indeed it starts spinning at too high RPM. The fan curve is absolutely terrible. Even at 360 Watts load during gaming the PSU fan in the GX-850 V4 is by far the loudest component in my PC. I compared the GX-850 V4 ATX PSU against my Seasonic Focus SPX 2021 SPX-750 750W SFX PSU with a 92 mm fan (vs 135 mm fan inside the GX-850 V4) and the small SFX PSU is significantly more quiet, it is almost inaudible below 400 Watts load. The small SPX-750 is absolutely compatible with Silent PC bulds, while the GX-850 V4 is absolutely unacceptable for Silent PC builds. Also the fan curve for the GX-850 V4 is absolutely trash. After closing a video game and going from around 400 Watts down to 80 Watts idle- it takes the fan like 2-3 minutes to stop spinning meanwhile the 92mm fan inside the small SPX-750 SFX psu stops spinning after like 10-15 seconds when closing the game and going from high load back to idle. I suspect it is the “new Seasonic OptiSink Design” that requires much more cooling. While it might have a bigger surface area for cooling in total, it lacks actual physical mass of bigger metal cooling heatsinks. Because of that it needs constant and active cooling compared to solutions with big aluminium heatsinks. All the marketing talk seems to be a bunch of bull, Quote:

      “The eightfold increase in heat dissipation keeps the internals of the power supply cooler, eventually leading to improved product quality, long-term reliability, and more efficient operation.

      The redesigned layout of the power supply components and its improved thermal performance creates versatility and allows the power supply to be safely installed in any orientation.

      The OptiSink design is an eco-friendly solution that not only lowers the costs of material usage and production but also leads to energy savings in the long run.”

      What it really means is- it is way cheaper for Seasonic to manufacture and because of that, they make more profit with the new OptiSink design. The downside is that it needs constant active air cooling due to lack of mass from big metal heatsinks, which are way more effective at cooling.

      Needless to say I’ve returned the GX-850 V4, it’s absolutely terrible and unacceptable in terms of noise, I kid you not- the small SPX-750 is significantly more quiet. I made video comparisons as well, might upload them to YT later.

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