[nextpage title=”Introduction”]
Kingwin offers five power supply models within their Lazer Platinum series: 550 W, 650 W, 750 W, 850 W, and 1,000 W. Today we are going to take a look at the 850 W version. Let’s check it out.
The name of Kingwin’s power supply series, “lazer,” is probably a typo, since laser is spelled with “s,” as it is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Maybe the company thought it was “cool” to spell laser with a “z.” However, “lazer” in Spanish and Portuguese means “leisure,” and they probably didn’t think about that.
Power supplies from Kingwin are manufactured by Super Flower, and the Lazer Platinum 850 W is a renamed Super Flower SF-850P14PE. Internally, this power supply is very similar to the Super Flower SF-850P14XE, which is sold as Kingwin Lazer Gold 850 W, NZXT HALE90-850 M, Sentey Golden Steel Power 850 W, and AZZA Ultima 850 W (PSAZ-850G14). It seems that Super Flower got their Golden Green platform and tweaked it to make it Platinum-level, a.k.a. “Golden King.” Since we’ve already reviewed the NZXT HALE90-850 M and the Sentey Golden Steel Power 850 W, we will be able to see exactly what changes were made.
Figure 1: Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W power supply
Figure 2: Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W power supply
The Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W is 7.1” (180 mm) deep, using a 140 mm fan on its bottom. This fan has a “Kingwin” sticker on it, and we couldn’t find out its real manufacturer. The unit has a switch on its rear for you to select the mode in which you want the fan to work. In “normal mode,” the fan will increase its speed with the temperature. In “ECO mode,” the fan will be left turned off until the power supply internal temperature reaches between 65° C and 70° C, so the power supply won’t emit any noise while it is “cold.”
The modular cabling system from this power supply has six connectors that are transparent and glow when the power supply is on. Differently from most power supplies with a modular cabling system, you can install any kind of cable in any connector, i.e., there is no specific connector for the video card power cables or for the peripheral and SATA power cables. The unit comes with the main motherboard cable, an ATX12V/EPS12V cable, and two video card power cables 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 20/24-pin connector, 22” (56 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
- One cable with two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector, 23.6” (60 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
- Two cables, each with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 22” (56 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
- Two cables, each with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 19.7” (50 cm), modular cabling system
- Two cables, each with four SATA power connectors, 20.1” (51 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
- One cable with three standard peripheral power connectors, 20.1” (51 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
- One cable with three standard peripheral power connectors and one floppy disk drive power connector, 20.1” (51 cm) to the first connector, 5.9” (15 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
All wires are 16 AWG, which is thicker than the minimum recommended gauge (18 AWG), except the SATA and peripheral cables, which use standard 18 AWG wires.
We were somewhat unhappy with the cable configuration; we think a high-end 850 W power supply with the 80 Plus Platinum certification deserved more SATA connectors and, although it is not “mandatory,” we would like this unit better if it had two additional cables for video cards, allowing you to install three high-end video cards without the need of adapters.
Figure 3: Cables
Let’s now take an in-depth look inside this power supply.
[nextpage title=”A Look Inside the Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W”]
We decided to disassemble this power supply to see what it looks like inside, how it is designed, and what components are used. Please read our “Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies” tutorial to understand how a power supply works and to compare this power supply to others.
On this page we will have an overall look, and then in the following pages we will discuss in detail the quality and ratings of the components used. As explained before, the Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W is a renamed Super Flower SF-850P14PE.
Figure 4: Top view
Figure 5: Front quarter view
Figure 6: Rear quarter view
Figure 7: The printed circuit board
[nextpage title=”Transient Filtering Stage”]
As we have mentioned in other articles and reviews, the first place we look when
opening a power supply for a hint about its quality, is its filtering stage. The recommended components for this stage are two ferrite coils, two ceramic capacitors (Y capacitors, usually blue), one metalized polyester capacitor (X capacitor), and one MOV (Metal-Oxide Varistor). Very low-end power supplies use fewer components, usually removing the MOV and the first coil.
In the transient filtering stage, this power supply has two X capacitors and two Y capacitors more than the minimum required, but it doesn’t have an MOV, which is the component in charge of removing spikes coming from the power grid.
Figure 8: Transient filtering stage (part 1)
Figure 9: Transient filtering stage (part 2)
On the next page, we will have a more detailed discussion about the components used in the Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W.
[nextpage title=”Primary Analysis”]
On this page we will take an in-depth look at the primary stage of the Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W. For a better understanding, please read our “Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies” tutorial.
This power supply uses two US30K80R rectifying bridges, which are attached to an individual heatsink. Each bridge supports up to 30 A at 97° C. In theory, you would be able to pull up to 6,900 W from a 115 V power grid. Assuming 80% efficiency, the bridges would allow this unit to deliver up to 5,520 W without burning themselves out (or 6,210 W with 90% efficiency). Of course, we are only talking about these particular components. The real limit will depend on all the components combined in this power supply. The “Gold” version of this power supply uses only one of these bridges.
Figure 10: Rectifying bridges
The active PFC circuit uses two IPW50R140CP MOSFETs, each one supporting up to 23 A at 25° C or 15 A at 100° C in continuous mode (note the difference temperature makes), or 56 A at 25° C in pulse mode. These transistors present a 140 mΩ resistance when turned on, a characteristic called RDS(on). The lower the number the better, meaning that the transistor will waste less power, and the power supply will have a higher efficiency. Incredibly, the “Gold” version of this power supply uses transistors that are a little bit stronger (25 A at 25° C) here, with lower RDS(on) (125 mΩ).
The active PFC circuit is managed by an NCP1653A active PFC controller.
Figure 11: Active PFC controller
The output of the active PFC circuit is filtered by two 390 µF x 400 V Japanese electrolytic capacitors, from Chemi-Con, labeled at 105° C and connected in parallel. This is the equivalent of one 780 µF x 400 V capacitor.
In the switching section, another two IPW50R140CP MOSFETs are employed using a resonant configuration. The specifications for these transistors were already discussed above.
Figure 12: The two active PFC transistors, the two active PFC diodes, and the two switching transistors
The switching transistors are controlled by an SF29601 controller, and we couldn’t find more information about this chip. We believe that the original manufacturer got a resonant controller and relabeled it, as SF stands for “Super Flower.” Interestingly enough, the controller is placed in the secondary of the power supply.
Figure 13: Resonant controller
Let’s now take a look at the secondary of this power supply.
[nextpage title=”Secondary Analysis”]
As one would expect in a high-efficiency power supply, the Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W uses a synchronous design, where the Schottky rectifiers are replaced with MOSFETs. Also, the reviewed product uses a DC-DC design in its secondary. This means that the power supply is basically a +12 V unit, with the +5 V and +3.3 V outputs produced by two smaller power supplies connected to the main +12 V rail. Both designs are used to increase efficiency.
The +12 V output uses eight IPP041N04N G MOSFETs, each one supporting up to 80 A at 100° C in continuous mode, or up to 400 A at 25° C in pulse mode, with a maximum RDS(on) of only 4.1 mΩ. The “Gold” version of this power supply uses six transistors, but they have a higher labeled current (90 A at 100° C) and lower RDS(on) (3.7 mΩ).
Figure 14: The +12 V transistors
As explained, the +5 V and +3.3 V outputs are produced by two DC-DC converters, which are located on a single printed circuit board located in the secondary section of the power supply. Each converter is controlled by one NCP1587A integrated circuit and uses four IPD060N03L G MOSFETs, which support up to 50 A at 100° C in continuous mode and up to 43 A at 25° C in pulse mode, with a maximum RDS(on) of 6 mΩ. The “Gold” version of this power supply uses similar transistors here, but with a higher RDS(on).
Figure 15: The DC-DC converters
Figure 16: The DC-DC converters
We didn’t see an integrated circuit for monitoring the power supply outputs. Since the Power Good wire and sensors were connected to the small printed circuit board where the resonant controller was attached, our best guess is that the enigmatic SF29601 controller with the aid of four operational amplifiers provided by an LM324 integrated circuit do the trick.
The electrolytic capacitors available in the secondary are also from Chemi-Con and labeled at 105° C.
[nextpage title=”Power Distribution”]
In Figure 17, you can see the power supply label containing all the power specs.
Figure 17: Power supply label
This unit has a single +12 V rail, so there is not much to talk about here.
How much power can this unit really deliver? Let’s find out.
[nextpage title=”Load Tests”]
We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article, “Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.”
First we tested this power supply with five different load patterns, trying to pull around 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of its labeled maximum capacity (actual percentage used listed under “% Max Load”), watching the behavior of the reviewed unit under each load. In the table below, we list the load patterns we used and the results for each load.
If you add all the powers listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can have a slight variation (e.g., the +5 V output working at +5.10 V), the actual total amount of power being delivered is slightly different than the calculated value. In the “Total” row, we are using the real amount of power being delivered, as measured by our load tester.
The +12VA and +12VB inputs listed below are the two +12 V independent inputs from our load tester. During this test, the +12VA and +12VB inputs were connected to the power supply’s single +12 V rail. (The +12VB input was connected to the power supply EPS12V connector.)
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 6 A (72 W) | 13 A (156 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 25.5 A (306 W) | 32 A (384 W) |
| +12VB | 6 A (72 W) | 13 A (156 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 25.5 A (306 W) | 31.5 A (378 W) |
| +5 V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 6 A (30 W) | 8 A (40 W) |
| +3.3 V | 1 A (3.3 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) | 8 A (26.4 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 W) | 3 A (15 W) |
| -12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) |
| Total | 165.7 W | 346.2 W | 510.3 W | 685.4 W | 851.6 W |
| % Max Load | 19.5% | 40.7% | 60.0% | 80.6% | 100.2% |
| Room Temp. | 46.1° C | 45.6° C | 46.3° C | 47.5° C | 46.6° C |
| PSU Temp. | 52.6° C | 52.3° C | 52.4° C | 52.9° C | 43.6° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 183.8 W | 376.7 W | 556.6 W | 755.0 W | 952.0 W |
| Efficiency | 90.2% | 91.9% | 91.7% | 90.8% | 89.5% |
| AC Voltage | 117.9 V | 116.2 V | 114.3 V | 112.1 V | 109.7 V |
| Power Factor | 0.970 | 0.985 | 0.990 | 0.993 | 0.994 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
The Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W passed our tests with flying colors.
We saw efficiency between 89.5% and 91.9%, which was impressive, correctly matching the 80 Plus Platinum certification, which requires minimum efficiency of 92% at typical (i.e., 50%) load, 90% at light (i.e., 20%) load, and 89% at full load.
Voltage regulation was superb, with all voltages closer to their nominal values (3% regulation) during all tests. The ATX12V specification states that positive voltages must be within 5% of their nominal values, and negative voltages must be within 10% of their nominal values.
Let’s discuss the ripple and noise levels on the next page.
[nextpage title=”Ripple and Noise Tests”]
Voltages at the power supply outputs must be as “clean” as possible, with no noise or oscillation (also known as “ripple”). The maximum ripple and noise levels allowed are 120 mV for +12 V and -12 V outputs, and 50 mV for +5 V, +3.3 V and +5VSB outputs. All values are peak-to-peak figures. We consider a power supply as being top-notch if it can produce half or less of the maximum allowed ripple and noise levels.
The Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W provided extremely low ripple and noise levels, as you can see in the table below.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 8.8 mV | 12.6 mV | 14.6 mV | 17.4 mV | 22.4 mV |
| +12VB | 10.8 mV | 14.0 mV | 17.0 mV | 21.8 mV | 25.4 mV |
| +5 V | 6.2 mV | 7.2 mV | 9.2 mV | 9.2 mV | 11.0 mV |
| +3.3 V | 6.4 mV | 7.4 mV | 7.0 mV | 10.2 mV | 13.6 mV |
| +5VSB | 6.0 mV | 7.0 mV | 7.6 mV | 8.6 mV | 9.6 mV |
| -12 V | 6.2 mV | 6.4 mV | 6.8 mV | 7.2 mV | 7.6 mV |
Below you can see the waveforms of the outputs during test five.
Figure 18: +12VA input from load tester during test five at 851.6 W (22.4 mV)
Figure 19: +12VB input from load tester during test five at 851.6 W (25.4 mV)
Figure 20: +5V rail during test five at 851.6 W (11 mV)
Figure 21: +3.3 V rail during test five at 851.6 W (13.6 mV)
Let’s see if we can pull more than 850 W from this unit.
[nextpage title=”Overload Tests”]
Below you can see the maximum we could pull from this power supply. The objective of this test is to see if the power supply has its protection circuits working properly. We couldn’t evaluate the protections of this power supply, as we were limited by our load tester, which can only pull up to 1,000 W. Furthermore, we couldn’t pull more from this power supply to see if it would burn or shut down. During this extreme configuration, noise and ripple levels were still low, and voltages were still within 3% of their nominal values.
| Input | Overload Test |
| +12VA | 33 A (396 W) |
| +12VB | 33 A (396 W) |
| +5 V | 22 A (110 W) |
| +3.3 V | 22 A (72.6 W) |
| +5VSB | 3 A (15 W) |
| -12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) |
| Total | 994.8 W |
| % Max Load | 117.0% |
| Room Temp. | 46.4° C |
| PSU Temp. | 55.0° C |
| AC Power | 1,154 W |
| Efficiency | 86.2% |
| AC Voltage | 106.7 V |
| Power Factor | 0.994 |
[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]
The main specifications for the Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W power supply include:
- Standards: ATX12V 2.2 and EPS12V 2.92
- Nominal labeled power: 850 W
- Measured maximum power: 994.8 at 46.4° C
- Labeled efficiency: 80 Plus Platinum, minimum efficiency of 92% at typical (i.e., 50%) load, 90% at light (i.e., 20%) load, and 89% at full load
- Measured efficiency: Between 89.5% and 91.9%, at 115 V (nominal, see complete results for actual voltage)
- Active PFC: Yes
- Modular Cabling System: Yes
- Motherboard Power Connectors: One 20/24-pin connector and two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector, permanently attached to the power supply
- Video Card Power Connectors: Two six/eight-pin connectors on two cables permanently attached to the power supply and two six/eight-pin connectors on two cables on the modular cabling system
- SATA Power Connectors: Eight on two cables, modular cabling system
- Peripheral Power Connectors: Seven on two cables, modular cabling system
- Floppy Disk Drive Power Connectors: One
- Protections (as listed by the manufacturer): Over voltage (OVP), over power (OPP), and short-circuit (SCP) protections
- Are the above protections really available? Couldn’t test
- Warranty: Five years
- Real Model: Super Flower SF-850P14PE
- More Information: https://www.kingwin.com
- Average Price in the U.S.*: USD 210.00
* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.
[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]
The Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W proved to be an excellent power supply, with efficiency between 89.5% and 91.9%, voltages closer to their nominal values than required (3% voltage regulation), and extremely low noise and ripple levels. It also comes with an excellent price tag for what it has to offer. Other 850 W power supplies with the 80 Plus Platinum certification, such as the Enermax Platimax 850 W, are 20% more expensive. In fact, the Lazer Platinum 850 W is available in the same price range of high-end 850 W power supplies with the 80 Plus Gold certification, such as the FSP Aurum Pro 850 W and the Corsair AX850W.
The only negative we saw with this power supply was its cable configuration. We think a high-end 850 W power supply with the 80 Plus Platinum certification deserved more SATA connectors and a total of six video card power cables, allowing you to install three high-end video cards without the need of adapters.
In summary, if you are thinking of buying a high-end 850 W power supply with the 80 Plus Gold certification, you may want to consider the Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W, which is in the same price range and offers higher efficiency. However, if the relatively low number of cables and connectors is an issue for you, you will have to pick a different product.