Seasonic S12II: 330W to 500W of Silence
by Christoph Katzer on September 14, 2007 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Temperatures, Fan Speed and Acoustics
330W
500W
Both temperature curves appear similar, and naturally the 500W version gets hotter. If you compare the two power supplies at similar loads in terms of Watts, the internal temperatures are almost the exact same in most cases. It's only once the 500W model exceeds 330W (66% load) that it clearly gets warmer. The third heatsink gets quite hot on the 500W unit, reaching 80°C at maximum load. This heatsink is located in the middle, which is something of a dead spot in terms of airflow and that probably accounts for the higher temperature. We have seen worse, but the still rising temperature suggests that the 500W power supply may not survive long in higher temperatures running at full load.
330W
500W
In contrast, when testing at normal room temperatures the middle heatsink on the 500W version only reaches 72°C. The small 330W stays under 60°C and should not have any difficulties regardless of operating environment (within reason).
330W
500W
If you're wondering what happened to the results, please direct your eyes towards the lower reaches of the charts. The 330W Seasonic reaches a maximum noise level of 25dB(A), while the 500W achieves an earsplitting 28dB(A). It's not easy to describe the noise of the fans since there simply isn't much to hear. The fans are whisper quiet and about the only thing you can hear is the sound of moving air if you hold your ear right next to the power supply. Quiet fans usually mean very little airflow, and without a proper design this could be problematic. However, as we have already seen in the temperature graphs there weren't any serious problems during stress tests lasting over six hours.
330W
500W
The 330W S12II shows a very slow rotating fan that only reaches 1350 RPM, which helps to explain the low noise levels. The 500W model starts at around 850 RPM as well, but fan speed begins to increase passed the 50% load mark and reaches its maximum speed in stress testing at the 70% load mark. At normal room temperatures, the full speed is only reached at 100% load, so for the vast majority of users the fan will remain extremely quiet during use.
330W
500W
Both temperature curves appear similar, and naturally the 500W version gets hotter. If you compare the two power supplies at similar loads in terms of Watts, the internal temperatures are almost the exact same in most cases. It's only once the 500W model exceeds 330W (66% load) that it clearly gets warmer. The third heatsink gets quite hot on the 500W unit, reaching 80°C at maximum load. This heatsink is located in the middle, which is something of a dead spot in terms of airflow and that probably accounts for the higher temperature. We have seen worse, but the still rising temperature suggests that the 500W power supply may not survive long in higher temperatures running at full load.
330W
500W
In contrast, when testing at normal room temperatures the middle heatsink on the 500W version only reaches 72°C. The small 330W stays under 60°C and should not have any difficulties regardless of operating environment (within reason).
330W
500W
If you're wondering what happened to the results, please direct your eyes towards the lower reaches of the charts. The 330W Seasonic reaches a maximum noise level of 25dB(A), while the 500W achieves an earsplitting 28dB(A). It's not easy to describe the noise of the fans since there simply isn't much to hear. The fans are whisper quiet and about the only thing you can hear is the sound of moving air if you hold your ear right next to the power supply. Quiet fans usually mean very little airflow, and without a proper design this could be problematic. However, as we have already seen in the temperature graphs there weren't any serious problems during stress tests lasting over six hours.
330W
500W
The 330W S12II shows a very slow rotating fan that only reaches 1350 RPM, which helps to explain the low noise levels. The 500W model starts at around 850 RPM as well, but fan speed begins to increase passed the 50% load mark and reaches its maximum speed in stress testing at the 70% load mark. At normal room temperatures, the full speed is only reached at 100% load, so for the vast majority of users the fan will remain extremely quiet during use.
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21 Comments
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n0nsense - Sunday, September 16, 2007 - link
Btw, can you add 1 minute record of ambient, idle PSU, typical load PSU and full load PSU noises @ ~1 meter ?this will be much more useful then just dba levels.
vijay333 - Friday, September 14, 2007 - link
lol. so many people requesting seasonic reviews lately and not a peep from them yet. these units are probably suited for budget systems but the added expense due to the seasonic moniker may be better applied to future-proofing and getting a higher wattage model from a less "esteemed" brand.yyrkoon - Saturday, September 15, 2007 - link
Not everyone requesting a review HAS to comment on the review. I could have been the first poster in this comment section on this article, but decided that the article was good enough to not comment. Granted I think for a lowly 500WATT PSU the Antec Earthwatts 500 PSU would be a better bargin(which I already own).customcoms - Friday, September 14, 2007 - link
I'm waiting for a Corsair review from you guys, since they are based off Seasonic psu's and can provide higher wattage. Also, people looking at the Seasonic 500w model would also probably be looking at the Corsair HX520.My HX520 is silent (granted I have like 8 case fans+cpu+ram+8800GTS, so noise of the psu is of little concern) and as an added bonus its modular.
kmmatney - Friday, September 14, 2007 - link
There is a new 550W Corsair available now, at a lower cost:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Christoph Katzer - Friday, September 14, 2007 - link
Will have Antec and Corsair very soon but I can tell you already they cannot stick up to the originals.n0nsense - Sunday, September 16, 2007 - link
as I can see, Corsair HX520, HX620 are better.the 12V much more stable + modular cables + 0 noise.
but may be the Corsair's VX (budget) should be reviewed too.
Chunga29 - Friday, September 14, 2007 - link
I want to see one of the X900 Seasonic PSUs tested now. See how Seasonic does when they have to deal with about 2X the power demand. Though, that design looks completely different so I expect silence isn't the goal in that case. Seeing the M12 700HM results would also be useful. The S12II is at 28dB at full load, but dealing with another 200W could mean quite a bit more noise.I would also be curious: can these PSUs handle higher loads than rated? I mean, I've heard rumors that something like a Seasonic 330W sold under a different label would get rated probably ~25% higher, so maybe 420W. That would make the S12II 500W potentially equal to other ~650W PSUs, *if* there's any truth to the stories. Just a thought, but I'd like to see testing push PSUs beyond the rated output to see what happens. Probably best to save that testing for the end, in case the PSU dies. LOL. But going 20% beyond the rating could provide interesting results.
Christoph Katzer - Friday, September 14, 2007 - link
I was thinking about to add this kind of test. Last week I was talking to Paul from H about it and just for fun tested the Infiniti and got 1000 watts of load out of it. That might be surely a nice thing if more PSUs would perform like that.poohbear - Sunday, September 16, 2007 - link
chris are u saying the corsair hx series (which are designed by seasonic) can't measure up to original seasonics? they're pretty bad ass psus, i own the hx520, i can't imagine anything more silent than this unit?! or are u talking about efficiency? anyways, thanks for the review, seasonic rocks and my corsair is testament to that..:)