By: Jonathan Kwan
November 22, 2024
A few years ago, I was at a weekend church camp with almost two hundred attendees. I was assigned to one of the large communal halls designated for resting, where about twenty or thirty of us brought our own sleeping bags and found our own space on the floor. During free time on Saturday afternoon, many people who stayed in the communal hall decided to take a nap, as anyone who has been to church camp knows one thing: You do not get a lot of sleep, because everyone just stays up talking or playing games all night. Just when many of us were getting some rest, I was awakened by the unmistakable sound of a cell phone alarm going off. Now, I understand this is a communal space and alarms do go off here and there, which is generally acceptable to me even if some may consider this inconsiderate. However, as I rolled around and tried to cover my ears with my pillow, the alarm continued to ring for another five minutes with the owner of the device nowhere to be found. Who would set an alarm during a rest period, in a communal resting area, only to disappear indefinitely? At some point, I got up, turned off the cell phone, and kept it on me until I had a nice conversation with the phone's owner about personal responsibility in a community setting. There is a time and place for noise, but if it is unwarranted, silence is of utmost importance. Over the years, many power supply manufacturers have dabbled with making silence as a key attribute of their offerings, with hybrid units being ubiquitous in the last decade or so along with fanless models popping up here and there. However, these passive units have always been limited on wattage, topping out at around 700W with the SilverStone Nightjar NJ700. Well, today, Cooler Master decided to challenge this with their X Silent Edge Platinum 850W. This is the highest wattage 115V passive PSU on the market, and the company has gone great lengths to build in-house one of the most innovative models on the market today. What made it so innovative, and at what cost? Read on to find out!
Our review unit of the Cooler Master X Silent Edge Platinum 850W came in a moderately large corrugated cardboard box from Flex Logistics in Ontario, California, USA using FedEx Ground. The company's latest flagship series arrived safely to us here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for our review today.
Inside the shipping box is the Cooler Master X Silent Edge Platinum 850W's retail box. The PSU's box design deviates quite a bit from the company's latest template, used for products like the Cooler Master V850 Gold i multi 850W. It still features hints of purple, being a Cooler Master product, but the rest is all black. This clean, minimalist design box features Cooler Master and Infineon's logo at the top left corner, with the latter highlighting the extensive use of Infineon components inside. Across the center, we have the "X Silent Edge Platinum 850" branding in front of a blurred circle. On the left side of that is the 850W rating and the text, "A Fanless Design". At the bottom right corner is an 80 Plus Platinum badge. The remaining sides of the box have a matrix of icons for feature highlights and a specifications table.
Before we move on, let us take a look at the specifications of the Cooler Master X Silent Edge Platinum 850W, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
Model: MPS-8501-AZAP
ATX Version: ATX 12V Ver. 3.1
PFC: Active PFC
Input Voltage: 100-240V
Input Current: 9-5A
Input Frequency: 50-60Hz
Dimensions (L x W x H): 180 x 150 x 86 mm
Efficiency: ≥92% @ Typical Load
80 PLUS Rating: 80 PLUS Platinum
ErP 2014 Lot 3: Yes
Operating Temperature: 0-40°C
Power Good Signal: 100 - 150 ms
Hold Up Time: ≥16ms
MTBF: >100,000 Hours
Protections: OPP/ OVP/ OTP/ OCP/ SCP/ UVP/ Surge & Inrush Protection
Regulatory: cUL, TUV, CE, FCC, BSMI, CCC, EAC, RCM, UKCA/BIS, KC (based on region's request.)
ATX 24 Pin Connectors: 1
EPS 4+4 Pin Connectors: 1
EPS 8 Pin Connector: 1
SATA Connectors: 12
Peripheral 4 Pin Connectors: 4
PCI-e 6+2 Pin Connectors: 4
12V-2x6 Connectors: 1
USB 10P Connector: 1
Series: X Series
80 Plus Efficiency: Platinum
Category: Above 750W
Form Factor: ATX
Watts: 850W
Input Voltage Range: Full Range
The Cooler Master X Silent Edge Platinum 850W's retail packaging can be opened by a flap attached on the bottom. Upon opening the box, you will find everything is neatly organized. The power supply is placed inside a fabric wrapper and securely clipped in by foam pieces. Cables are located inside a nylon Velcro bag.
Out of the box, you will receive the X Silent Edge Platinum 850W power supply itself, modular cables, internal USB connector cable, AC power cable, four screws, three Velcro straps, seven zip ties, some instructional literature, and a thank-you card. The bundle is simple and reasonable.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests, Software, Conclusion
