Fractal Ion+ 2 Platinum 860W PSU Review

Today we’ll be taking a look at Fractal’s update to the Ion+ Platinum power supply, the Ion+ 2 Platinum. All of your favorites remain like the iconic UltraFlex cables, fully modular connections, and 80+ Platinum efficiency. One of the new additions is a second 8-pin EPS power cable to handle higher-end motherboards with multiple CPU power connections. An update to ATX 12v v2.52 offers better support for low power modes such as Alternative Sleep Mode (ASM) for high efficiency even when the computer isn’t in use. Add in user-selectable semi-passive cooling, and a solid 10-year warranty, and you have the right formula for worry-free power. PC Test Bench would like to thank Fractal Design for sending over the Ion+ 2 Platinum for us to check out! Fractal’s take on the Ion+ 2 Platinum Power Supply: The Ion+ 2 Platinum is a high-performance fully modular PSU with whisper-quiet operation, enhanced cable flexibility, and superior output quality. It ships with two 8-pin ATX12V/EPS cables, ensuring compatibility with new motherboards. A user-selectable semi-passive Zero RPM mode maintains pure silence under light loads, and the custom-tailored 140 mm fan with FDB bearings stays practically whisper-quiet even under heavy load. Revolutionary UltraFlex™ cable with its ultra-high strand count wire and special insulation bends and twists effortlessly to make installation and cable-routing a breeze. Ion+ 2 Platinum is available in 560, 660, 760, and 860-watt capacities, all with 80PLUS® Platinum Efficiency, 10-year warranty, and a full electrical protection suite for peace of mind. FEATURES: 80PLUS® Platinum efficiency for optimized electricity use and reduced heat generation Great electrical output quality with tight voltage regulation and low ripple and noise Fully modular design for reduced clutter and maximum ease of installation and with Fractal Design UltraFlex™ (extra bendable soft cables) for better cable management Equipped with a large high-performance Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 140 mm fan, custom-tailored for power supply use with an exceptionally low minimum speed and a true long-life FDB bearing User-selectable semi-passive operation allows for either passive operation in low load situations or continuous low-speed fan operation for reduced component stress Compact 150 mm depth allows for installation in compact cases or provides additional cable management room in larger cases Premium Japanese 105°C capacitors provide maximum reliability and durability An extensive 10-year warranty and a full electrical protection suite provides peace of mind Supports the latest ATX 2.52 standard with improved start-up time and transient load response Premium storage bags for cables and PSU All models include two 8-pin ATX12V/EPS cables, ensuring compatibility with a new motherboard Quick SPECS: 80PLUS - Platinum Certification Fully modular cables 140 mm FDB bearing Fractal Design Dynamic series fan Maximum operating temperature (full load) - 50°C user-selectable (Zero RPM) Semi-passive operation Japanese Capacitors Life expectancy - 100,000 hours PSU specification compliance - ATX12V 2.52; EPS12V 2.92 Cable type Modular 24-pin cable: Black UltraFlex™ wires in braided sleeve Other modular cables: Flat black UltraFlex™ wires Input power - 100-240V, 50-60 Hz, 10A/5A Protection features Over-voltage protection, under-voltage protection, Over-power protection, Short-circuit protection, Over-current protection, Over-temperature protection Standby efficiency - ErP 2013 (<0.45W @230. VAC, 45 mA load on +5Vsb) Sleep state compliance – Intel C6/C7 Warranty - 10 Years Connectors ATX 24-pin 1 ATX12V 4+4 pin / EPS12V 8-pin 2 PCIe 6+2 pin 6 SATA 10 Peripheral 4 A Closer Look Fractal really embraces the minimalistic elegance of an all-black box with the Ion+ 2 Platinum pictured on the front. The rear gives features, electrical specifications, and a fan cure chart showing both normal and semi-passive mode fan curves. Inside, everything is packed nicely with the Ion+ 2 hiding inside a large block of foam and the zipper bag of DC cables next to it. Everything included is shown. You get the Ion+ 2 Platinum in a cloth bag, all of the DC cables in another zipper bag, the usual paperwork, regionally correct mains cable, mounting screws, and Fractal branded Velcro cable wraps. When you unwrap the Ion+ 2 Platinum, the first thing you’ll notice is how unusually heavy it is. It’s not a large power supply as far as ATX power supplies go, but it still weighs in at 3lbs, 10.7 ounces, or 1,668 grams. Air intake encompasses most of the top side thanks to the 140mm fan. Both sides are a very minimalistic two-tone grey and black with the Fractal logo in a small white print. On the AC inlet side, you get the typical IEC C14 mains inlet, and mains power switch. ¾ of the rear is covered with Fractal’s unique grill pattern. The lower part of the case has the electrical specifications on a label. On the business end, you have the modular connections of the main 24-pin, four SATA/PATA connections, and five 12V only sockets for PCIe and EPS cables. The user-configurable semi-passive mode switch is here as well. Most manufacturers place this on the rear grill of the power supply, but people tend to set this to their preference and never touch it again, well, unless you are fumbling around blindly for the mains power switch and flip it instead. It’s probably a good idea to place it internally so it stays where you leave it. For DC cables, you get the main 24-pin with braided sleeve, two 8-pin (4+4) EPS cables, three PCIe cables with twin 6+2 connections each, three SATA power cables, two with 4 connectors each, and the last cable with only two connections, and a single legacy molex peripheral cable with 4 connections. On the Inside Fractal uses its own fan inside its power supplies so you know it’ll be quiet and reliable. Inside, everything is crisp and clean. Fractal uses a fully wireless design, meaning all of the main power is carried between the mainboard and modular connection daughterboard through heavy busbars, not with wires like most. All of the MOSFETs and rectifiers are heatsinked into the large black heatsinks. The high current 12V area even has additional heatsinks soldered into the board to pull heat away from the traces. Incoming power is heavily filtered right at the EMI shielded socket. There appears to be some logic right on the input PCB that monitors incoming current. There is extensive filtering on the mainboard as well. Like most quality power supplies, Fractal uses all Japanese capacitors in the Ion+ 2 with the main bulk capacitors made up of a team of Rubycon 470uF 105C caps. Everything else is just clean and well made. Every solder joint looks perfect and the high current carrying areas on the modular connection board are built up heavily. Testing System Config: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X MSI X570 Godlike Gaming Nvidia RTX 3070 Founders Edition 32GB (4x8GB) HyperX Fury RGB 3600Mhz Corsair MP600 2TB We’ll start out saying we aren’t equipped to do extremely detailed electrical analysis required to pick apart a modern power supply. It takes laboratory-grade dedicated equipment so we’ll have to make do with some less precise testing. While we normally use a good Fluke Digital Multi-meter, we’ve found the onboard monitoring solutions in modern motherboards to be quite accurate and able to be easily logged with utilities like HWiNFO. This is especially true of higher-end enthusiast-class boards that are oriented towards overclocking. We start monitoring and run a series of benchmarks and stress tests to ramp the system up and down from idle to full load of every component. Fractal’s Ion+ 2 Platinum provides excellent regulation on all three main rails with each staying well within 1.3%. The all-important 12V rail runs about a tenth of a volt hot which is perfectly fine and only deviates +/- 0.2% of that. None of the rails ever sag below their nominal value while testing. Final Thoughts and Conclusion Fractal’s Ion+ power supply earned its stripes as a quality source of power for even the most serious builds. The second generation improves on that with a much-needed second 8-pin CPU cable, and an ATX spec update to better support the latest ultra-low power modes. While we don’t have the tools in-house to do an extremely detailed analysis of things like transient response, we can certainly say that voltage regulation is tight and on point. Beyond great performance, it’s cool, quiet, and looks great. We know matching sleeved cables are all the rage, but Fractal’s Ultraflex cables are great to work with and we wouldn’t be in a hurry to replace them. If you have a previous-gen Ion+, it may not be worth the upgrade unless you need the second CPU cable. If you are in the market for a new power supply then look no further! Great job Fractal!

Fractal Ion+ 2 Platinum 860W PSU Review

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