Specifications

Efficiency is platinum and the unit can deliver its full power continuously at even up to 50°C while operating. It also exploits a semi-modular cabling design, and its modern platform makes it Haswell ready. Its protection features only include the very basic ones as OTP (Over Temperature Protection) is unfortunately missing; and OTP is, in our opinion, especially important in a semi-passive unit.

A double-bearing fan handles the PSU's cooling and doesn't spin up at lower loads—we then expect the R3 800 W to feature an overall silent operation. Despite its relatively high capacity, its dimensions are normal, at 16.5 cm length, and the same applies to the PSU's weight. The provided warranty is also long enough at five years, though some of the competition offers seven or ten, while its price is higher than we expected, putting the R3 800 W into the though high-end competition zone. Things would look much better for this PSU at 30-40 bucks less, so Fractal Design should look into its price to boost sales of this product.

The single +12V rail can provide up to 66 A of current, so it will support most high-end gaming systems, while the minor rails only have 100 W combined maximum capacity, which will, however, suffice for modern systems. We would like to see a slightly stronger 5VSB rail, though, with 0.5-1 A more current output, but Fractal Design didn't do us the favor.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The number of cables is adequate for the unit's capacity, since two EPS and six PCIe connectors are available at the same time, but we don't like its many native cables. Fractal Design could reduce the native PCIe cables to one instead of the two currently attached to the unit, or, even better, make all of them modular. All cables are, thankfully, long enough and the three SATA cables with different lengths, each, actually ensure every need is covered. Fractal Design, an experienced case maker, naturally thought out of the box here, and the competition should follow their example. Distances among connectors will also suffice in most cases. Finally, many wires of the ATX 24-pin connector are 16AWG for lower voltage drops. The native PCIe cables also use 16AWG gauges, while every other cable, modular and or not, uses standard 18AWG wires.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on about its power distribution.