FSP Hydro G Pro ATX 3.0. From creators of the unforgettable

The FSP Hydro G Pro PSU (850 W)

The legendary “Fortrons” are ancient history, but many of you still remember them vividly. Especially when it comes to the Blue Storm model series, which among the cheaper ones of its time represented one of the few alternatives. Its manufacturer was FSP, as is the case with the Hydro G Pro. With that, we can also talk about better affordability for a powerful, 850-watt model.

From the outside

When it comes exclusively to ATX 3.0 power supplies, the Hydro G Pro ATX3.0 (80 Plus Gold) represents a kind of middle class in the FSP lineup. Cheaper than it is the Hydro GT Pro ATX3.0 ((80 Plus Gold)) and the low-end is Hexa 85+ PRO ATX3.0 with 80 Plus Bronze certification. We were very interested in the latter power supply (to have something really “cheap” for comparison), but it is not currently sold, although it is a new model with a proper product page on the FSP website. However, we will focus on the Hydro G Pro ATX3.0 in our tests. If you can’t wait until its results are published and would like to buy it before then, it’s important to make sure that it includes “ATX3.0” in the name. There is in fact an older “Hydro G Pro” supporting the ATX 2.52 standard, which has slightly different specifications associated with it.

The grille in front of the fan is circular, but it’s not a wire type like on the Chieftec Polaris 3.0. The holes are stamped traditionally into the sheet metal, but perhaps with an eye towards a more acoustically pleasing profile. The rounding of the outer edges of the grille holes might also contribute to this.

Overall, it is a rather shorter PSU (with a casing length of 150 mm) and if you are wondering what the “Eco” button on the rear grille is for, it is to enable semi-passive fan mode up to 30% load.

In the case of the tested 850 W variant, the fan should be turning on at around 255 W. Such fan switch-off helps to achieve especially higher efficiency at very low loads, at which the ATX 3.0 standard has tightened the requirements. However, we assume that the power supply will fit into the required values even with the fan running (i.e. with Eco mode turned off).

The 12-volt rail here is a single strong one that should handle a continuous load of at least 70.8 amps. In practice it will probably be more, you’ll find out exactly how much from the overload protection tests.

The 12VHPWR connector for external power supply of the more powerful graphics cards with Nvidia GPUs is a “600-watt” connector, with 16-pin on either side. Due to the fact that it uses hollows which are supposed to be more in contact with the pins (which is good, it reduces the transient resistance/temperature), you have to apply relatively more force to push it in all the way. A gentle pop, produced by the snap of the latch on the connector, informs you of the correct installation.

The power supply has three traditional 6+2-pin connectors, just enough to connect the most powerful Radeon RX 7900 XTXs. Rare nowadays is the presence of a 4-pin “Floppy” connector, which, from still useful devices, can be used to power older memory card readers or some multi-channel fan controllers.

With the exception of the cable with 16-pin PCIe 5.0 connectors (12VHPWR), which has individual wires in a mesh, all others are flat.

The FSP Hydro G Pro ATX 3.0 is the cheapest power supply we are preparing for comparison tests at the suggested price of 150 EUR.

… and from the inside

The fan used is “only” 120 mm, which is smaller than most ATX power supplies. It’s the Protechnic MGA12012XF-O25, which is expected to hit 2700 rpm at its maximum. But at optimal loads between 50–60%, it will hopefully be staying at significantly lower speeds. According to the advertised FSP chart, the speed should never exceed 1300 rpm.

The design of the power supply is atypical using “larger” electrical components.

Notice that there is only one capacitor on the input filtering, but it is one proper cylinder with a capacity of up to 680 μF. It is a Nippon Chemi-Con of the first-class KHS range. The smaller capacitors in the secondary are also Nippon Chemi-Con, but already (according to the parameters also very decent) KZE models.

* The number of PCI Express connectors is given as the sum of native and shared connectors (the second number after the “+” sign). Native connectors are those that are the same on both sides. Shared ones are then connected via different connectors on the power supply side, for example, a single 300-watt 16-pin (12VHPWR) is created by using two 6+2-pin connectors, and vice versa – a 16-pin connector can be used to connect a cable with two 6+2-pin connectors.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

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• The FSP Hydro G Pro PSU (850 W)