Closer Look and Performance
Inside the SP850 PSU, everything is very tight, but it feels like it fits just right. There is no pressure on any component, and everything is very clean. There are not many heatsinks, which suggests there wasn’t a problem with stabilizing everything, even though this small box is rated at 850W of power. I’m not sure who is the manufacturer of this design, but it looks somehow familiar to what I saw a while ago.
All the visible capacitors are Japanese and are rated at 100°C or more. The main capacitor is made by Rubycon and is rated at 420V, 550uF, and 105°C. It’s a bit better than what we could see in previously reviewed 750W SFX units.
The interior of the PSU makes a good impression.
The soldering and overall build quality look pretty good. It’s hard to see the soldering in the photos, besides the daughter board with the cable connectors on the other side, where the soldering is exceptional. All other components are also well soldered. Everything is clean and well protected.
The Lian Li SP850 uses a Yate Loon D92LH-12B fan. It’s a 92mm fan that operates between 1000 and 2800 RPM, but there is also 0 RPM mode when the PSU is under low load. During typical work, the fan was quiet and not running at a higher speed.
Performance
Tests were performed on the Intel Alder Lake-S platform, which contains the overclocked i9 12900K CPU, MSI Z690 Unify-X motherboard, overclocked ASRock RX6800XT Phantom Gaming graphics card, and additional components to bump the wattage some more. The peak wattage is around 800W.
All results were performed with an open PC case.
There were no stability issues during all tests. The Lian Li SP850 gives us high efficiency, close to the 80+ Platinum ratings, even though it’s certified as 80+ Gold. Quite low working temperature and quiet work suggest it’s an exceptional unit. At a load of nearly 800W, the +12V reading was close to perfect.
Most users probably won’t decide to run such high-wattage components in an SFF, but recently SFX PSUs have been a good option for large builds, too, as they save space, and most of them are of higher quality than popular ATX units. Especially computer enthusiasts are starting to see SFX PSUs as a good alternative.
The PSU was quiet and wasn’t significantly audible during all the tests. The noise was hard to separate from the ambient, so all should be satisfied. The maximum noise reported by the manufacturer is a bit above 40dB. It’s more than we could register (about 36dB), but the ambient noises were causing the readings to be not precise.
Even though 850W seems too much, then there is one more advantage of a higher power than required. The mentioned noise at about 50% load and a passive fan mode cause the PSU and the PC to run quiet and suck less dust so it can be kept clean for much longer. Of course, the price difference can be too significant to be worth it as these top SFX series are not cheap.
The SP850 is prepared for future graphics cards, making it a good investment. Modern design and high efficiency are the strongest points of this PSU, not to mention it’s available in white, so it can be a nice addition if we decide on a PC with bright colors.
