Fan Speed
Coming with a small 92mm fan, you’d undoubtedly expect that when this PSU is working hard at full load, its cooling solution would likely be a very busy creature too! – In truth though, Lian Li has clearly considered this within the design and provided an excellent solution. Admittedly, 2,000RPM might initially sound like a mildly terrifying figure and perhaps has you concerned that this PSU might be a little on the noisy side. In truth though, it’s not. It was barely audible at full load but I would add a curious quirk in the design.
The Lian Li SP850 does come with a built-in ‘Zero RPM’ functionality. In other words, when below circa 40% load the fan will not run at all unless deemed absolutely necessary. Unlike other PSU models, this is not a controllable feature and is an integrated part of the design. It seemed clear though when testing that temperature, rather than power output, is the key element in this design. – While the fan did indeed stop operating below circa 50% load, it still seemed to take around 5-10 minutes at 80% and 100% load before it deemed it necessary to run.
I did, in fact, have to step away from our test bench for a little while and then check the fan’s connection I was that surprised it didn’t immediately kick into action. – Overall though, even at full load, and even with that somewhat scary 2,000RPM figure, the cooling solution is still impressively quiet.
I should note that when the fan did operate, the power supply was getting rather hot. I could, in fact, actually feel the heat coming off it. It would, therefore, be interesting to see how the fan operation is tied into the temperatures with some celsius figures. Alas though, Lian Li has not provided these. – Overall though, for as small and potent as the Lian Li SP850, the fan seems to be exceptionally well designed for the task in hand to ensure good cooling while keeping noise surprisingly low, and in low output instances, absolutely silent.
