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.
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Martin Kaffei - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Tcha, that's one disadvantage of those full modular PSUs.I always forget the cables. I'm sorry.
Cobra Commander - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Displeased with the subjective noise levels - they're 100% meaningless to me.Create a standard on how Anandtech wishes to objectively-benchmark PSU noise and stick to it, please.
Oxford Guy - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Agreed.The chart says "strong fan noise" and then the article's body text talks about how very quiet it is at high load.
? ? ?
vicbee - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
What?!? They didn't get your Platinum Award?!? how disappointing...rtothedizzy - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I think you might have overstated your conclusion a bit.While this is a great power supply it's hard to argue that it is superior to its 1000W big brother which (I believe) matches this one in all the efficiency, regulation, and noise benchmarks and adds another 140W.
The only way I can see you claiming this one is better is maybe a price/W metric or whenever you wrote this article you weren't aware of the 1000W version.
just4U - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Martin,How about some pictures of the cables please. These things are important to many of us as we like to see what they look like for case work arounds asthetics, what type of ribbons their using or sleeving etc.
TY!
Martin Kaffei - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Done.There will be more pictures next week. The 24-pin cable is probably a bad example, but this was the only picture I made. The peripheral cables are more opaque.
tzhu07 - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I'm currently on a SeaSonic X750. I like the hybrid fan mode. Keeps things quiet when I'm not doing much.Nfarce - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I've got a SS 620W Bronze running an older now-backup gaming rig and it's been flawless for over two years (overclocked E8400, SLI'd o/c GTX 275s). However, the reviews of the 1000W version of this PS on NewEgg are a little disconcerting with a 25% failure/DOA rate - especially at this level of supposed quality (and price).AssBall - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
$220... ouch. But I guess if you need the best, you pay for it.