Seasonic Platinum Series 860W - Platinum without the Fuss
by Martin Kaffei on February 24, 2012 12:00 AM ESTDelivery Contents, Power Rating, and Fan
The contents of the Platinum 860W package are not as extensive as those of the MaxRevo series from Enermax. However, you still get two different types of cable ties, a user guide, a bag with the modular connectors, screws for installing the PC power supply in the case, a small screwdriver, and a Seasonic sticker. The ATX power supply itself is well protected from dust and dirt with a cloth bag.
One interesting feature is that Seasonic uses a high quality fan from Sanyo Denki, with a twist. As we will see when we take a closer look to the case, there's a small switch next to the modular sockets. This switch allows users to choose between active mode (the fan will always spin, even if slowly) or semi-passive operation. If the latter is selected, the fan won't rotate at loads below 40%. The idea is similar to what Seasonic offered with their X-Series, but now users have the ability to choose non-passive operation if they prefer a small amount of airflow. Seasonic also provides a 7-year warranty, though of course that doesn't say anything about the actual quality of service or support.
Similar to the X-Series the +3.3V and +5V outputs are rated at 25A each. Together these can deliver up to 125W (so it's not actually possible to draw the maximum current from both simultaneously). Meanwhile the more important +12V output is very powerful and can reach up to 852W output, though in practice the +3.3V and +5V will use some of the available power. +5VSB is rated at 3A. The first parts of the serial number tell us that this power supply was produced in December 2011.
Seasonic installed a 9S1212F04 fan from Sanyo Denki, which we've seen in many other expensive power supplies. This fan uses very good ball bearings and has seven fan blades. Seasonic covers part of the fan by a plastic foil in order to better direct airflow and reduce turbulence. In contrast to the earlier design of the X-Series, the fan speed cannot be adjusted by the duty cycle (PWM). Antec has a patent in this area and Seasonic acquired a restricted license only; thus, the fan speed regulation uses different voltages to control RPMs. With 0.19A the fan has a moderate maximum current use.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
69 Comments
View All Comments
kmmatney - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Yup. I'd really like one of these, but find it hard to justify the big price jump to get to platinum efficiency. You can get all the PSU you need (Corsair GS800) for $115. It is nice, though. I'm still running a Corsair TX650 which I bought 5 years ago for $90 or so.Hrel - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Most seasonics have NO noise under about half load. Why is this one noisy? Also what's with the "electrical noise". I don't wanna hear a damn thing. "Best power supply ever", psh, not if I can hear it.palindrome - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Martin,It is hard to take much stock from your review. Especially when you write a garbage conclusion that claims Super Flower products a bad product because of their name. The last Super Flower manufactured PSU reviewed on Anandtech was 10/16/2008 by Christoph Katzer. Also, your testing equipment and methodology is not listed in this article. For all we, as readers, know, you could be using a kill-a-watt and a RadioShack multimeter. You should also list your error tolerance for your readings, no matter what equipment you are using. When I read this article, I thought I might have mistakenly been redirected to Tom's for a moment.
I'm sure reviewers such as yourself all have opinions and incentives to write nice reviews for the generous companies who give you free, expensive toys to play with. However, you should let your test results do the talking and provide some of the basic information, such as methodology, just like we all learned in 5th grade science class, so that you can be much more credible. This isn't the worst PSU review I've seen from a major tech site (Tom's has that locked down tight), but I certainly expect more from Anandtech.
Time to get flamed by the herd.
smilingcrow - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
We’re not worthy.I have the 400W Gold fanless version and we’ve set a date for the autumn.
Crypticone - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I would really like to see some real world usage testing. Clearly every uses computers in a different manner and I am not sure the best way to go about it.Much like you have a very standardized testing bed for computer cases. It would be nice to have some measure of power usage over a certain period of time.
Using the same computer setup run the system for two hours at idle speed measuring power usage. Then two hours looping some gaming type benchmark. Then two hours of scripted web browsing. Then an hour fully loading the CPU with prime. Then maybe two hours of streaming media to a media player of some sort.
Then it would be nice to see how much power is saved between the units. It would be interesting to see where the mock breakeven point is power savings vs the added cost of these new pricey power supplies vs a gold or silver rated PSU.
This might be more of a feature article then something done for every PSU you review.
John Doe - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
That SuperFlower you just threw off in a whim makes a unit that outdoes the Platinum 1000; the LZP-1000.http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article/2012/01/04/k...
It gets about 30mV ripple against the 60's of the SeaSonic, has quicker transient turn-on response and sells for $70 cheaper.
One of the main goals of a review is to be subjective, which is what this review is not. This is a load of garbage.
smilingcrow - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
From the review you linked to:“If you want the absolute best power supply we have seen then you still want the Seasonic Platinum-1000.”
And you want a review to be objective not subjective!
Martin Kaffei - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
John,I got an XFX PSU which is exactly like the 1KW version from Seasonic and I never saw more than 30 mV as well.
Does HardOCP measure with capacitors conformable to ATX specification? You need them to simulate system load, otherwise the results do not apply to a real PC.
Hereunder Seasonic might be worse than SuperFlower, but your PC doesn't get the pure ripple. With ATX test environments Seasonic is always as good as or even better than SuperFlower.
John Doe - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
What're you on about? Yes, Paul puts all the units in an incubutor for at least 8 hours. And you? Have you even explained your test methodology? You aren't making any sense and aren't fooling anybody with little SMPS knowledge.If you look at Oklahoma Wolf's results, you can find the same. The Golden King 1000 (which you labeled as a joke just because of it's name) usually has lower ripple, better transient response, better cooling and sells for cheaper. The only thing the SeaSonic has over it is better regulation.
It's clear that either you're unknowledgeable or you have a personal agenda, with the latter making more sense. Excuse my bluntness, but you're diviving into pure nonsense.
DanNeely - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
You've got 28 pins on the PSU for a 24pin cable.