Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 860W PSU Review - Certification & Efficiency

Certification

Fractal Design offers the ion+ 2 Platinum series PSU now as a Titanium 80 Plus product certified by the 80PLUS organization. We already explained a little what that literally means. But what does such a certification entail? Well, 80 Plus is an optional certification program intended to promote efficient energy use in computer power supply units (PSUs). Launched in 2004 by Ecos Consulting, it certifies products that have more than 80% energy efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% of rated load, and a power factor of 0.9 or greater at 100% load. That is, such PSUs will waste 20% or less electric energy as heat at the specified load levels, thus reducing electricity use and bills compared to less efficient PSUs.  The higher the rating, the less power you will consume.

80 Plus test type	115 V internal					230 V EU internal
Percentage of rated load	10%	20%	50%	100%	10%		20%	50%	100%
80Plus		80%	80%	80%			82%	85%	82%
80Plus Bronze		82%	85%	82%			85%	88%	85%
80Plus Silver		85%	88%	85%			87%	90%	87%
80Plus Gold		87%	90%	87%			90%	92%	89%
80Plus Platinum		90%	92%	89%			92%	94%	90%
80Plus Titanium	90%	92%	94%	90%	90%		94%	96%	94%

There certainly is plenty to choose from, we have Standard, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and thus Titanium certifications. A PSU that is certified 80 PLUS Titanium is more efficient than your regular unit. The Series 12 power supplies are certified by the 80PLUS organization to deliver a 96 energy efficiency at 50% load and still 90% efficiency when your PC is in idle. These days we suggest you get at least a 650 Watt PSU for any standard PC, but considering your PC / PSU is the most efficient and energy-friendly at half its load, it might be wiser to purchase a higher rated power supply. The 860W model tested thus is the most efficient at that region of 430 Watts, which is pretty spot-on for a modern powerful PC with a proper high-end graphics card. 

the latest ION+ 2 series of power supply units from Fractal Design are presently available in 560/660/760/860W configurations, all of which are fully modular and have earned the 80 PLUS Platinum certification (up to ~93 percent electrical efficiency). A single +12V rail (71.6A) that can make use of the entire total power supply is provided by the model with an 860W continuous power output (maximum/peak power output of up to 998W). The model with an 860W continuous power output (maximum/peak power output of up to 998) comes with a number of features including DC to DC design, DC to DC converter, semi-passive Zero RPM mode, temperature-controlled 140mm fluid-dynamic bearing fan, 100% Japanese primary heavy- (Over Temperature Protection). 

Warranty
The company will offer you a 10-year warranty.