Fractal Design Tesla R2 1000W PSU Review

1. Introduction2. Fractal Design Tesla R2 1000W (Bundle/Cables & Exterior)3. Fractal Design Tesla R2 1000W (External)4. Fractal Design Tesla R2 (Internal)5. Fractal Design Tesla R2 (Super High Res Gallery)6. Testing Methodology & Results7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

If you need a very high output power supply and are shopping with a limited budget, then the Fractal Design Tesla R2 1000W is a decent buy. At only £130 inc vat it certainly will appeal to the audience who chase high wattage figures.

The unit is well made, constructed from a high quality metal outer shell which has received silk screening for the logo presentation, rather than simple stickers. We like how they have suspended the fan with rubber screws to decouple it from the power supply case itself, reducing vibrations and lowering noise levels. Overall emissions are low and only in the last 20% of power output does the fan spin up significantly.

Technically the unit is a good power supply exhibiting solid load regulation and commendable efficiency, however we do need to comment on the weak ripple suppression via both +3.3V and +5V rails. The results are not exceeding the industry tolerance guidelines, however they are close to the borderline (35mV for +3.3V and 45mV for +5V).

Our biggest concern with this power supply is the fact that all the cables are hardwired. With a lower wattage unit this isn't such a concern, but it is very unusual for a 1000W unit to be completely non modular. Building a system with the Tesla R2 1000W means you will need to spend a lot of time routing behind the tray and ensuring they are hidden from view. The problem is compounded with the fact they haven't adopted the ribbon style ‘thin' cables either. A bulging case door may very well be a possibility.

Additionally I feel that they should have adopted 8x PCI E cables, rather than 6x. The Cooler Master V Series 1000W which we reviewed earlier this week had 8x PCI E cables which means you can comfortably run a Quad SLI or Crossfire setup. With the Tesla R2 supply you may need to use MOLEX power converters depending on the graphics cards. This raises another concern as there are only 2 MOLEX connectors available on the Tesla R2 1000W, the same as the Tesla R2 500W unit.

If you are working to a very tight budget, then the Tesla R2 offers a lot of wattage for the price. There are however other slightly more proficient options available around £130. One of my first choices would be the Corsair HX850W – it has 12 MOLEX connectors and 12 SATA connectors for instance and offers superior ripple suppression characteristics. You can read our review on this model, over here.

Pros:

• A lot of watts for the money.
• good build quality.
• strong load regulation.
• high grade cabling.
• quiet.

Cons:

• non modular.
• shortage of Molex connectors.
• only 6 PCI E connectors.
• ripple suppression could be better.

Kitguru says: A decent all round power supply at a very competitive price, but there are some superior 850watt units at the same price.

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