ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum is a power supply unit (PSU) that is not just powerful and well built, but also quiet and beautiful. You have to see it to believe it, but this power supply unit has RGB LEDs and an OLED screen that displays your computer's power consumption in real time. To find out more about the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum power supply unit, read this review and see why this power supply unit is different from others:

ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU: Who is it good for?

The ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU is an excellent choice for people who:

• Want top performance and can afford to pay for it
• Appreciate RGB lighting and fancy having a PSU that is compatible with the ASUS AURA SYNC ecosystem
• Want the OLED screen so that they can see the power consumption of their computer in real time, without using software
• Are fans of the Republic of Gamers brand

Pros and cons

There are a lot of good things to say about the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum power supply unit:

• It is a powerful and efficient power supply unit, and it's certified as 80 Plus Platinum
• It has an OLED screen that shows the power consumption in real time
• It has RGB lighting and it is compatible with Aura Sync
• Most of its cables are individually sleeved
• It has a quiet mode, in which the fan only spins at high temperatures
• The cooling radiators inside are larger and more efficient than the average

The only negative aspect of the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum is the premium price.

Verdict

The ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum is one of the best power supply units that we have used and it is probably one of the best that you can find in stores right now. We appreciate its performance, the 80 Plus Platinum efficiency certification, and individually sleeved cables. However, what makes it stand out from the crowd is its OLED screen that shows the wattage in real time, the Aura Sync-compatible lighting, and its quietness. If that sounds like something you want, and you have the budget for it, this power supply unit is an excellent choice.

Unboxing the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU

ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU is packaged in a premium box that looks great. The front features a large picture of the power supply unit, as well as its name, brand, and some of its certifications.

On the back of the box, ASUS printed more information about the power supply unit. Here's where you find out that the PSU has an OLED screen, details about AURA Sync, or what it means that it has an 80 Plus Platinum certification.

Opening the box reveals its contents: two smaller boxes with artwork on them, sitting one next to the other. One of the boxes contains the power supply unit, while the other contains all the cables, accessories, and documents bundled with it.

Taking everything out of the two boxes, you should end up with the power supply, its power cable, a pouch filled with modular cables, a series of screws, some cable ties, and the product documentation.

The unboxing experience for the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU is exquisite. It is obvious right from the start that you are dealing with a high-end premium device.

Design and hardware specifications

Design isn't usually important for a power supply unit, but the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum is different. ASUS designed it to appeal to gamers, and, for that, the company not only added RGB lights on the power supply unit, but also placed an OLED screen on it!

The OLED screen is useful and looks great if you have a case in which you can show it off. Unfortunately, we do not, so that's why we are showing you pictures of it on our desk rather than in our computer case. The OLED screen was designed to always display the real-time wattage, meaning that you can look at it at any given time and instantly see how much electrical power your computer is using. That is useful information, especially when you build yourself a powerful computer.

Other than that, the other design elements are trying to send the message that this power supply unit is robust and can handle anything. This impression is only multiplied by the thick diagonal lines on the fan air grille, the visible screws, as well as the punctured air grille on the back of the unit.

The only buttons on the PSU are found on its back, next to the power port. There is an on/off button and one other button that lets you enable or disable the quiet fan mode. When enabled, the power supply unit does not spin the fan unless you are running something demanding on your computer. If you are doing light work that does not require much energy and thus does not create a lot of heat, the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU should be dead silent. 🙂

To be able to dissipate heat efficiently, the power supply unit uses integrated ROG heatsinks. According to ASUS, they have two times more volume than traditional heatsinks and help the ROG Thor to have 20% lower temperatures. That also translates into a longer lifespan of the components and a lower fan noise.

The Thor power supply is modular, meaning that all its cables are detachable. That means that you only have to connect and use the cables you need and keep the insides of your computer free of any cables you do not need to use. Being a premium power supply unit, all its data cables are also sleeved, most of them individually sleeved.

Here is the list of cables that are included in the box: one 24-pin connection, two 8-pin CPU/EPS cables, four 6+2-pin PCIe cables, twelve SATA connections, five Molex connections, one Floppy connector, two RGB header connector cables.

The ASUS ROG Thor 850W also has an 80 PLUS Platinum certification. That means that it guarantees 89% efficiency in full load (850 Watts) and 92% efficiency at half load. It also offers the following protection features: OPP (Over Power Protection), OVP (Over Voltage Protection), SCP (Short-Circuit Protection), OCP (Over Current Protection), and OTP (Over Temperature Protection).

ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum is an excellent piece of technology, that the company has built to last. To make sure we trust it, ASUS stamps a 10-year warranty on it, which is a lot! However, the OLED screen and the RGB lights are only covered for 3 years.

Finally, if you are interested in the size of the Thor 850W power supply unit, its dimensions are 6.3 x 5.9 x 3.38 inches, or 16 x 15 x 8.6 centimeters. Because of its robust components, the PSU is also quite heavy: 1.86 kilograms or 4 pounds and 1.61 ounces.

The ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum is one premium power supply unit with strong hardware specs and unique features. The RGB lights and the OLED panel are things you do not usually see on power supply units, and we must admit we like them.

Using the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU

Ever since I got my hands on the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum power supply unit, I have enjoyed using it a lot. It is premium hardware that not only works great but also looks great.

The OLED screen especially is a really nice touch. Just by looking at it, you can always know how much power your gaming machine draws. It's even better that you don't have to use any software to get this information from the power supply unit, although it would have been nice to also have a way to log the wattage during longer periods of time. Here's a video that shows the PSU illumination effects and OLED wattage screen:

Unfortunately, before you can enjoy the RGB illumination effects and see how much power your computer uses, you need to make sure that you have a case that lets you see the PSU. Many computer cases today, including mine, tend to cover up the power supply unit entirely so that you cannot see it at all. A case like the Cooler Master MasterCase MC600P might be a better choice in this regard.

Using our test computer, we tried to get an idea of how much power we actually need, and whether the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum power supply unit can deliver it. We checked the wattage when booting the computer, when running trivial tasks such as working with Office apps or browsing the internet, and finally, when playing demanding games.

Our test computer had the following configuration:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (8 cores, 16 threads, Base Clock 3200MHz, Max Boost Clock 4100 MHz)
• CPU Cooler: ASUS ROG RYUO 120
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VII HERO (WI-FI)
• Memory: ADATA SPECTRIX D60G DDR4 RGB Memory (4 x 8GB, 3000MHz, PC4-24000)
• Storage: ADATA XPG GAMMIX S11 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive
• Monitor: ASUS ROG Strix XG32VQ Curved Gaming Monitor (32-inch WQHD 2560 x 1440, 144Hz)

When we boot Windows 10, the computer draws a maximum power of 127 watts, as you can see in the picture below.

During normal day-by-day use, writing articles, browsing the internet, listening to music, or watching videos on YouTube, our computer usually needed about 100 watts. That's nothing compared to what this power supply unit can deliver.

The most demanding activity in terms not only of computer processing power, but also of electricity consumed, is games. Nowadays, we like Metro Exodus a lot, so this is the game that we play most often. It has some steep system requirements compared to other games, but our computer can handle it quite nicely. The ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum power supply unit also proved to be more than powerful enough to provide the power needed. The highest wattage that we witnessed was 226 Watts.

Although we do not have the required measurement devices to calculate all the specifications of the power supply unit, we can say that, during the last month, we never had any issues arise from the lack of enough power. The ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU did its job very well.

Furthermore, if you feel that 850 Watts is not enough for you (which is true only if you are using two powerful video cards in your computer), you should know that ASUS also has a 1200 Watts version of this PSU.

We love using the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum power supply unit, and we bet that any gamer or computer enthusiast is also going to enjoy it. It offers all the power you need for any modern gaming computer with any hardware components, regardless of how powerful they are.

Would you buy the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum PSU?

Now you know how we feel about the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum power supply unit, and what we like and do not like about it. Before you close this review, tell us your opinion about this power supply unit. If you already own one, what has been your experience with it? Comment below and let's discuss.