NZXT has positioned themselves as the choice for gamers on a budget. They offer a wide variety of decent cases which can usually be found at the largest national retailers to the smallest retail computer stores. Most of the time, budget gamers will need to purchase their own power supplies as most cases come without one. NZXT has stepped up in this respect by offering quality power supplies at a reasonable price. Today we’ll be looking at NZXT’s Performance Power (PP800) 800 Watt Power Supply.

Features & Specifications

NZXT’s Performance Power series of power supplies offers “performance without sacrifice” and are engineered to provide all the power you need to power most high end systems. The unit offers up a 78% efficiency rating while pushing four +12V rails. The 800 Watts provided should satisfy the needs of most SLI gaming systems.

The Performance Power PP800 also features:

• Compliance with Intel ATX / BTX Standard
• Gold-Coated Connectors
• Output Over / Under / Short / Overload Protection
• Smooth black matte finish
• Industry Standard ATX V2.91
• Low Noise 80mm and 120mm Fan
• Four +12V Rails
• PCI-E 6/8pin, SATA, EPS12V Ready

The features that will attract most users are the quad +12V rails, 78% power efficiency, and both 6 and 8-pin PCIE Express connectors. There’s room to add multiple performance based video cards that need the extra power connectors. The four +12V rails mean plenty of power is spread out among the system. As you can see on the spec label, the +3.3V, +5V, and +12V rails all offer decent respectable amperage.

What’s most significant about the amperage is that NZXT didn’t waste precious amps on the +3.3V and +5V. Quality power supplies will offer a good balance on these two rails where as cheaper ones will offer too much. At 24 and 32 Amps respectively, this is almost the perfect balance. Of course, the +12V1 and +12V2 offer 18 Amps with the +12V3 @ 20 Amps and +12V4 @ 22 Amps.

Another feature not mentioned is the current price. Even though it’s an 800 Watt power supply, it can still be found for $120 to $140 depending on the retailer. This positions it quite aggressively with other proven power supplies. Testing will reveal whether it’s a steal or something too good to be true. NZXT also puts this power supply out in more modest 500 and 600 watt models.

What’s in the Box?

The box contains a power cord, mounting screws, and naturally the power supply. There’s not much to have to bundle inside, though it would have been nice to see a few cheap Velcro straps for managing the cables once the PSU is installed. Moving right along…