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Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W


Date
: 01/30/08 – 04:25:28 AM

Author
:

Category
: Power Supplies

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer
: Cooler Master

Last year, we took a look at Cooler Master's Real Power Pro 1000W power supply, and while it was an excellent power supply we concluded that for the most part, it was not a practical solution for most computer systems. So, today we will be taking a look at the Real Power Pro 850W, a slightly more viable solution, yet still a high end unit.

When Cooler Master first started out, their goal was to provide the best thermal solutions in the industry. However, today Cooler Master has extended their focus to include cases, drive enclosures, and of course power supplies. Today we will be taking a look at Cooler Master's Real Power Pro 1000W.

Much like its 1000W counterpart, the Real Power Pro 850W is a stealthy unit equipped with an enormous 135mm cooling fan, black sleeving, a total of six 12V rails and an efficiency rating of 85% or greater.

Page 2 : Features & Specifications

Here is what Cooler Master has to say about the Real Power Pro 850W:

Features:

1.World's first six +12V rails for better power distribution in Quad-SLI and 2 ways server system
2.Four 6-pin PCI-e connectors offer great future upgradeability
3.Two 8-pin PCI-e connectors are compatible with future graphic card upgradeability
4.Compliance with the newest Intel standard ATX 12V V2.2
5.Compliance with the newest SSI standard EPS 12V V2.91
6.Ultra-silent operation with intelligent 135mm fan speed control (<16dBA)
7.Eco-design for energy and money saving by Active PFC (>0.99) / high efficiency (>85%)
8.Higher reliability (MTBF > 100,000 hours)
9.Power Failure Detector will light up when Over-Voltage, Under-Voltage, Over-Temperature, Over-Current, Over-Loading, and Short Circuit occur.

Again, much like the Real Power Pro 1000W, the 850W comes with the same number of connectors.

Page 3 : Package & Contents

The Real Power Pro 850W's package breaks away from Cooler Master's traditional purple theme; while there is still a splash of purple to highlight the bottom two edges, the box art is mainly black and white.

The front and side panels are sparse in terms of information in order to maintain the overall minimalist look, but does provide some key selling points such as high efficiency, 3 year guarantee, ultra silent operation, and the world's first six +12V rail power supply.

Flipping the box over presents an entirely new story; the back is plastered with specifications, features, and various certifications including RoHS compliance. This panel also clearly states the amount of each connector this power supply comes equipped with which is a nice addition.

Opening the box we find an extremely thick power cord, a bag of matte black screws, a keychain of what appears to be a bottle opener and of course the Real Power Pro 850W!

Taking a closer look at the Real Power Pro 850W, it is by no means a small power supply!

Like most power supplies today, this unit also uses one single large fan which pushes air into the internals of the power supply displacing hot air through perforated holes in the rear of the unit. This design has been proven to not only to be quiet but extremely effective as well.

Next, let's take a look at the wires! What separates this power supply from others is that it comes equipped with 8-pin PCI-Express connectors; of course in order to remain compatible with current video cards, this power supply also has standard 6-pin PCI-Express connectors.

Because this power supply can also be used within servers, it has an 8-pin CPU power connector along with the standard 4-pin and the standard 20+4 pin power connectors as well.

One of the key features, in terms of wires, is that this power supply has a total of
eight
SATA power connectors which is excellent for those who have stacks upon stacks of hard drives!

Lastly, this unit includes six standard 4-pin Molex connectors and two floppy drive connectors.

While having numerous power connectors and a beautiful dark reflective finish is great, lets take a look at what really counts, the insides.

As the UL number E166947 suggests, this is an Enhance built unit, and like the Real Power Pro 1000W, the 850W is outfitted with an assortment of Teapo capacitors.

Page 4 : Installation

I will be installing this unit into a Lian Li V1100 Plus, not your typical case, but a fair enough example. First we will need to remove the existing power supply.

Due to the size of the Real Power Pro 850W, it may have trouble fitting into some cases.

Other than the size, installation should be fairly smooth. The only hurdle is the sheer amount of wires!

Page 5 : Testing

In order to simulate system load, we will be using peltiers. The reason for this is because when using an actual computer system there is no way we could accurately measure how much load we are putting on the power supply without some very expensive equipment.

The total load on the 12V rails is approximately 552W while the 3.3V and 5V rails will be loaded with approximately 170W. This totals to 772W which is 84.9% of this power supply's 850W output capacity.

Prior to any official tests, the unit will run with no load for two weeks or approximately 336 hours at an operation temperature of 21°C (room temperature will vary throughout this period) as a burn-in period. We will be running two sets of tests, a cold and a hot test, but both under loaded conditions. This is to reflect different conditions the power supply could potentially encounter within an enclosed system. Cold tests will run with an exhaust temperature of 21°C and hot tests will be run with an exhaust temperature of 45°C. All temperature and voltage readings will be recorded with two separate digital multimeters.

When we tested the Real Power Pro 1000W last year, we saw some fairly solid numbers, and while we did see a noticeable drop in voltages, we also need to take into account the type of environment the power supply is running in. We put the Real Power Pro 850W though the same strenuous conditions, and not surprisingly, measured similar results- which is nothing to be disappointed about, if anything, though there was a noticeable dip, the numbers are spectacular.

Page 6 : Conclusion

Recognizing the need for a wide range of power supplies, Cooler Master has expanded the Real Power Pro family to include six different units from 550W all the way up until 1250W. The Real Power Pro 850W is the second unit in the Real Power Pro family we have had the opportunity to review, and we are incredibly pleased with its performance. If these two units say anything about the Real Power Pro family, we could not possibly be any happier.

For a moderately priced unit, the Real Power Pro 850W has all the features included in the 1000W unit, along with the rest of the Real Power Pro line: excellent performance, a fantastic finish, sleeved wires, and an incredibly silent fan. Overall, the Real Power Pro 850W may be placed at a lower price point, but as we have seen in this review, it is yet another incredibly solid offering from Cooler Master.

Advantages

• Good performance

• Affordible
• Beautiful finish
• Sleeved wires
• Silent operation

Disadvantages

• Modular would be nice!

Overclockers Online would like to thank Cooler Master for making this review possible.