NZXT C-Series C850 & C1000 GOLD Power Supply Reviews

How Much Does it Cost?

Available in wattage outputs of 650W all the way up to 1000W, NZXT has confirmed the following price structure of its newly revised C-Series of power supplies:

• C650 – $129.99/£89.99
• C750 – $139.99/£99.99
• C850 – $149.99/£109.99
• C1000 – $179.99/£139.99

So admittedly, in terms of prices, these are about what you’d expect to pay for a quality fully-modular 80-Plus Gold PSU. They’re not overpriced, but they’re certainly not bargains either. Or are they?…

Performance

Based on the absolutely amazing levels of performance offered in our testing, NZXT’s newly revised C-Series might just represent the greatest power supplies of the year. No, this is not admittedly noticeable on the surface of things because we’ll freely concede that the aesthetics on ‘offer’ here are a bit of a snooze fest. I’m more approaching this from the point of view that these are like the Vauxhall Carlton. It looks pretty average, but performs amazingly!

Yes, to coin a motoring term, I fully consider the NZXT C850 and C1000 GOLD to be sleeper hits! – They look like your average PSU but offer performance way beyond your wildest expectations.

Admittedly, they’re not perfect and perhaps my sole notable gripe (other than their incredibly bland design) is the inclusion, yet again, of another rather pointless ZERO RPM FAN functionality mode. I genuinely don’t understand why so many PSU manufacturers are bothering to stick with this. With it on or off, I can’t honestly say that in the grand scheme of things it made any notable difference to the noise levels of these power supplies. – Yes, of course, the PSU is silent when the fans not running. And less noise is always preferable to more noise. Operating at circa 500-1,200 RPM though, it’s barely audible at all and certainly wouldn’t stand out in a system full of components.

It’s a small point of personal opinion though. And perhaps made solely in the fact that everything else about these NZXT C-Series power supplies was so fantastic!

Should I Buy One?

These newly revised NZXT C-Series PSUs are, quite possibly, going to be some of the best models I get to review this year. Their performance in our testing provided results massively in excess of their already pretty solid specifications. As above, for the lack of a better analogy, if the C850 and C1000 GOLD PSUs were cars, they’d get a very deserved reputation as a ‘sleeper’ (Click here if you’re not familiar with the term).

For as amazing as they perform though, I do think that these are going to suffer on the consumer market for two pretty solid reasons. – Firstly, on an aesthetic level, and there’s no polite way to put this, they’re boring. While there is nothing displeasing about how these C-Series PSUs look, they commit the huge sin of just looking like everything else. Yes, it’s hard to be different with PSUs. Their nature alone dictates a rectangular box which you can’t do much about. And yes, some attempts to make this ‘look good’ do fall into the trap of putting a pig in makeup.

The bottom line though is that these are really excellent PSUs. Perhaps some of the best I’ve ever encountered in terms of performance, and they just look so incredibly generic and underwhelming! – And this possibly leads (or adds) to the second problem. While not expensive, these are not inexpensive enough to attract the casual consumer’s attention. And overall, if the visuals aren’t getting the customer’s attention, and the price tag isn’t either, what exactly will?!

Well, hopefully, reviews like this I guess because putting everything else to one side, the NZXT C-Series C850 and C1000 GOLD are truly excellent! They’re sleek, smart, professional, and perform on an incredibly high level that goes, at least in our testing, well beyond the official remit on the packaging.

You will not regret buying one of these. NZXT, however, might end up regretting not pushing the aesthetics boat out a little here though just to garner a little more ‘casual consumer’ attention.