Introduction

We would like to thank Fractal Design for supplying the review sample.



It is common knowledge to at least the more educated users that most companies don't actually manufacture the PSUs they sell. Someone else manufactures them since the production of such units takes expensive equipment inside of appropriate facilities. Companies just set some requirements and sometimes also implement some component-specific changes if they have a PSU-engineering team. Aesthetics are another area companies can take charge of so as to make the final product better suit their customer base. The most popular PSU manufacturers today are Delta (they currently only make desktop PSUs for themselves and focus on OEM systems), Seasonic, FSP, Super Flower, Enhance, Channel Well Technology, Flextronics (they only work with Corsair for desktop PSUs), ATNG, HEC, Sirfa/High Power, Sirtec, Huntkey, Andyson, Chicony, and Etasis (they only produce server PSUs, but manufactured a high-end PSU for EVGA a couple years ago); the list goes on with less popular companies. Some OEMs, like Delta, Seasonic or Flextronics, add prestige to the companies they cooperate with; however, the price those three ask is higher than with less popular OEMs. Yet there is a reason behind their good reputation, and it doesn't just have to do with the quality components they use in their products, but the quality of their production lines. That said, most companies out there thrive on cooperating with popular OEMs since such a cooperation will lead to a successful product and, in turn, satisfied customers. The only downside is that at least some of these OEMs don't have the required facilities to manufacture large quantities of a unit, so they are picky about who they collaborate with.

Up until now, Fractal Design was mostly working with ATNG for their higher-end PSU lines and HEC for the Integra M series. This changed recently as the Edison Modular (M) series is based on a mid-level Seasonic platform, the same Seasonic's G series units exploit. This is a very good platform with a high price/performance ratio. The Edison M series consists of four members with capacities ranging from 450 W to 750 W, and we will evaluate the 650 W unit in this review. It features Gold efficiency, a semi-modular cabling design, and a white-colored FDB fan that promises increased reliability and a near-silent operation at low speeds.