Last year Lian Li introduced their SP750 SFX power supply which focused on the high-end/high-wattage SFF builds and today they are expanding on that with their new SP850 which ups the wattage to 850 watts. The SP850 is SFX, not the usual SFX-L and while this isn’t the first 850-watt SFX option out there, it is only one of a few. This is however the first that is also coming with a new PCIe 5 power connector included which can deliver up to 400 watts to one supported device which means no need for adapters on the last generation of Nvidia Founders Edition cards and if the rumors are correct the next generation of cards as well. So let’s dive in and check out what the Lian Li SP850 is all about.

Product Name: Lian Li SP850 SFX PSU

Review Sample Provided by: Lian Li

Written by: Wes Compton

Amazon Affiliate Link: HERE

**Disclaimer**

LanOC Reviews only covers the features of power supplies due to not having the equipment to test them up to our standards. Because of this, you will not see a performance section, a final verdict, or awards. Therefore, we prefer to call this a preview rather than a review. Thank you for understanding; we keep our standard to the absolute highest for you, our reader.

Specifications

Model

SP850

Dimensions

(D)100 mm X (W)63.5mm X (H)125 mm

Power Supply Design

Fully modular

Color

Black / White

Material

Steel/brushed aluminum housing

Form Factor

SFX

Certification

80 PLUS Gold

Max. DC Output

850W

Combined +3.3v & +5v

100W

Combined +12v

840W

Input Voltage

100-240Vrms

Input Frequency Range

50Hz-60Hz

PFC

Active PFC(PF)>0.90 at full load

Efficiency

93.53% MAX

Protective Circuit

OCP OVP OTP OPP SCP UVP

Connectors

1 x 24/20-Pin motherboard connector (300mm) x1pcs

1 x 8/4+4 Pin CPU/ATX 12V connector (600mm) x2pcs

1 x 8/6+2 Pin PCle connector (400mm) x1pcs

2 x 8/6+2 Pin PCle connector (400mm-120mm) x1pcs

4 x SATA connector (120mm120mm-120mm-120mm)

x2pcs

4 x 4-Pin Peripheral connector (120mm-120mm-

120mm- 120mm) x1pcs

1 x 12VHPWR 8P*2 to 12+4P (400mm) x1pcs

Noise Level

17.1-40.6DBA

Fan RPM

1000-2800 RPM

Bearing Type

HYB

Warranty

5 years

 


Packaging

The box for the Lian Li SP850 has the same light blue trim that Lian Li has used on their other products and there is a black background as well but they have changed that up to a starry sky with some smoke or clouds as well. Then they have a picture of the Lian Li SP850 which I love that the picture is included and was surprised that they have a box for each of the two color variations, the white and black models. The Lian Li logo is small up in the top left corner and the SP850 model name is the largest font and in the bottom left. Below that they do mention a few features like the 80 Plus Gold rating, zero RPM fan mode, and the white aluminum housing. The top right corner repeats the 80 Plus Gold rating with the logo and next to that is a badge for the 5-year warranty as well. The back of the box has another picture of the Lian Li SP850, this time showing the fan side, as well as the modular connections, and I, love that that picture also shows the PSU’s dimensions as well. Next to that, they have pictures of each of the power connections along with their names and quantity. Those pictures also clue us in that the wiring is white to match the SP850 as are the connections. Lian Li also slipped in performance graphs and a small AC/DC input to output table on the bottom edge of the box as well. This shows the power efficiency and the graph shows us that the fan doesn’t turn on until just under 340 watts.

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Inside of the box, the SP850 comes wrapped up in plastic and then is sitting in between two foam panels that are carved out to hold it and keep it safe. Next to that, you have all of the modular cables which come in a soft drawstring bag which is great to see. A lot of power supplies aren’t coming with any cable storage anymore and unless you keep all of your boxes it is nice to have something to keep any extra cables in even if it is a basic plastic bag.

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For documentation, you get a thank you card which has contact information on it, and a small single page folded up for the user manual. Alongside the cable bag, there is a small plastic baggie as well which has the four mounting screws. I’m surprised that Lian Li went with chromed screws but they do match the white somewhat.

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Photos and Features

The Lian Li SP850 is available in both black and white but the white model that Lian Li sent over looks especially good. White color options are rare in the SFX world so I’m happy to see that they included them and the SP850 goes full out with it with white being used for the cables, cable plugs, modular plugs on the housing, and even with the silver finish used for the branding on the side of the housing. All together the SP850 which has a very standard housing from the side profile looks great.

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If you haven’t seen an SFX power supply before you will be impressed that they are able to fit as much into such a small form factor, which is also what makes 850-watt options in this size so rare. It isn’t easy to do, especially when in a true SFX form factor, not the larger SFX-L size. What that means size-wise is that the SP850 is 125 mm wide and 63.5 mm tall which both SFX and SFX-L both do, it is the short 100 mm depth that makes the difference though.

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The inside facing end of the SP850 has all of the modular cable connections. I mentioned it before but I love that even the plugs here are white to match the housing. On the left side, there are two plugs for the 24-pin motherboard power. Then on the top row, there are three 6-pin plugs for the peripheral and SATA cables. Then most of the bottom row has 8-pin plugs for the two CPU power cables and the PCIe cables, which if you use the included PCIe 5 cable and only need one CPU power you could still have one plug left for a second PCIe cable if needed. All of the connections have labels in silver/grey and the SP850 is small enough that the peripheral/SATA section was too long and I’m bothered more by the fact that the SATA part isn’t centered than I should be.

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The outside facing end of the SP850 has all of the exhaust ventilation for the cooling fan. Most of this end has honeycomb-shaped openings for the airflow but Lian Li did also fit the C12 power plug and a miniature power switch as well. Both of those are also bright white.

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Both sides of the bright white aluminum housing on the SP850 have that same white finish. One side does have the Lian Li branding as well as the SP850 model name printed on it in a silver finish. I love that they didn’t use a sticker for this and that the color goes well with the white finish. The other side of the SP850 uses this flat space to fit the information sticker which also uses the same grey/silver. That sticker has your serial number on an additional sticker on it. It also has an AC input to the DC Output table and all of the normal certification logos.

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The top of the SP850 is just a completely flat panel with nothing on it. I kind of wish they would have put the information sticker on here and left both of the sides to have the cool printed SP850 branding so that would be visible no matter how you arrange the power supply. On the bottom side, the SP850 has its fan which is hiding behind horizontal bars to keep fingers from getting into it. I love the slot guard look which is simple but not done by most power supplies and Lian Li put their branding next to that with a silver stripe and bright white for the Lian Li font.

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The first cable out of the included cable bag for the SP850 is your standard NEMA 5-15P to C13 power cable.

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Going in with the SP850 having those bright white cables and connections that I saw in the packaging I was expecting the cabling to be the standard flat rubberized design. So I was a little surprised when I pulled the cables for the SP850 out of the cloth bag and almost all of the cables were individually sleeved. They do have the bright white sleeving which goes perfectly with the white SP850 and each end on both ends of all of the cables are bright white and they also have small labels printed on each end. Being an SFX power supply the 24-pin motherboard power cable is the shortest by far at just 13 inches long. The SP850 also comes with two 8-pin CPU power cables which both have split plugs on the end to support 4 or 8-pin layouts, these cables are much longer at 24 inches long each. You get two standard PCIe power cables which are 8-pin on the PSU end and have 6+2 pin connections on the other end to support 6 or 8-pin video cards. One cable has a piggyback setup with two plugs, one at 165 inches and the other at 31 inches. The second PCIe cable has just the one plug. Then for peripheral or accessory power, the SP850 comes with three cables, and all three of these drop the individually sleeved cabling for the standard flat cable type. Two are SATA power and one is Molex with both cables being shorter than your standard ATX PSU. They both have four plugs with connections at 5, 50, 15, and 20 inches. 

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The individually sleeved cables were a surprise but so was the inclusion of a new PCIe 5 power cable with the SP850. You may have seen this power connection style before with last generation Nvidia Founders Edition cards which included adapters to run this smaller more compact plug. This cable uses two of your PCIe plugs at the PSU and the compact 12-pin plug on the other end which can support up to 400 watts. To help with that the flat cabling does seem to be a little thicker than what Lian Li used on the SATA/Molex cables.

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Overall

Like I mentioned at the start of our look at the Lian Li SP850, this isn’t testing the power that it is producing, I would still recommend checking out a review that has that. Today we are just checking out some of the features of the SP850 and Lian Li did a good job of making their new 850-watt SPX power supply stand out. The SP850 is available in black and white but I don’t think it is possible for the black model to look as good as this bright white is looking. Lian Li paired the white aluminum housing up with silver/grey for labels and the logo on the side which goes well with the white. All of the cables are bright white including the plastic connections, and even the power plugs in the PSU itself for the modular cables. Add to that the individually sleeved cables for the traditional PCIe cables, 24-pin, and both of the CPU power and you have a good looking PSU without the need to add in cable extensions or custom cables. Most of the cables are shorter which goes well with the SFX size though the two CPU power cables may have a little too much length on them for smaller cases. Lian Li has also included a new PCIe 5 power cable which has the small compact 12-pin plug on the video card end to provide up to 400 watts without having to run three different power cables to one video card which should clean things up.

It has a zero RPM fan for anything less than 340 watts which should keep the noise down unless you are in game or putting your GPU under a lot of load. The SP850 also has its 80 Plus Gold rating which if this was an ATX power supply would be a little on the low side these days. But considering it is a true SFX and 850 watts it is exactly what you need. There aren’t many 850-watt SFX options out there, off the top of my head I can only think of the Cooler Master and EVGA models, everyone else has their high-wattage SFX PSUs running the longer SFX-L form factor to help make that power. Lian Li has a compact SFX option now at 850 watts and frankly, I don’t think anyone else is looking this good while doing it. As far as pricing goes, it has an MSRP of $149.99. The comparable EVGA is cheaper at $112.99 and the Cooler Master V850 SFX is closer at $140 so Lian Li is higher priced, but right now if you want high wattage SFX this is the only option that will get you the new PCIe cable included with the power supply.

 

Live Pricing: HERE

Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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