Installation, Testing and Comparison

The Hale 82 850 W was installed into a Gigabyte G33M-DSR Motherboard running an Intel Q9400 with an Intel X25-M 80 GB SSD, a Western Digital 320 GB Hard Drive.  I have been using this PSU for the past month with this system and have not experienced any problems during this time. 

Installation was fast and easy.  NZXT includes an extra long 8-pin connector that can easily reach even into tower cases such as the NZXT Tempest EVO.

Here are the expected tolerances for each rail.  Anything beyond the 5% difference means your PSU is not working properly.  The 3.3 Volt and 5 Volt rail power the digital components while the 12 Volt is for disk drives, fans, video cards and motors.  

Power Supply Voltage Tolerances

For testing a Radio Shack 22-Range Pocket Digital Multimeter (22-820) was plugged directly into the 20-pin connector while running the system at idle and under load.

Starting with the 3.3V rail there was minimal fluctuation between 3.30V and 3.35V, which falls within the 5% tolerance.  

Next  the 5.0V rail is very stable maintaining most of the test time at 5.10-5.1V1 range. 

Finally we look at the 12V rail and see it operating at 12.26V, once again within the tolerance range for the 12V rail. 

For comparison the voltages were measured using OCCT.  Keep in mind the readings from software measured via the motherboard does not always provide the most accurate results as the 12V rail on OCCT came in over the 12.600 V range at 12.65 to 12.74.  Otherwise the 3.3V and 5V rail were in spec as measured by OCCT. 

Acoustically the NZXT Hale82 850 W is relatively quiet.  The 120mm fan is barely audible unless your head is next to the PC.  I am currently using this PSU with a HTPC and it is quiet enough that my family’s viewing experience is not affected by it.  It’s certainly quieter than my original Xbox 360, that’s for sure.