Seasonic Platinum Series 860W - Platinum without the Fuss
by Martin Kaffei on February 24, 2012 12:00 AM ESTVoltage Regulation
| +3.3V Regulation/Ripple and Noise | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | +1.28% (5mV) |
| 10% | +1.24% (6mV) |
| 20% | +1.12% (8mV) |
| 50% | +0.24% (10mV) |
| 80% | -1.23% (11mV) |
| 100% | -1.67% (14mV) |
| 110% | -1.79% (14mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | +0.61% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | +0.00% |
| +5V Regulation/Ripple and Noise | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | +1.20% (7mV) |
| 10% | +0.82% (7mV) |
| 20% | +0.40% (9mV) |
| 50% | -0.02% (11mV) |
| 80% | -0.94% (12mV) |
| 100% | -0.92% (12mV) |
| 110% | -0.86% (13mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | +0.28% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | -0.04% |
| +12V Regulation (Worst Rail)/Ripple and Noise (Worst Rail) | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | +1.13% (4mV) |
| 10% | +1.04% (5mV) |
| 20% | +0.98% (22mV) |
| 50% | +0.48% (16mV) |
| 80% | +0.01% (20mV) |
| 100% | -0.31% (24mV) |
| 110% | -0.67% (26mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | -0.17% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | +0.13% |
Noise Levels
| Loudness | |
| Load | Opinion |
| 5% | low fan noise and small electrical side noise |
| 10% | low fan noise and small electrical side noise |
| 20% | low fan noise and small electrical side noise |
| 50% | fan noise and small electrical side noise |
| 80% | strong fan noise and small electrical side noise |
| 100% | strong fan noise and small electrical side noise |
| 110% | strong fan noise and small electrical side noise |
Efficiency and PFC
| Efficiency (AC input minus DC output) and Power Factor | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 5% | 79.83% | 0.712 |
| 10% | 86.53% | 0.898 |
| 20% | 90.77% | 0.942 |
| 50% | 93.03% | 0.979 |
| 80% | 91.99% | 0.988 |
| 100% | 91.40% | 0.989 |
| 110% | 91.27% | 0.990 |
The ball bearing is (almost) inaudible under high loads. During low loads you might hear the PFC choke if you are close enough, but this shouldn't be a problem when the PSU is mounted in a closed case. If desired the fan can be turned off through up to 40% load by a small switch on the front of the casing, which would make the PSU completely silent at lower loads (other than the electrical noise we noted).
Efficiency is much higher than expected. Seasonic is well above the requirements for the 80 Plus Platinum certificate (90%/92%/89% efficiency at 20%/50%/100% load). Even at lower loads Seasonic is able to surpass most results from competing products. In addition the Platinum Series 860W performs much better than what we saw from the Enermax Platimax 750W. It's only at 5% load that this PSU is below 80% efficiency, and even then it's basically a rounding error. So far this is an exceptionally good result; PFC could be a little better, but we don't want to overdo things.
During all loads voltage regulation is simply perfect. Even under crossload conditions all voltages are close to their optimal values. -1.67% is the "worst" result on 3.3V while 12V is much better (-0.31% as long as we stay at <100% load). Another highlight is the low ripple voltage. We would like to see such results more often, since 26mV on 12V is only 0.22% ripple and noise—according to the ATX specification 1% is allowed. Enermax had no problems with this level as well and makes stable outputs too, but ripple was noticeably higher. Given these results, Seasonic is clearly the winner in our head-to-head comparison.
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theeldest - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Maybe it's just me but I didn't see any pictures of the sleeved cables, eventhough they're specifically called out as being quite nice."pics or it didnt happen"
Stuka87 - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I was just going to say the same thing. Was looking for photos of the cables but didn't find any.just4U - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I mentioned that earlier.. still waiting for a reply from Martin.Earballs - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Going based on the picture of the 24pin.. it can't be /that/ nice.cyberguyz - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
All of the cables on my Seasonic Platunum 860 came beautifully sleeved.No complaints at all with the quality of this PSU or its bag of goodies.
aznofazns - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
This might seem really superficial, but the main reason I probably won't get this PSU is because the 24-pin ATX connector on the PSU side isn't compatible with the 24-pin cable on the X-650. When I first heard of the Platinum Series I was intent on getting one due to the longer 8-pin EPS cable (the motherboard tray on my V2120X is too long for my current one to be routed behind). This is important to me because I'm in the process of sleeving all my cables with MDPC-X for the purpose of aesthetics.Other than that, this PSU is amazing. Seasonic consistently delivers the very best power supplies in every wattage class, and even their budget offerings outshine the competition. Will the ultra high energy efficiency recover the extra cost over time? Probably not. Almost certainly not. But at least you know you're doing the environment a slight favor and can be quite confident that your components won't be fried by a faulty PSU.
rtothedizzy - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
If you're happy with the x-650 and you don't need there extra power then there is probably no good reason to upgrade at that cost.But.....
If you're going to all the trouble to individually sleeve the cables then "length of cables" isn't all that compelling of an excuse not to upgrade (if that's you're only reason). It's a very small additional investment in time and $$ to buy a crimper, some new atx pins, and a roll of 18 or 20 gauge wire and make new cables any length you need. It even makes sleeving easier since you don't have to get the sleeve over the connector pin (you can crimp it on after you get the sleeve on the wire). It would also let you get away with 1/16 sleeving instead of the usual 1/8.
Just a friendly suggestion :)
bigboxes - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
You do know they sell extraction tools that allow you to remove the connectors so that you can easily sleeve your wiring.rtothedizzy - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Yes. I don't see how you would individually sleeve the cables (as I was talking about) without taking the pins out.ATX pins can be very difficult to get dense 1/16 sleeving over, whereas the wire with no pin is not hard at all to get 1/16 sleeving over.
Or you can just go 1/8 and it doesn't really matter.
My point remains though, if you're going to individually sleeve your cables then making longer cables out of wires and pins is not much added annoyance.
elian123 - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Can we expect platinum PSUs at lower wattages too? Now it only seems 750W and higher?