Performance Analysis

Being up against a number of its well-respected peers is instructive for electric performance. The DQ850-M-V2L has mid-pack performance in most of the benchmarks. It's pretty solid in terms of wide-load efficiency but not so great at the very lowest levels, at which modern PCs idle at.

Ripple suppression is also solid, matching high-profile 80 PLUS Gold models from many of the competition. In fact, if one didn't know better, you could throw the proverbial blanket over five supplies and never know the manufacturer - we guess that is what happens when front-end brands such as Deepcool, Corsair, EVGA, et al, pair up with actual PSU manufacturers.

We prefer PSUs with no-fan modes up to, say, 40 percent of load, which enables super-quiet PCs when quality case fans are used in conjunction with graphics cards whose own fans also switch off. That said, the DQ850-M-V2L's 120mm spinner isn't loud when the supply is idling, and It's important to note that at wide loads of between 100W and 600W the fan speed barely changes from the default 900rpm. It's also good to see that Deepcool has paid attention to detail by having the fan-speed curve increase gradually and predictably from 75 percent load until the maximum capacity is reached. 

Performance-wise, then, Deepcool has done a decent-enough job in keeping up with the established competition.

Conclusion 

The Deepcool DQ850-M-V2L is the epitome of a solid PSU for 2020. There's nothing outstanding, but also nothing that would cause us serious alarm in considering it for a mainstream build.

How could it be made better? The company could have in-line capacitors to reduce ripple further, it could increase the number of PCIe ports to six, the size of branding on both sides could be made smaller, full-power performance at 50°C would be nice, and it makes sense to throw some Velcro ties into the box. It's these observations that ultimately detract from an outright recommendation, especially given what else is out there at a £120 price point.

If you have already invested in the Deepcool aesthetic through cases and coolers, the DQ850-M-V2L makes sense. For most others, though, it lacks the absolute refinement to stand out from a congested crowd of top-notch PSUs in 2020.