Conclusion

Built like the proverbial tank and with a sensible array of cables in tow, the £55 asking price is reasonable and performance right up there with larger ATX supplies.

We have long since championed innovation in the mainstream PSU market. Today's PCs are more energy efficient than ever before, with a quality, high-performance build pulling no more than 250W at full chat.

Going hand in hand with this renewed focus on efficiency is form factor, as smaller chassis and half-height cards gain in popularity. German manufacturer be quiet! has an extensive line-up of ATX supplies for the entire spectrum of the market, but has recently updated its TFX range with new-and-improved units.

The TFX Power 2 Gold, rated to 300W with 80 PLUS Gold efficiency, packs a solid punch into the smaller form factor. Built like the proverbial tank and with a sensible array of cables in tow, the £55 asking price is reasonable and performance right up there with larger ATX supplies.

The main argument against this PSU is its limited appeal; there are very few TFX-specific chassis on the market that it can take advantage of. Our hope is that an increase in TFX solutions will encourage manufacturers to create smaller enclosures that are no longer hamstrung by the bulk of traditional ATX units.

If you're one of those people who has a TFX-compatible chassis and wants a high-quality supply to go inside it, the be quiet! TFX Power 2 300W Gold is a fine choice.

The Good

Great build quality
High efficiency
Sensible choice of connectors
Fan barely noticeable below 50 per cent load

The Bad

Limited chassis support
Same-quality ATX supply is cheaper

HEXUS.awards

be quiet! TFX Power 2 300W Gold

HEXUS.where2buy

The be quiet! TFX Power 2 300W Gold cooler is available to purchase from Scan Computers*.

HEXUS.right2reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

*UK-based HEXUS community members are eligible for free delivery and priority customer service through the SCAN.care@HEXUS forum.

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there are very few TFX-specific chassis on the market that it can take advantage of.

Very true, although I have to admit that I am one of the few who have one (AOpen 360b). Sadly I've replaced my PSU in the last year (with a 220W FSP model) - if I hadn't this would definitely have been on my shopping list, although the price is a bit scary….

It wouldn't be much of an increase of price if they just included a TFX to ATX convention/adapter back plate. Would open it up to many other customers in the small case format.

Daletur328
It wouldn't be much of an increase of price if they just included a TFX to ATX convention/adapter back plate. Would open it up to many other customers in the small case format.

Funnily enough that was my immediate thought - make it usable for those cases where you would normally use a bulkier ATX PSU and use the space saved to improve airflow.

The main argument against this PSU is its limited appeal; there are very few TFX-specific chassis on the market that it can take advantage of.

Quite. I've been looking for a NAS chassis, and they're either bulky ones using full ATX PSU's, or space-efficient ones that use SFX PSUs - which because they use 40mm fans are not the quietest.

In which case - to my mind at least - there's definitely a space for a chassis that was basically a shrunk version of the ATX-using ones, but used TFX instead. There's also those folks who want a mini-ITX PC, but would like it as small as possible. Something more capable than a NUC (or similar) but not a large (?!) as a Shuttle type enclosure.

What sort of Db count do you guys get from your power supplies? Looking for one for a silent build and I want my system to be as hush as possible :P

mbx737
What sort of Db count do you guys get from your power supplies? Looking for one for a silent build and I want my system to be as hush as possible :P

I'm going to ask a daft question - other than looking in the specs for a PSU how would I get a “Db count” from just the PSU? I've got case fans, heat sink fans, and that hefty one on my 7970 graphics card all adding to the overall noise.

I got a Corsair AX750 (full sized PSU) just over 3 years ago and that has a 120mm fan that's set to not spin at all until the PSU gets put under load, and then the speed is load dependent. So basically if I'm sitting doing mails etc, the fans not spinning and the PSU is silent. Problem is that a TFX design HAS to use small fans which means noisy. Unless someone out there has a PSU that can pull the same “load dependent fan” trick as my AX?