NZXT HALE82 850-watt Power Supply Review

Introduction, Specifications, Availability and Pricing

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A little over a year ago, NZXT come to market with their first power supply. We happily took a thorough look at the NZXT HALE90 850W power supply and were very pleased with it.

It was squarely aimed at enthusiasts with high efficiency and great performance with several options not normally seen in a mainstream product. All of this came with a little bit of a price premium and as such, there were many that passed on the power supply simply because it was a little bit out of their budget. Enter the NZXT HALE82.

The new NZXT HALE82 series of power supplies aren't meant for enthusiast, but are more geared towards mainstream gamers. One of the main differences that most will notice is that the new HALE82 series is only rated for 80Plus Bronze efficiency.

The price drop will certainly be noticed too as the new units are at least $40 cheaper and offered in lower wattages to boot. Will the HALE82 be able to hold the reputation that NZXT built with the HALE90 series? We will find out shortly as we throw the HALE82 850W on the bench for testing.

Specifications, Availability and Pricing

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NZXT beefed up the outputs of the HALE82 850W as it now is rated for 25A on both the 3.3V and 5V rails with a combined total output of 150W. This is certainly a welcome step up from before. 70A of power is served up on the single 12V rail which should provide plenty of power for the six PCI-E connectors available with the unit.

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NZXT expanded the features just a little bit on the HALE82 power supplies. This time around we get a full range of protections with the addition of over temperature protection. Usually when this is added they also rate the unit for 100% continuous output at 50C, but oddly enough, we couldn't find any documentation that the unit had the rating. The power supply still sports both native and modular cabling.

NZXT has made the HALE82 power supplies readily available through all of your normal online merchants. The cheapest we were able to find the unit online at the Directon for a total of $139.99 with free shipping. NZXT gladly backs the HALE82 with a 5-year warranty. If you keep your receipt or register the unit online, NZXT promises to have your unit replaced in 3 days should it die AND they will pay for shipping both ways. Major props to NZXT for stepping the warranty game up a bit.

The Packaging

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The packaging is almost identical to the HALE90 series with a small window to catch a glimpse of what is inside and some of the major features highlighted. Note the sticker on the front that also lets you know about their new warranty. You have to <3 the name, Less Than Three.

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The back has a good list of cables and specifications.

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One side has a few charts depicting the efficiency and noise of the unit.

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The other is simply blank.

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The top is not quite as simplistic as the last picture, but very close as it only contains the NZXT logo.

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Checking out the bottom you will find a list of features in multiple languages.

Inside the Box

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Here we find out things are packed inside the box. The unit is protected by plenty of foam so that it doesn't receive any damage during shipping.

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On top is the I/O specification label and serial number.

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On one side we find a simplistic side with just the NZXT logo stamped into the metal.

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The other side is as plain as can be as it doesn't even have the logo stamped into it.

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Moving to the back of the HALE82, we find the standard honeycomb mesh with on/off rocker switch and AC input.

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Here we have the modular connections on the front as well as the native cables exiting the unit. NZXT uses both a grommet and a zip tie to protect the native cables exiting the power supply.

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The bottom of the unit houses the white fan with wire grill that cools the HALE82 power supply. The white fan gives a nice look to the unit if you are seeking something with high contrast.

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All of the modular cables included are of the flat ribbon type and are not sleeved.

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Also included is a user manual, AC power cord and mounting screws.

Cabling Arrangement and A Look Inside

Cabling Arrangement

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NZXT makes sure that you have plenty of cables with the HALE82 series. Dual ATX4+4/EPS12V and six PCI-E connectors ensure that you'll be able to use all the juice it offers while the fiver peripheral cables make sure that you'll be able to power all of your drives and accessories.

Two very nice things to note here is that there are both short and long SATA cables as well as no floppy connectors. Not even an adapter. It's about time. Thanks for taking another step towards the future NZXT.

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NZXT keeps the rail distribution sweet and simple with a single 12V rail.

A Look Inside

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Opening things up, we find ample cooling inside a very busy power supply.

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A pair of Japanese made Nippon Chemi-Con caps adorn the primary side of the HALE82 850W power supply.

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More Nippon Chemi-Con can be found on the secondary side of the PSU.

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The ADDA AD1212UB-A70GL fan cools the HALE82 power supply.

Test Results and Final Thoughts

Test Results

Our load tests utilize a couple of FAST ATE active load testers and a variety of other equipment such as an oscilloscope, power conditioner, temperature probe and a power consumption meter. You can read more about our standard testing approach here.

The tests performed are based around six conceivable setups that are out there and progressively load down the PSU up to the power supply's limits or 1000W, whichever comes first. Since our test equipment's limits are greater than that of the NZXT HALE82 850W, we can test it to the maximum.

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Let's start by taking a look at the voltages to see how well this unit did during testing. Starting with the 12V rail, we see 1% regulation from start to finish with a total drop of .18V throughout all the tests. The 5V rail didn't quite fair as well with 2% voltage regulation and a total drop of .13V. Moving towards the 3.3V rail, we see that regulation stays at 2% with a total voltage drop of .11V.

DC output quality was good from start to finish. Starting out, we were clearly able to see a ripple on the scope during Test 1 where we measured noise at a low 15mV peak to peak. This steadily increased as the loads also increased. By the time we had reached around 50% load, the unit ripple had crept up to 27mV. Under full load, we saw that the noise on the 12V rail had crept up to 36mV.

The NZXT HALE82 850W is rated for 80Plus Bronze efficiency. This means that the power supply must perform at 82%/85%/82% efficiency at 20%/50%/100% loads respectively. As you can see, the HALE82 850W managed to score a pass while on our test bench. At no time was the unit close to failing for efficiency.

Final Thoughts

NZXT has done an amazing job bringing their second line of power supplies to the market. The new HALE82 units perform excellent all the way around. It is as if they simply took the HALE90, improved the voltage regulation at the cost of efficiency, and offered it at a lower cost.

It still has all of the protections and features that you would expect from an enthusiast unit sans the higher efficiency. Add in the awesome Less Than Three warranty that you normally only see with enterprise equipment and all we can do is highly recommend the HALE82 850W.

If NZXT keeps this up, they will earn themselves quite a name in the power supply industry for years to come.