Seasonic S12-Energy 550 Information?

YngDiego · Post by **YngDiego** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:58 pm

I'm going to be building a Conroe E6600 PC with the Asus P5W-DH in a couple of months. I was researching power supplies and saw that Seasonic just released a S12-Energy 550 model. It looks great from the specs, but I can't find any online retailer that is selling it.

Does anyone have any information or reviews on it? One question I have is that I know 550w will be way overkill for my PC. It will just be one video card, 2 HDs, and 4GB of RAM. I'm concerned about efficiency and wasting $$ on and oversized PS.

So efficiency wise, I'm wondering if going with their standard 380W "80" PS would be a better fit than going with their super efficient S12-Energy 550 model. I'd like to see some efficiency curves for the super 550 so I'd have a better idea of where the sweetspot is. I don't mind spending the extra $$ up front on the 550w if it won't be costing me extra $$ every minute the PC is on because of a low efficiency use of the 550w.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 6:29 pm

Hello & welcome to SPCR!

Keep your eyes on these pages for a review...

YngDiego · Post by **YngDiego** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:41 am

A fellow forum member sent me this link, which looks like a pretty good review of the 650W model. I do look forward to reading a review from this site though..they are always enjoyable!

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm? ... 995&page=1

6R4 · Post by **6R4** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:43 am

If you want a not so powerfull but still very good psu with high efficiency at a good price, I think this one is the perfect choice: link

YngDiego · Post by **YngDiego** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:44 pm

Thanks for the link! I didn't realize they made an 80 plus in that size. It looks like that is their OEM model, and one review said the cables aren't as long and it's not finished in black. I'll hold out until retailers start selling the 550 model and see how much the prices vary. Hopefully it will be hitting shelves/sites in the next few weeks.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:55 pm

Hi,

I did a Google search, and Case-Mod has it for ~$9 less:

http://www.case-mod.com/store/seasonic- ... tml?src=fr

The color of the PS is pretty much moot, since most cases have unpainted steel backs, anyway?

YngDiego · Post by **YngDiego** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:25 pm

True about the color. One site also mentioned shorter leads on the OEM model than the retail version. But certainly something to consider. Given that I'm a couple of months out from building my new PC, I'll wait until the 550s are out and see what kind of price difference there is. In all honesty, the current model would probably suite me just find and cheaper than the 550.

Ultimatetone · Post by **Ultimatetone** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:03 am

-
UPDATE -

SEASONIC USA just received a shipment yesterday of the S12-Energy+ series!

Backorders will be 'shipping out to' distributors (i.e. new egg, ma labs, and fry's electronics) today.

PLEASE NOTE -

Neither newegg, ma labs, nor Fry's have any of the S12-Energy+ series listed on their respective websites at this time.

- Ultimatetone

YngDiego · Post by **YngDiego** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:05 am

Does anyone know where they can be purchased? I need one ASAP.

Aganerral · Post by **Aganerral** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:43 am

Any chance that hte M12s were also received and shipping out today? Or only the S12 Energy+?

Yeti · Post by **Yeti** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:17 pm

Did anyone see this?

# Super High Efficiency [up to 88%]

88%? Wow, that's a new high, isn't it? Does it mean the Energy+ S12's are more efficient than M12?

I need a PSU right NOW, so should I get this one over the M12 (efficiency is more important than modularity), and should I wait for other retailers to have them for lower prices?

EsaT · Post by **EsaT** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 11:48 pm

Yeti wrote:88%? Wow, that's a new high, isn't it? Does it mean the Energy+ S12's are more efficient than M12?

S12 models already have about similar efficiency
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article247-page4.html

M12's are stated to have 85% efficiency.
But they very propably use exactly same PCB (PCB of M12 has markings including 550 and 650W) and design and similar quality components in both of them so I don't know why this difference in efficiency ratings, even small size difference between S12E+ and M12's is explained by modular connector and extra fan in front end of M12s.
Maybe they wanted to play safe because of modular cables. (which really don't cause voltage drop unless connectors have worn loose)
Even weirder would be to have successor models with weaker efficiency. I would keep it quite clear that S12E+s and M12s are meant for replacing original high power S12 models in Seasonics product line.

MikeC has at least M12s for testing so I guess he might be able to say something about these efficiency ratings if you PM him.

floffe · Post by **floffe** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:44 am

Well, the old ones peaked at 82%, so 88% would definitely be an increase. The 87% mentioned there were due to measurement inaccuracies, see the postscript.

YngDiego · Post by **YngDiego** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:36 am

Well I ordered my S12-Energy 550 for $149 and it should be here this week. I'm waiting on the other parts for my PC, so it will be a few weeks before I can power it on.

Post by **MikeC** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:00 am

Keep in mind that that from a marketing standpoint, one can legitimately publish the highest reached efficiency point. Most PSU makers say things like "up to xx% efficiency". Which, I believe is a claim used by FSP for its Zen models -- it's probably true at the highest point in its efficiency curve with 240VAC input. Ditto the new Seasonics.

BTW -- I've just finished stting up the 240VAC line for the PSU test rig. Have had a chance only to test one PSU -- one of the Seasonic S12-430s in the lab. At <100W loads, the efficiency difference was ~2% (ie, 75% vs 77%). At 150~350W, it was around 3%. At full load, it was 75% vs 79%.

EsaT · Post by **EsaT** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:10 pm

MikeC wrote:Keep in mind that that from a marketing standpoint, one can legitimately publish the highest reached efficiency point. Most PSU makers say things like "up to xx% efficiency".

Also other variable is shape of efficiency curve, other have high efficiency only with small range of loads while high efficiency are of others covers very wide range of loads.

MikeC wrote:BTW -- I've just finished stting up the 240VAC line for the PSU test rig. Have had a chance only to test one PSU -- one of the Seasonic S12-430s in the lab. At <100W loads, the efficiency difference was ~2% (ie, 75% vs 77%). At 150~350W, it was around 3%. At full load, it was 75% vs 79%.

230VAC would have been more representive, very few countries have 240.
http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

But definitely interesting to see that difference increases with consumed power. (which is of course good news for us with 230)

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:43 pm

EsaT wrote:230VAC would have been more representive, very few countries have 240.
http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

The difference between 230V and 240V will be insignificant w.r.t. efficiency measurements. See the size of the differences between 115V and 240V MikeC measured.

B.T.W. The EU countries on that list you linked might have officially switched to 230V, but if what I am measuring at home is any indication, the real world is not that far yet.

Yeti · Post by **Yeti** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:50 pm

They're here!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... ctory=1697

I purchased the M12 500. I'll be running a light load Core 2 Duo system with 2GB DDR2, 1 HDD, 1 DVD, 1 Video card, and so on. Will the PSU too much for it? I do need the extra headroom, as I'll be adding hard drives, secondary graphics cards, and so on in the future. I think it's perfect.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:54 pm

Hello,

They are $140 to $210 -- for a power supply?

Sheesh, I know they're good, but...

YngDiego · Post by **YngDiego** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:48 pm

I'm used to spending that much or more on PC Power and Cooling supplies, so the Seasonic is actually cheaper than my last PPC.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:28 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,

They are $140 to $210 -- for a power supply?

Sheesh, I know they're good, but...

Hmm, well they are on the high end in terms of wattage.. nothing below 500w, but I'd definitely like to see a price drop when they have more availability.
I'm kinda wondering why they don't make anything less than 500w for their new models, my guess would be that the people interested in premium quality psus would generally buy high wattage devices in the first place.

YngDiego · Post by **YngDiego** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:36 am

I know. I would have happily bought a 350 or 400W version, but that's not offered so I went with the 550w.