Seasonic S12G 650W Power Supply Review
by E. Fylladitakis on February 28, 2014 2:20 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Seasonic
- 80 Plus Gold
Final Words and Conclusion
Today we witnessed the reason why Seasonic is so popular amongst enthusiasts and advanced users. The 650W version of the S12G is not the cheapest of its range and class, it has no extravagant features, and it is not even modular. When you look at it, it is yet another all-black ATX PSU; not even the ribbon-like black cables are in any way special nowadays. You can easily find an 80 Plus Gold certified and modular 650W PSU for around the same price.
On the other hand, when it comes to build and power quality, the Seasonic S12G can easily make most of its competition shudder. Seasonic usually picks very high quality components for their units and the S12G is no exception, with most of the primary components and all of the capacitors coming from Japanese brands -- and the S12G is their mainstream series, not their high-end brand! That alone says a lot about Seasonic's commitment to quality and why they so easily cover a mainstream unit with a five-year warranty.
Looking at the performance charts and tables, the Seasonic S12G could probably be offering the best all-around performance within its price range. The DC output power quality is excellent and the voltage ripple suppression is remarkable. Since voltage ripple is directly correlated with the longevity of electronic equipment, especially capacitors (it causes self-heating), very low ripple readings benefit the durability of your system's components. The energy conversion efficiency is very high and it maintains its high efficiency and quiet operation even inside a very warm environment.
Its Achilles' heel is that the S12G tends to run a little hot if heavily loaded for prolonged periods of time while inside a very warm environment; however, the only real-world scenario that we can imagine that would replicate such conditions is that of a powerful cryptocoin mining system built inside a poorly designed chassis. If you are planning to use the Seasonic S12G for powering such a system in a $20 case, that probably is a bad idea. However, if you are looking to buy a PSU for its high quality and performance and consider aesthetics and modularity to be secondary or unnecessary features, the Seasonic S12G is definitely worthy of strong consideration.
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tynopik - Monday, March 3, 2014 - link
> Shorting a component = OCP protection. I always perform such tests before proceeding to testing the unit.good to know, thanks
> Still, that is not a fault of the PSU, it is an issue with your energy supplier.
Disagree. No matter what the input is to a power supply, there are only 2 acceptable outputs: in-spec power or nothing.
It should NEVER put out-of-spec power on the rails, period.
RAYBOYD44 - Monday, March 3, 2014 - link
My Uncle Jordan recently got Lexus GX 460 SUV from only workin on a pc at home...GrahamATrotmann - Monday, March 3, 2014 - link
n a PSU with a fan. Waste of money when my main reason for getting it was negated. I heard the new generations of Seasonic are almost always silent, but I'm happy with the SilentNight, too. http://num.to/4257*9142*5469Ram21 - Monday, March 3, 2014 - link
So, maybe I am blind, but how long are the cables? In previous power supply reviews, there were info graphics that had the lengths each type of cable. Great review, and looking forward to seeing more reviews with this level of detail.HangFire - Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - link
I agree! While mundane, cable lengths and connector types and counts are an essential part of any power supply review. Anyone buying a power supply is doing so for a reason, often because their current P/S is short on power, connectors, or cable lengths to accomodate a recent upgrade.tynopik - Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - link
> It is entirely realistic, simply because a) they are unusual and b) are not a problem of the PSU itself but a problem caused by your grid.Saying problems with the grid aren't caused by the PSU is
a) true
b) irrelevant
What matters is that power problems do happen in the real world and thus the PSU has to deal with it
what is 'unusual'?
Once every five years is unusual, but that doesn't mean having your computer blow every five years is acceptable
It IS a problem of the PSU because the PSU has to be able to handle 'unusual' events and at all costs protect the components connected to it.
Any PSU that puts out enough voltage to fry the attached components is a FAILURE, no matter what the input is or how unusual it is.
Popskalius - Thursday, March 6, 2014 - link
other than modularity, is there a difference with the SeaSonic SSR-650RM 650W. You guys think $15 more is worth being modular?