Just like the ‘Apple tax’ of a certain phone and laptop manufacturer, the ‘ROG tax’ is an increasingly well-established concept in PC hardware circles; Asus’ components do often carry a bit of a premium to them, for various reasons. Nonetheless, Amazon UK currently have a decent deal on the 850W 80+ Platinum ROG Strix PSU, taking it down to £120. That’s the lowest price it’s ever been, by the looks of price tracking graphs, and a tasty 33% saving on its £180 RRP.
At this price, you’d usually be looking at Gold-rated PSUs, rather than the ROG Strix’s Platinum – a badge of certification that it works more efficiently than 80+ Gold units. The degree of real-world benefit depends on your usage, but it’s also good for peace of mind – as is the fact that it includes a generous ten-year warranty. Asus also says this unit is up to 30% more efficient with its power thanks to its use of GaN MOSFET, and can run at lower temperatures for better thermals due to Asus rearranging the PSU’s internals, making for a quieter and more efficient system than you might have bargained for.
Being fully modular at this price isn’t a very distinct selling point, but more a necessity for getting rid of case clutter and needless cables. Benefits here are twofold: it saves the eternal headache of managing cables you’re not using, and results in a cleaner build (while saving more of your hair that might otherwise be yanked out in cable-jumble frustration). Likewise, it’s fully PCIe 5.1 and ATX 3.1 compliant, keeping suitable for use with the latest and greatest components.
The 850W of power on offer here is enough for a beefy gaming build with modest headroom for future upgrades, and that’s always advisable with any PC build. We’re above the 750W minimum that’s recommended for both the RTX 5070 Ti and RX 9070 XT, making this a strong PSU to pair with a 1440p or 4K gaming system. You may also be able to get away with an RTX 5080 here, given Nvidia’s recommended 850W minimum for the card, although I’d usually advise a 1000W PSU for a card of that class to provide adequate headroom. Of course, everything underneath that from both Nvidia and AMD will be more than adequate for this wattage.
If you want to grab a beefy PSU for a third off, this £120 Asus ROG Strix Platinum 850W offering from Amazon is a rather handy choice.
