Internals

Opening the casing reveals a clean design with a good layout. The phase and neutral conductors as well as the transformer look undersized at first, but the new resonant topology and more active controlled parts allow the manufacturer to use smaller components. Like Seasonic, this PSU has ZVS (Zero Voltage Switiching) that reduces power loss. Moreover, the soft switching is better for EMI.

All capacitors come from Nippon Chemi-Con and there are some all solid ones in the secondary circuit, but the KMR models are a usual choice for high-end PSUs. It would be nice to see some other brands or types; however, all parts are high-quality. There is a line filtering stage in the entrance and many SMDs at the backside of the PCB. The champion IC is on a sister-PCB up top. The overall design definelty looks like an X-460FL with more caps. The only point of criticism is that the fan connector could be glued down, but that's a minor issue at best.

Cables and Connectors Noise Levels
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  • Chapbass - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    On the cables and connectors page: last para:

    The only potential issue is if you want to load up all we SATA connectors with a bottom-mounted PUS; the distance from the PSU to the first connector is only 45cm (give or take), with a fairly large 12-13cm gap between the connectors, so you'd want the HDD bays to be relatively close to the PSU rather than in the top portion of the case.

    First sentence has a few typos. Still reading, but figured I'd point it out.
  • Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    Aren't all PUS's bottom mounted?
  • Stuka87 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    Many newer cases do use a bottom mounted CPU, but it is hardly the only form factor.
  • Stuka87 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    CPU should be PSU. Wish there was an edit :/
  • Iketh - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link

    pretty sure they're rear-mounted when bent over
  • Nintendesert - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    Last page, first paragraph.

    "Gold requirements. 91% at 50% load is not to shabby."

    It should be "too shabby."
  • Chapbass - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    Gotta say this PSU looks impressive. I'm going to need something soon for my server (not much in the way of cpu and video power, but along the lines of 18-20 HDD's), and something like this might fit the bill. we'll have to see :)

    props to corsair, another solid unit.
  • prince34 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    I've been looking for a new high quality PSU for a new build early next year. This looks very promising. Also, Newegg has a $20 mail in rebate and $15 promotional code with free shipping. Thats $135 up front and $115 in the end. That is hard to beat.
  • mino - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    This left me puzzled though:

    "The AX has DC-to-DC for the smaller rails, so +12V feeds +3.3V/+5V and you can't use the whole 62A there."

    I know of exactly ZERO XXX-watt power supplies where you can load 3.3V or 5V _in_addition_to_ the XXX watts being consumed on 12V rails.

    Actually, most PSU's on the market do not allow anywhere near 99% of its rated load purely via 12V rails like this one. So if anything, such an arrangement should considered a plus.
  • Beenthere - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link

    These days there are lots of PSUs to chose from and the devil seems to be in the details. History has shown that Seasonic can produce good PSUs under their own brand and for other companies but that not all PSUs from them are not equal in design or performance.

    Without knowing exactly what the hardware differences are between PSUs and how this impacts performance or reliability makes it challenging when purchasing a new PSU. I watch hardware sites for patterns of issues with specific PSU models and brands when I'm looking for a new PSU.

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