NZXT C-Series C850 & C1000 GOLD Power Supply Reviews

A Closer Look

As noted earlier in this review, the NZXT C850 and C1000 GOLD are, aesthetically speaking, practically identical with the only external differencing effecting coming down to the product branding. – With this in mind, therefore, if you’re looking at one, unless we state otherwise below (and yes, there are some other interesting differences), presume that it applies to both, and, indeed, all of the new C-Series PSU models from NZXT.

Externally, we’re going to be bluntly honest and say that this newly revised C-Series of power supplies likely isn’t going to win any innovation awards. They’re black, they’re square, and on a visual level… Well, quite frankly, they’re a bit both boring and generic. – The only mildly nice visual touch is the fact that the NZXT branding and product name has been embossed into the metal rather than them taking the cheaper (and often uglier) choice of just slapping a sticker.

Other than this though, I’m sorry to say it NZXT, but these look very generic!

Generic is not, of course though, to say that they are ugly and in many respects, NZXT has made some wise choices. A key example of this can be seen on the top of the PSU with the technical specifications sticker. – Usually, this is quite large but NZXT has made the, what I consider wise, decision to shrink this down quite significantly.

As you can see below, the cable input ports for both the C850 and C1000 GOLD are identical with them offering the exact same number of cables and inserts. – In terms of the layout, this is well presented with each section having a clearly denoted annotation. The only slight grumble I have is that the cables are very terse and fitting them in the ports is tight work. – Put simply, I would strongly recommend hooking up all the cables you need before fitting this PSU into your system.

In terms of the exhaust panel, this is, again, quite straightforward. With pretty much the entire section open for ventilation, however, this should help promote a minimal fan operation and especially so in combination with the ‘ZERO RPM FAN MODE’ functionality. – In regards to this though, rather unusually NZXT has decided to utilise a push-button operation. This is usually controlled via a switch. – Now, of course, this makes no difference one way or the other, but it’s merely a technical annoyance I guess that having the button in the ‘out’ position turns the ZERO RPM functionality on?… Is it just me, or does this kind of feel like it’s the wrong way around?…

Oh, and no, this doesn’t affect the functionality of the on/off one way or the other. I just found it a bit… weird.

Cabling

The cabling for the NZXT C850 and C1000 GOLD is excellent with it coming in a highly durable woven protective sheathing. This is, admittedly, a little terse and especially so in regards to the main motherboard 24-pin cable. On the whole though, it does still offer enough flexibility for some decent levels of cable management.

In terms of length, although the valued do differ slightly from the original models, the newly revised C850 and C1000 GOLD cabling is still more than long enough to suit the vast majority of case designs. As above, the only real grumble you may have is that it’s perhaps a bit too thick, and by proxy, not very flexible to weave around tight spaces. – I guess it’s a factor of protection vs practicality though.

Internals – A Look Inside!

Both the NZXT C50 and C1000 GOLD utilise a newly upgraded cooling solution. The new fan is slightly larger than offered on the original version and is also capable of significantly higher speeds. The only apparent trade-off is that with this size and performance, extra noise is added to the equation. We have seen this ‘Ong Hua’ fan utilised within many PSUs, however, and overall have never failed to be impressed with its performance. If anything though, we’ll concede it’s a bit disappointing that a pretty generic third-party model has been utilised here.

C850 GOLD

Internal, the C850 presents itself very well with a nice and clean design with minimal cabling or white/black anti-vibration glue on display. The heat sink banks have a nice central location and, on the whole, this looks to be well thought out and sleek PCB. – In addition, the main capacitor is a Japanese design (Rubycon) and is rated to 105C making it definitely a quality component.

C1000 GOLD

The C1000 GOLD is pretty similar to the C850 and while we could perhaps play a game of ‘spot the difference’ to highlight all of the little/moderate changes between them, the most notable one is that the C1000 GOLD utilises, perhaps surprisingly, a different brand for its main capacitor. – This is again, 100% Japanese (Nippon Chemi-Con), and again is rated to 105C making it a quality component.

We’re not going to lie though, seeing two different key components utilised within this singular PSU series is more than a little bizarre. They’re great capacitors, but why are they different in the 850W and 1000W variants?… And more so, is this going to vary in the future?…

Overall Thoughts!

Overall, the NZXT C850 and C1000 look like solid, professional, no-nonsense power supplies. They’re built to do a job and, based on what we can see inside, there’s absolutely no reason why these shouldn’t perform excellently. – Admittedly, in terms of aesthetics, NZXT has done nothing to overly impress us here. For people looking for a clean and solid PSU though, the new C-Series certainly looks to be ticking all the right boxes.

What about that performance though? Well, let’s find out!