XPG KYBER 650W PSU Review

The XPG Kyber 650W is an affordable, Gold efficiency in the Cybenetics scheme, power supply addressing users who don’t have increased power requirements. If you don’t like native/fixed cables, better look elsewhere. To keep the price low, XPG decided to ditch modular cables. 

Most users want an affordable but good power supply, so the mid-level PSUs have a significant impact on the market. To address the mid-PSU category needs, XPG released the Kyber line, which consists of three members with capacities ranging from 650W to 850W. I will look at the lower-capacity member of the line in this review, which achieves Cybenetics Gold efficiency. With only 140mm depth, the footprint is compact, something expected given the low capacity. In the past, 140mm depth PSUs were rare, but common nowadays, even for high capacity, up to 1000W, PSUs.

The Kyber line claims compatibility with the ATX v3.0 spec, and I am sure that the higher capacity models will receive an upgrade to the newer 12V-2×6 connector, which will help them meet the ATX v3.1 spec since the latter requires a lower hold-up time period. It is weird, in all the years I have reviewed PSUs, it is the first time that a newer spec is looser in a section than its predecessor. I don’t agree with the decrease in hold-up time from 17ms to 12ms, but I don’t have a say in the ATX spec.

With an MSRP close to $80, the Kyber 650 is expensive, given its capacity and the fact that it doesn’t feature any modular cables. Nonetheless, there aren’t many decent options in this section. The Gigabyte GP-P650G with similar specs costs $70, but I wouldn’t recommend this brand when it comes to PSUs to anyone, given its history. If you decide to go to $90, you can get through the MSI MPG A650GF, which has a fully modular cable design and is Gold-certified.

Power Specifications