Seasonic 80+ Gold 650W PSU: S12G vs SSR

[Rhezuss]

I'm looking to replace my 7+ years old TX750. No real sign of defect yet but just to be safe.

I see on the egg 2 models in my price range or 120CAD including shipping...+/- a few bucks. I want a 80+ Gold this time since my PC is on 24/7 most of the time and want something reliable.

There's a SeaSonic SSR-650RM 650W 80+ Gold modular for 125CAD including shipping
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817151118

And there's a SeaSonic S12G S12G-650 650W 80+Gold for 104CAD including shipping
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817151137

There's also the Corsair HX650 going for 130CAD on NCIX - 15CAD MIR...I hate MIRs...

I checked on the Seasonic website and I can't really tell the difference between those 2 models except one is modular.

Is there anything other the modular option when comparing those two?
Any component quality difference?
Any other comments you could give or experience with those models?

Thanks all!

 

[lehtv]

Among 650W units, the S12G 650W is the best without overpaying. Not really worth looking at other 650W units at these prices, unless you go down to Bronze and are willing to do the MIR: Antec HCG-620M $75 AR

The next step up is XFX 750 Black Edition. A solid Seasonic KM3-based unit for $140 ($120 AR. Semi-fanless, 5 yr warranty, fully modular. You could consider the XFX a "best in its class" unit where it doesn't make any sense to pay more for a different unit of the same power rating.

 

[Rhezuss]

Among 650W units, the S12G 650W is the best without overpaying. Not really worth looking at other 650W units at these prices. The next step up is XFX 750 Black Edition is a solid Seasonic KM3-based unit for $120 AR. Semi-fanless, 5 yr warranty, fully modular. You could consider the XFX a "best in its class" unit where it doesn't make any sense to pay more for a different unit of the same power rating.

Yeah i'm always on the lookout for the XFX but I don't need 750W, even though I have one right now and never planned on going Crossfire/SLI and never will. So 650W will be plenty even if I try it.

And reading about the brands a bit I settled to Seasonic, Corsair and XFX Black Edition and seeing the S12G fir that low is really tempting.

I don't really need modular since I can toss the remaining cables between my 2 optical drives and some under my lower HDD and I can't see them anymore. I have the room in my case to hide the cables so paying for modular is not necessary.

Thanks for the infos lehtv!

 

[Cerb]

The S12G has a stiff fan curve, and the fan isn't all that quiet at low loads.

 

[lehtv]

Interesting. KitGuru reviewed the 750W unit and made no complaints about noise.

The large fan holds a low level of noise right through the range, spinning up at around 550W output. In the last 75W of output it rotates much faster although it never becomes intrusive even when holding a steady 750W load.

 

[Cerb]

AFAIK, aside from not being modular, the fan, its controller, and noise characteristics are the only differences. I'd used the modular version before, and decided to not get the modular one for my own build, and it was definitely not as quiet. It's probably not a difference that matters to the OP.

 

[Rhezuss]

Do you know how it compare to my current Corsair TX750 (old V1 model)?
I mostly hear my 7950 when under load and can't tell if I hear my PSU lol. My PC is fairly quiet on ilde and under load most fans do their thing so I can't tell which is noisier...

 

[CHEMEMAN]

I prefer to slightly oversize the PSU to give them some reserve capacity and, hopefully, longevity.

 

[lehtv]

Anandtech has a review of the S12G-650 up: AnandTech | Seasonic S12G 650W Power Supply Review

Cold Test Results

[...]

Both the air and the heatsink temperatures might appear a little high for a unit of this capacity and efficiency operating at room temperature, but that is because the fan of the Seasonic S12G 650W PSU is being "lazy" -- or "quiet" if you prefer. The fan is thermally controlled and it looks like Seasonic decided it didn't need to spin faster under such testing conditions. During our SPL testing, the fan reaches audible levels only after the unit hits ~80% of its rated output.

Hot Test Results

[...]

The low-noise aptitude of the Seasonic S12G becomes apparent when we see that the fan hardly exceeds 38 dB(A) under the harshest of conditions, which is an audible figure but hardly louder than three or four 3.5" mechanical disks

[...]

Final Words and Conclusion

[...]

Looking at the performance charts and tables, the Seasonic S12G could probably be offering the best all-around performance within its price range.

 

[lehtv]

It'd be good to know what unit you ended up going with, Rhezuss!

 

[TemjinGold]

I prefer to slightly oversize the PSU to give them some reserve capacity and, hopefully, longevity.

And so does the OP apparently. 650w is way more than he needs already for a single 7950.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

And so does the OP apparently. 650w is way more than he needs already for a single 7950.

Well, Seasonic offers units with a lower power capacity. We'd visited this topic before on how the Outervision calculator probably overestimates the requirement.

But it's good to see that not much has changed since I read a Tech Report comparison review with details like V-ripple and other results touting the Seasonics. It also became apparent since then that Seasonic provided units to other brands, like the PCP&C "Silencer" line, for rebadging.

So I wouldn't be surprised to see this today in XFX and other offerings not mentioned here.

It is easy to be lazy about keeping the quality research up-to-date for personal purchase decisions, once a person has adopted an inclination to a particular brand of PSU. But my laziness has apparently been of no consequence given what I see on this thread about Seasonic.

I just ordered a new graphics card -- a 780 GTX. And I find that these cards now require at least one 8-pin power plug. I began to worry that my 3-year-old Seasonic "X" series 750W unit didn't come with cables converting either Molex or 6-pin PCI-E plugs to 8-pin, and my anxiety increased because certain cus-reviews on the GTX cited an absence of patch cables in the gfx-card's retail box. I finally found the little gold and black nylon bags where I'd kept the surplus modular cables for my PSU. Happy to say I found the 8-pin PCI-E cables there.

Good to go!