Seasonic Platinum Series 860W - Platinum without the Fuss
by Martin Kaffei on February 24, 2012 12:00 AM ESTExternal Impressions, Cables, and Connectors
Other than the change in color, the top of the casing looks exactly like the one from the X-1000 and X-1250. All the sides are very thick and even after opening the chassis we couldn't find any sharp-edged parts. One side shows the name of the series, and the opposite side has the power output label. On the rear of the PSU, next to the power input is a large power switch, occupying more than its fair share of space and taking away a bit of area that would otherwise be used for the ventilation holes.
At the front we find that all the modular plugs are uniform in color. The top right socket can be used either for a PCIe or for a CPU connector. When in doubt, the customer must choose one of the two variants, but the PCIe connector can also be connected in the bottom row. Three more PCIe plugs are available, though only two of them are required for the 860W model (e.g. there are only two PCIe cable harnesses).
Worth note is that at 19cm the body is relatively long, but it's not surprisingly long for a modular PSU in this power class. The product wasn't designed for HTPCs so the length shouldn't be a point of criticism. However, you'll want to ensure your intended case has enough room for the PSU.
| Cables and Connectors | ||
|
|
Main | 1x 24-pin (60cm) modular |
| ATX12V/EPS12V |
4+4-pin (65cm) 8-pin (65cm) all modular |
|
| PCIe |
2x 6/8-pin (60cm) 2x 6/8-pin (60cm) all modular |
|
| Peripheral |
3x SATA (55, 70, 85cm) 3x SATA (55, 70, 85cm) 3x SATA (55, 70, 85cm) 2x SATA (35, 50cm) all modular |
|
|
3x Molex (55, 70, 85cm) 3x Molex (55, 70, 85cm) 2x Molex (35, 50cm) all modular |
||
In total there are eleven SATA connectors on four separate harnesses, which is above average. The eight Molex connectors are common for this performance category. Note that the connector panel of the PSU only supports using six total harnesses, so you'll have to either skip out on one SATA harness or one of the Molex harnesses. Apart from the two slightly shorter peripheral cables it would have been nice to get different lengths for the remaining SATA and Molex cables.
As noted above the upper socket can be used for graphics cards or the CPU. At up to 85cm long, the peripheral cables should work in nearly all cases, while the mainboard and PCIe plugs reach 60-65cm. The 24-pin plug is connected to the bottom row (with 12 volt) and the middle row as well.
The cable sleeving is very good and relatively opaque, but ends just before the plug sockets, which doesn't look as good as it could. That's apparently the price one must pay for the full modular connector system; perhaps flat cables would be a better solution here. But this is a matter of taste. As always the electronics is much more important for us.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
69 Comments
View All Comments
Exodite - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Many thanks for an excellent review, the technical details is what keeps bringing me back to AnandTech.I'm currently using a Seasonic SS460-FL myself, the 460W X-Series fanless model, and it's been all but perfect. The only issue is what I'd consider the high electrical noise, something the unit shared with the M12 2 800W model it replaced, but it's tolerable in a suitably isolated case.
Before I scare anyone off by that comment I should note that I'm extremely picky about noise, to the point that I'm running the two 140m fans on my CPU cooler (a Noctua NH-C14) at 750RPM because anything above that is too loud to my taste.
Like many other posters here I will continue buying Seasonic PSUs for the foreseeable future due to their impeccable quality and performance. Skimping on what's essentially the heart and circulatory system of your computer always struck me as ill-advised.
Martin Kaffei - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Some fanless PSUs had a noisy PFC choke, the source might be magnetostriction. Often a magnetic field is not constant because current changes or other inductivities trouble the choke. This deforms the materials and makes such noises.Since there is no fan noise you can hear the electrical noise much better. In truth the electrical noises are at the same level as always.
dj christian - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link
So you'r running only the CPU-fans? Are the rest passive?kensiko - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Good but did you review the Kingwin (Super flower) ? I saw some reviews and everybody agrees that the components are of high quality.I did buy a Kingwin and I class it as good as Seasonic (I owned a Seasonic before)
kensiko - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I'm talking about the Lazer Platinum Series for sure.Beenthere - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
IME few reviewers consider Super Flower/Kingwin in the same class as Seasonic.palindrome - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
You must not read PSU reviews then...Breit - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
You say that this 860W model is the best PSU SeaSonic has to offer, but what about the 1000W unit SS-1000XP released in Q4-2011? I thought it is actually the same PSU with higher ratings?! It even has the 80 PLUS Platinum label and also has exceptionally good efficiency over a wide range of loads well above 90% from 20% load to 100% load. I think it should at least get mentioned in the article. The Gold-units from SeaSonic you are referring to were released in 2010 i think.Besides that thanks for this very good article, its always a pleasure reading anadtech.
Martin Kaffei - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
It is fair to say Seasonic made the best current series, but I didn't test the (original) 1KW version yet.Conscript - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
You talk about how great they are, but no pics?