In Depth look at the Fractal Design Tesla R2 650W PSU

I want to go over more in dept about what this PSU is capable of in terms of power, efficiency, fan speed and noise ratios, and design of the Telsa R2 650W PSU. Also what has Fractal included with this PSU. First off lets explain what the 80PLUS gold rating is.

What does 80PLUS Gold mean?

80PLUS Gold is a certification that is used by all PSU makers to certify the power efficiency of their PSUs. Being gold rated the Fractal Design Tesla R2 650W PSU should be able to provide up to 90% on 115V and 92% on 230V, which is based on the actual load of the PSU. For a full explanation of the all the 80PLUS certifications you can read our PSU Buyers Guide.

Fan Speed and Noise

The image below is from Fractal’s website and it charts out the fan speed and noise level depending on how much of a load you are putting on this PSU. While even at full load this PSU is whisper quiet I personally have never heard the fan at all. Even putting your ear up to the PSU you don’t hear anything coming from the fan when pushing the PSU to its limits. The AMD Test Drive PC that was provided for by AMD doesn’t put a full maxed out load on this PSU. Going though a couple PSU wattage calculators the AMD Test Drive PC only does about 280-300W with everything running at 100%. In the real world that probably isn’t going to happen to much.

Design of the Telsa R2 PSU

Fractal built the Telsa R2 PSUs with aesthetics in mind.  They had their logo imprinted in the metal on top and didn’t use a lot of flashy colors but kept with a mostly white and black theme and a little bit of gold where it needed to be. So the Telsa R2 series and the 650W model in particular will look clean in your case depending on the color scheme. Now while I like the looks and everything of the Fractal Design Tesla R2 650w PSU, I was disappointed that the PSU was not modular. Even semi modular like the current Corsair TX 850M would have been nice. I do love the fact that Fractal did go ahead and sleeve the cables to help keep the clutter to a minimum but I just think with 4 pin molex connectors being used less and less that for the price of this PSU it should have been semi or fully modular. Now having said all of that this PSU does pretty well when it comes to cable management.

Now I do have to give Fractal some credit for not doing anything odd with the fan. Going back to my Corsair TX 850M, Corsair had decided to elevate the fan about a quarter of an inch out from the case of that PSU and if you don’t have risers in your case then it can fit a little to snug for my liking when I secure it to the case, but Fractal made this case flat on top and bottom so no matter what case you put this in you shouldn’t have any issues like that.

What is included in the box?

Like with many other computer components, manufacturers are starting to add more small items that help in the long run and Fractal Designs isn’t any different. Included with this PSU is the power cable, protective bag for the Tesla R2 650W PSU, mounting screws, Velcro straps, zip ties, and the user manual. I can say that while I keep my own supply of screws and zip ties on hand it was nice to find these items sitting beside the PSU ready to be used.