Overall
As I mentioned at the start, I haven’t tested the ION SFX 650G’s performance, I’m only taking a look at the rest of its features so we don’t have any awards or a final verdict like on other reviews. But I am excited to see Fractal Design continuing their move into SFX with the new SFX-L ION SFX 650G. It has all of the makings of a good PSU including the 80 Plus Gold rating which while not platinum like the SF750 or titanium like the SX800-LTI, a gold rating is the sweet spot in my opinion for getting good efficiency without paying a big premium for it. Like any other Fractal Design product, the ION does focus on noise with their FDB bearing fan and the choice to go SFX-L to fit the larger 120mm fan size as well as the semi-passive fan mode that only powers the fan up when it is needed in high wattage usage.
The ION SFX 650G changes things up from the almost cookie-cutter styling that a lot of PSUs get with the black and dark grey dual-color finish and the semi-random layout of the ventilation. Though I don’t know that I am a fan of the vents on the side that vent inside your case. They look great, but I like that PSUs push all of their air outside of the case. The cables look like a standard lot, but the UltraFlex cables have more flexibility than the normal flat cables that you get which should help in the tight confines of SFX cases. But the weirdly long peripheral cables seems like an odd decision to me. I’m just hoping that Fractal Design bringing out the ION means they are also working on more SFX cases, and with that maybe those long cables are needed for something interesting there.
With a 10-year warranty, the ION is a cut above both Corsair and Silverstone. The last two SFX PSUs that I took a look at had a 7-year (Corsair) and 3-year (SilverStone) warranty. Think about how much changes in 10 years and just how few of ANYTHING that comes with a warranty that long. Fractal Design also thought of the customer with a few other details like still using a bad for their cables and including a black panted ATX to SFX adapter. Not to mention small details like the extra screws to actually be able to use the adapter and the small microfiber case that the PSU comes.
Beyond that, the ION SFX 650G should have an MSRP of $109.99 and the 500G has an MSRP of $89.99 but right now the 650G has a bit of a premium being added to it on Amazon and it isn’t in stock on Newegg. Hopefully, when the stock comes back that helps bring the price back down to the MSRP. Because at $109.99 it is a better deal than the other 650 watts or even 600 watt SFX models. As always I would still recommend checking out performance testing done that checks efficiency and line voltage with an oscilloscope. Sadly the two places I used to recommend for that have closed down. Here are two reviews that do that testing on the ION SFX 650G.
Live Pricing: HERE
