Seasonic is one of the top PSU-brands on the other side of the pond, but before distributor Nanopoint started offering them to UK resellers, most of us in Britain were completely oblivious to the brand. Despite only being on sale for a few short months, the Seasonic is bringing in awards from some of the most respected IT sources hand over fist, largely thanks to its incredibly efficiency, stable rails and low noise operation.
The Seasonic, like the Enermax is a very compact PSU. A number of manufacturers offering 600W models have found it necessary to break the ATX spec and supply overly-long models making installation impossible in more restrictive cases, but the S12 measures just xxcm deep. Bundled in the box with the PSU and power cable are four screws for mounting, documentation and a useful adaptor that allows you to connect three 3-pin tail fans to a spare Molex plug.
Connectivity wise, the Seasonic is ready, with five standard Molex connectors, two floppy connectors, and provisions for four SATA hard drives and two mini-Molex plugs for floppy drives. Each of the Molex plugs is equipped with an easy-off connector that you simply squeeze to release the plug from the Molex socket. This makes replacing hard drives and optical drives a breeze, and certainly eases installation, as you know when the Molex plug is pushed all the way home with just a glance. Each of the cables is twisted to improve EMI, and this also makes the PSU look considerably better than non-twisted alternatives. Aesthetically, it still has some catching up to do compared to the Tagan and the Hiper units, however despite its sleek matt-black exterior.
In terms of performance, the S12 finds Seasonic at the very top of their game, with rock solid rails across the board. Even during the ten-drive I/O meter test, the Seasonic did not notably dip in voltage strength, and the system remained 100% stable throughout testing of this PSU. Something that might be of interest to many users is that the Seasonic is over 80% efficient at converting AC to DC, as proved by its certification by the 80 plus program (www.80plus.org). For those interested, the S12 is also fully certified by nVIDIA for SLI operation.
Overall, the Seasonic belies its small footprint by providing unrivalled performance in rail strength, efficiency and quietness. Its 120mm fan is considerably quieter than others on test and it has all the compatibility you would expect.
