Introduction

We would like to thank Super Flower for supplying the review sample.



Super Flower is inevitably one of the best PSU manufacturers today, and their fresh Leadex platform pushes them even closer to the top because the company managed to combine top quality and performance with affordable pricing, which is extremely rare. They were also smart enough to not only offer the Leadex platform in its native Platinum efficiency as the company rolled out their Gold-certified version with slightly lower efficiency but a better price. The Leadex Gold series currently consists of five units with capacities ranging from 650 W to 1300 W. We will evaluate the 750 W unit today; it can support up to two high-end VGAs with its four PCIe connectors.

The Leadex Gold 750 W is available in two colors, black and white, with the second color looking absolutely amazing! Like all members of its series, it is 80 Plus Gold certified, features a fully modular cabling design with SF’s patented crystal-cube connectors, which are LED lighted, and comes with the option to switch between auto-fan and ECO mode, where the fan only spins up at higher loads/temperatures. This unit's price is good considering, but it is unfortunately very close to the offerings of other rebranded SF products. A few more euros will get you a product with the same platform that lacks all the extra bells and whistles, but has a capacity of 1 kW. The companies that sell rebranded SF units apparently offer such products at affordable prices while forcing SF to sell their own retail units at slightly higher prices so as not to compete with the OEM, which would explain the low availability of SF products; you won't find any unless you pick NZXT, Rosewill, or EVGA in the US, and there is only one distributor for SF products in Europe. This situation will hopefully change once SF increases production without compromising on quality or price.

Specifications

Although the original Leadex platform come with Platinum efficiency, the unit is only Gold certified. SF obviously chose to lower efficiency a bit to improve pricing, and we like their way of thinking since there are only slight differences between a good Gold and Platinum unit. All other characteristics of the Platinum Leadex units were thankfully kept intact, including the fully modular cabling design and semi-passive operation. The fan is also of high quality. Its maker says it to use a Fluid Dynamic bearing, which will have the fan produce less noise and last longer than a ball-bearing variant.

The maximum operating temperature is 50°C, which is as the ATX spec recommends, and the available protections include all but OTP (Over Temperature Protection), which we think of as essential in a PSU. The unit's dimensions are pretty large because SF used the same casing for all Leadex units. The warranty is set to five years and the price looks a little high in comparison to other SF offerings we have tested in the past.

The single +12V rail can easily support two high-end VGAs, and the minor rails have more than enough juice for a contemporary system. Even the 5VSB rail is strong; that is, for a 750 W unit.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

This PSU comes with two EPS connectors and a ton of SATA and peripheral ones, but not enough PCIe connectors as six would suit such a high-end product more. The unit might run into problems with three umber-high-end VGAs running at full throttle (e.g. mining or furmark), but it could easily feed three low- to mid-end VGAs without an overclock (three AMD 7950s, for example).

Overall cable length is adequate, but we would like a slightly longer 24-pin ATX cable. It should ideally be 600 mm long. The distance between connectors is good, and all connectors use the standard AWG18 gauges.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on about its power distribution.

Packaging

Although the unit is white, it comes in a black box with Super Flower's logo taking up most of the front's real estate. In the top-right corner are the 80 Plus Gold badge and a "90+" figure, which, according to SF, is the efficiency at which the PSU operates with a typical load (50% of maximum-rated capacity). The unit's capacity description can be found in the bottom-left corner.


On this side of the box are a brief features list and a partially transparent scheme of the unit.


The unit is available in two colors and here is clear proof directly on the package itself that SF mailed us the white variant.


On the back of the box is a graphical representation of the unit's most notable features. These include the fully modular cabling design, Japanese caps, semi-passive operation, specially designed main transformer, ErP Lot 6 2013 compliance, and 80 Plus Gold certification. The specifications table and a graph showing the fan's operational profile in both modes, auto and ECO, can be found on the same side.

Contents

The PSU is protected by two layers of packing foam and comes wrapped in a nice white bag for some additional protection, although the bag is mostly there to create that first positive impression after taking the unit out of the box.


A black pouch stores all modular cables, and the bundle includes the user's manual and a set of fixing bolts. The bundle will most likely also include a warranty leaflet. We unfortunately didn't find any Velcro straps or zip ties.


If you know Chinese, you will know what is written on that sheet of paper in the first of the above photos. It probably has something to do with the provided warranty. The user's manual is thankfully written in English, and it contains some useful information, although it is a generic manual, not one specific to the Leadex series.