FSP Aurum Pro 850 W Power Supply Review

Introduction

The Aurum Pro is the latest 80 Plus Gold power supply series from FSP, available in 850 W, 1,000 W, and 1,200 W versions. For these higher-wattage models, FSP decided to use a completely new design. Instead of using the cheaper active clamp reset forward design they used on their Aurum Gold and Aurum CM Gold series, they decided to go with a resonant design using two transformers. Let’s see if the 850 W model is worth our recommendation. 

Figure 1: FSP Aurum Pro 850 W power supply

Figure 2: FSP Aurum Pro 850 W power supply

The FSP Aurum Pro 850 W is 7.1” (180 mm) deep, using a 135 mm hydro dynamic bearing fan on its bottom (Power Logic PLA13525S12M).

The modular cabling system from this power supply has nine connectors, one for an EPS12V or a video card power cable, two for video card power cables, four for peripheral and SATA power cables, and two for fans. The unit comes with the main motherboard cable, an ATX12V/EPS12V cable, and a video card power cable permanently attached to it. They use nylon sleeves that come from inside the unit. This power supply comes with the following cables:

• Main motherboard cable with a 24-pin connector, 21.6” (55 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
• One cable with two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector, 26” (66 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
• One cable with one EPS12V connector 25.6” (65 cm) long, modular cabling system
• One cable with two six/eight-pin connectors for video cards, 22.4” (57 cm) to the first connector, 4” (10 cm) between connectors, permanently attached to the power supply
• Three cables, each with two six/eight-pin connectors for video cards, 22” (56 cm) long to the first connector, 4” (10 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
• One cable with four SATA power connectors, 21.6” (55 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
• Two cables, each with two SATA power connectors and two standard peripheral power connectors, 21.6” (55 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
• One cable with two SATA power connectors, two standard peripheral power connectors, and one floppy disk drive power connector, 21.6” (55 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
• Two cables, each with one standard peripheral power connector and one three-pin fan power connector, 22” (56 cm) to the first connector, 6.3” (16 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system

All wires are 18 AWG, which is the minimum recommended gauge, except the ATX12V/EPS12V cable that is permanently attached to the power supply, which uses ticker 16 AWG wires.

The cable configuration is outstanding for an 850 W power supply, allowing you to install up to four video cards that require two auxiliary power connectors each. If the fourth video card power cable is installed, you can’t install the second EPS12V cable, since their connector is shared. Another highlight of this power supply is the presence of two cables for fans, where the speed of the fans is controlled according to the power supply temperature. The presence of 10 SATA power connectors is adequate for a high-end unit.

Figure 3: Cables

Let’s now take an in-depth look inside this power supply.