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
Seasonic X-Series 560W
Our latest candidate for PSU torture testing is the Seasonic X-560. Seasonic first garnered praise with the X-Series by offering a range of 80 Plus Gold PSUs from low wattage up through high wattage units, along with two passively cooled versions. Other reasons for their popularity are the 5-year warranty and outstanding internal design. Even most of the S12II and M12II models (which they don't generally offer as review samples) are getting awards all over the world for providing high quality in a mainstream market segment. At a price of $120 USD the X-560 is definetly not the cheapest ~550W power supply, but we're here to find out if buyers get more for their money.
As you can see in the picture Seasonic delivers a bag for modular connectors—the X-560 has fully removable cables. Also included in the packed are a power cord, four screws, a user's guide, and many cable ties. In short, Seasonic provides plenty of extras to keep the customers satisfied.
A note on the PSU informs users that this PSU works passively below 20% load. Features include "tight voltage regulation", "gold plated terminals", and a mainboard with many SMDs (surface mounted devices). High-class solid caps are part of the ouput filtering. And for the gamers among us, this PSU supports multi-GPU technologies, all with a reasonable rating of 560W.
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Arbie - Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - link
Yes, thanks for listing the cable lengths, especially the main power / cpu cable. Last time around I bought an expensive and high-quality PSU which turned out to have main cable so short that it barely worked in a mid-size tower. BTW you say the main cable is 60 cm in one place, and 65 cm in another. Unless I misread it.Seasonic is now on my list for the next time.
somedude1234 - Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - link
I used this PSU in my home server build and couldn't be happier. When the server is sitting idle or just serving up media, the PSU fan doesn't run. When the Xeon 3440 is churning through high def video transcodes, the system is still dead quiet.I expect this server to last 5-10 years so paying for quality components up front wasn't a problem.
poohbear - Thursday, March 24, 2011 - link
Just wanted to post thank you for buying from a retailer instead of using a cherry picked review sample from the company. I hope you guys do this for all the hardware you review, not just the PSUs. Great to read impartial reviews like this!oh, and the article was well done too.;)
Martin Kaffei - Thursday, March 24, 2011 - link
No problem. But we often get samples from a manufacturer, less frequent from a retailer or distributor.These are chosen randomly so the manufacturer doesn't know, if we check out the version on the market. Nevertheless I don't have the money to pay for every sample so we still have different sources.
ClagMaster - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
Excellent article that provides a great deal of insight into the design and construction of the X-Series 560W.A good read after a hard day at work.
For $120 this is a fair price for quality components, an excellent design, and a diverse assortment of connectors of ATX Towers and HTPC's.
This is a 850W unit which is scaled down to 550W service. I suppose having the fan start above 20% of load is necessary but the fan is indeed very quiet. This power supply has plenty of margin for operation above 550W.
The only improvement I can think of using a PWM Fan with Hydro bearings.
Seasonic is a company which stands behind its warranty too. I had a 500W MII power supply go bad 6 months ago. A diode had come lose from its mainboard and lodged in the fan grill. I applied for an RMA, boxed the failed power supply, mailed it to their RMA center in California, and recieved a new replacement in less than two weeks.
No hassle -- No problems -- Full satisfaction with the service.
oneoho - Sunday, March 27, 2011 - link
This article may have converted me to a Seasonic fanboy :)More than I've ever wanted to know about a PSU but definitely got my nerd juices flowing.