Seasonic X-Series 560W
by Martin Kaffei on March 22, 2011 4:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Seasonic
- PSUs
- 80Plus Gold
- 560W
- X-Series
Conclusion
Open your dictionary under the letter "Q", search for the word "quality", and you could just as easily put a picture of a Seasonic power supply. Seasonic offers a full set of modular cables, passive cooling below 20% load, and they do this while delivering very low ripple and noise results. With the X-560, Seasonic has created another market leader.
Starting with the connectors, Seasonic shows an instinctive feeling for different PC configurations we don't often find. The shorter peripheral cables with up to 50cm are perfect for HTPCs while the CPU and PCIe cables are long enough for larger cases. The FDD adapter is there if you need it. Even so, two 6/8-pin PCIe connectors are only average for a 560W power supply. Other manufacturers (e.g. Arctic Cooling with their Fusion 550) provide up to four PEG connectors. However, it's unlikely most users would need (or want) to power two high-end GPUs using all four connectors with only a 560W PSU, so this is only a small point of criticism. The X-560 has good-looking cable sleeving, a very long CPU cable (65cm), and moreover eight SATA connectors.
The most important advantages are the high-quality components. The SiC diode for PFC, MOSFETs with good characteristics, and a great line filtering stage are just a short part of what Seasonic provides. Since our sample came from a retailer, we're also happy to see that Seasonic is using quality Japanese capacitors in all of their "X-Series" products. In addition, the soldering quality is a feast for the eyes. Seasonic offers all important safety functions as well as an expensive flame-retardant PCB material.
With ripple and noise results below 30 mV, every enthusiast should be satisfied. +3.3V and +5V show less than 10mV while the load is below 20%. The voltage regulation is great as well. +5V has nearly no visible drop while +12V is always clearly above 12.00V. The fan might rotate quickly above 80% loads and generate some noise, but most GPUs (typically required to get a system to draw upwards of 300W) will end up louder than this PSU. More important is the ability for this PSU to run silent during low loads; if you write an email or use excel there will be no noise from the PSU fan, but you'll want to carefully select other components if silence is your goal.
Looking at online prices, $120 USD is a lot for a 560W PSU, but there's nothing that says lower wattage PSUs should be cheap, especially if they're 80 Plus Gold certified and deliver the quality of the X-560. We can see a clear difference between the previously tested Antec 550W ($90 USD) and the OCZ 550W ($70 USD) and the Seasonic X-Series 560W. The latest Seasonic is more efficient, has high output reserves, and comes with a long-life (and quiet) Sanyo Denki fan. Customers will have to decide if they need/want these features, or if they'd rather save a few bucks and snatch up an Antec or OCZ instead.
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46 Comments
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bryanb - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
To the comment about velcro straps: this model comes with 3 velcro straps with a Seasonic logo on them.I have three of these PSU's running from a low wattage router (brazos) to a high wattage desktop (4 core phenom.) One of the PSU's i received was DOA. The Seasonic RMA process is a single html page on their website that unfortunately does not yet include the serial numbers for this particular model in the java script validation logic. Therefore all RMA's have to be emailed and approved manually, which took over a week for the first response. Luckily for me, the NewEgg RMA process is much better than the Seasonic RMA process and within a few days I got a working replacement via NewEgg.
DLimmer - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
First off, Excellent review.I greatly value your expertise, and picked up an Antec TP-650 based off your http://www.anandtech.com/show/3985/three-550w-psus... review.
Minor editing changes:
<first page>
Even most of the S12II and M12II models (which they don't generally offer as review samples) are getting awards all **other** the world for providing high quality in a mainstream market segment.
...all **over** the world...
<last page, second paragraph>
**Stargin** with the connectors, Seasonic shows an instinctive feeling for different...
**Starting**...
I appreciate your reviews and have used them when making purchases on more than one occasion. Thanks!
Martin Kaffei - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
Done, thanks a lot.Drag0nFire - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
Dear Editor,I remember seeing a power supply review in the past that had a diagram of the length of each cable. Such a diagram would be very helpful in the future for making purchasing decisions, especially for those of us with cases where the power supply is far away!
Otherwise, great review! Keep them coming!
--J
vol7ron - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
Martin, could you do some testing of Titanium-Standard PSUs... specifically around the 1kW mark. There's only T-Standard available at NewEgg, which I think is around 500Watts, but if you could contact the vendors and get the 1kW versions - that would be nice.Your readers appreciate when you all analyze products that aren't/won't be available at NewEgg - me especially :)
Folterknecht - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
Hi!In the past, if I remember correctly, the numbers for 230V were included in your reviews here Martin, not only 115V for the american net. Why did you change that? I know this is an american site, but the audience is international ... .
Gruß aus Deutschland
Folterknecht
Martin Kaffei - Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - link
It would be no problem to add these measurements next time.With this I just have more work and I didn't know, that 230VAC results are interesting for some readers here. Good to know.
Grüße zurück.
MrSpadge - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
Agreed!Nach ein Gruß aus Deutschland ;)
deadlockedworld - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
Reviews like this are why this site is more credible than many of its competitors.DanNeely - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
maybe, but nothing is more fun than reading OklahomaWolf tearing into a cheap piece of junk.