Introduction

We would like to thank Fractal Design for supplying the review sample.

Fractal Design is mostly known for their superb chassis line-up, but they have put a lot of effort into the PSU market as of late by introducing three new series: the Newton 3, Tesla R2, and Integra R2 (in order from high-end to mainstream). Since we are still waiting for their higher-end models to hit our lab, we will evaluate the strongest member of the budget Integra R2 series. It has a capacity of 750 W, which will likely make it interesting to a great portion of users.

All Integra R2 units feature Bronze efficiency, don’t carry any modular cables, and their dimensions are very compact with a depth of 140 mm - the standard is 160 mm. This makes them ideal for extra small chassis that cannot accommodate standard-sized PSUs. The Integra R2 line currently includes three members of 500 W, 650 W, and 750 W capacity. All of them do, according to Fractal Design, use Taiwanese capacitors. They may not be as good as Japanese caps, but they are surely better than Chinese caps.

A non-modular PSU will probably be a turn-off to a lot of users now-a-days, but a modular cabling design adds a significant burden to a PSU's overall production cost and most companies pick to cut out a modular design before anything else to reduce costs. To be frank, we are not a great supporter of non-modular PSUs, but we do prefer the lack of modular cables instead of a cut in component quality that would inevitably lead to a lower performance and decreased reliability.

Specifications

Efficiency is only Bronze since this PSU belongs to the mainstream category, and its maximum operating temperature at which full power can be delivered continuously is restricted to 40°C. This, however, won't stop us from testing it at 40°C - 45°C as we do with all PSUs we evaluate. Protection features include all but the crucial OTP (Over Temperature Protection) feature, which is, in our humble opinion, essential to a unit with a 40°C max operating temperature.

A sleeved-bearing fan handles the cooling of the unit. This helps lower production costs since ball-bearing fans are more expensive (but they also last longer). The length of the PSU is minimal considering its capacity, and it makes the unit compatible with an extra small chassis. Finally, the warranty is long enough for a mainstream category PSU, and the price looks decent after the unit's specifications are taken into account.


There are two +12V rails with high enough maximum current output each, but their combined power output is significantly lower than the overall output of the unit, which is an indication that the minor rails are generated through conventional methods and not with the help of DC-DC converters. Speaking of the minor rails, their max combined power is high and will practically be of no use to a modern system since contemporary systems utilize these two rails lightly by drawing most of the juice from the +12V rail. Finally, the 5VSB rail is strong enough with 3 A maximum current output.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The number of connectors is small, even for a mainstream unit. We don't mind the lack of a second EPS connector much since a budget PSU like this won't be used with a server mainboard, but only having two peripheral connectors looks pretty strange. Two molex connectors are, in most cases, barely even enough for the chassis fans, so Fractal Design ought to provide more, especially since they are knee-deep into chassis design. Overall cable length is satisfactory, but the distance amongst PCIe connectors is silly small at only 7.5 cm. Considering the rigidity of the PCIe cables, it was really tough to snap both PCIe connectors on each cable onto our fixture sockets and the latter aren't that close to each other as they are on VGAs. Finally, all connectors use 18AWG guages, which is the minimum that the ATX spec recommends in most cases (22AWG wires are only for sense wires and FDD connectors).


The limited number of +12V rails doesn't allow for optimal power distribution. This is clearly seen in the second row of the above table; it describes the connectors that are fed by the second +12V rail. As you can see, the EPS connector is mixed into the second PCIe cable with two attached PCIe connectors, so you better use the PCIe cable with solid yellow wires if you plan on using a single VGA since it is powered by +12V1. Now, you will have to mix the EPS connector with two of the PCIe ones if you plan on using two double-PCIe input VGAs.

Packaging

Since the dimensions of the unit are pretty compact, there is no need for a large package, so the box that stores the Integra R2 PSU is really small, and it is shaped like a cube. At the front, we find two quarter shots of the PSU along with the nice Fractal Design logo, the 80 Plus Bronze badge, and another badge referring to the three-year warranty period.


We find a brief multi-lingual features description on this side of the box.


The power specifications table and a list of all provided connectors are given on this side.


On the rear, Fractal Design provides a more comprehensive description of the PSU's basic features and an efficiency graph. They, among other things, mention the extremely short case that houses the PSU and the, as they call it, long EPS cable; it is long enough with 680 mm, but it certainly isn't "extra-long". We would only call it "extra-long" if it was over 700 mm long.