Seasonic S12-II 500 Watt Power Supply

Seasonic is a well respected power supply manufacturer.  They manufacture some of the highest performing power supplies under their own label and for many other companies as well.  The power supplies they create offer reliable and stable power to PC systems. Today, we look at the 500 Watt model of the S12-II series of power supplies from Seasonic. The S12-II series feature an efficient power handling platform and a black 'sandpaper' matte finish; this series is also designed for PC DIY builders wishing for an ultra quiet power supply with a high efficiency.  This power supply is also 80Plus Certified, meaning that it is more than 80% efficient at typical loads. 

Upon opening the box, you will find the manual, that offers enough information to install this power supply; a card informing the owner of the 3 year warranty, a power cable (not pictured), a Molex to floppy adapter, a Seasonic sticker, and 5 screws. 

Here are some of the main features and specifications from the box:

The Power Supply:

The power supply features a matte black color, which looks professional. The surface has a rough 'sandpaper' feel to it.

Looking at the side of the power supply, there is an Seasonic label with their logo on it, the model number and a condensed specification list.  Note that there are two +12v rails, each supplying up to 17 Amps, which is good for peripherals requiring more power. It is also RoHS compliant. 

The rear (outside of case) features a  honeycomb style grille for exhausting air from the power supply via the 120 mm fan on the bottom of the power supply.  There is an on/off switch and AC Power Input.  This power supply offers a full range power circuit and Active PFC, so there is no need for a 110v / 240v switch. 

The Cables:

This power supply features the following cables:

-A 24-pin ATX power connector with removable 4 pin for backwards 20-pin compatibility.

-A 4-pin CPU ATX Power Connector, with a detachable 4-pin connector that allows for 8-pin EPS 12v compatibility

-An additional 8-pin EPS +12v connector.  Note that this one cannot be separated into two 4-pin connectors.

-1x  6-Pin PCI-Express Power Connectors and 1x 6+2-Pin PCI-Express Power Connector

-9x Molex Power Connectors

-6x Serial ATA Power Connectors.

-2x Floppy Power Connectors via the Molex to floppy adaptor

Cooling:

There is a large 120mm fan on the bottom of this power supply.  During testing, at idle speeds, this fan is almost silent, which is great for a quiet system.  With loads, the fan still stayed silent, which is great.  The noise characteristics are similar to that of the M12-500 Watt Power Supply.

Inside the Power Supply:

* Taking this power supply apart will void the warranty.

Inside the power supply, there are three surprisingly small black heat sinks that offer fins to cool down the voltage rectifiers.  There are also two transformers, one large and one one smaller transformer in the middle.  An large sized Hitachi HP3 branded primary capacitor is seen in the bottom left.

-A Hitachi branded primary capacitor

-The Solid Capacitor Mascot?

This power supply features Conductive Polymer Aluminum Solid Capacitors, which offers "Enhanced Over-clocking Performance, Improved Durability, and Higher Stability and Reliability."

I could only spot one of these Solid Capacitors.

The fan inside is a ADDA AD1212MB-A71GL fan , with a maximum draw of 0.33Amps.

Testing:

For this power supply, the test system consists of the following:

-Antec Nine Hundred Case

-AMD Opteron 165 Dual Core Socket 939 CPU @ 2.9 GHz (1.62v)

-ThermalTake Blue Orb II Heat Sink

-DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-D

-2GB of Corsair XMS Platinum PC3200 Memory

-320GB x 4 Western Digital 16MB Cache Hard Drives

-2x nVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS Video Cards @ 625MHz Core / 1000 MHz Memory

-Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card

-Sony 16x DVD-RAM / 18x Samsung DVD-RAM Drives

-3x 120MM fans, 1x 200mm fan

-2x CCFL Lights

(Multimeter Results)

*For additional / larger pictures of the S12-II 500 Watt, Click Here

*Voltages are at 'Max Load', running 3DMark06 CPU Test 1 and 2 / Deep Freeze HDR test, and read with a Multi-Meter.

The results are great for this power supply. Everything ran fine during testing; the system was stable and performed the tests as expected.  During the tests, the fan speed did not seem to budge. When the system is idle or doing simple tasks, the fan is nearly silent.  I was satisfied with the noise characteristics during the testing. Installation of this power supply was easy.  Overall, the Seasonic S12-II 500 Watt is a highly recommended power supply.   It is multi-gpu ready with a 6-pin PCI-E power connector and a 6+2 pin PCI-E power connector, which is great for next gen graphics cards.  The fan is also silent / quiet, which is great for system builders seeking a quiet or HTPC build. Seasonic's 3 year warranty is also included with this power supply. 

Pros +

-Great Power Delivery and Stability

-Two CPU auxiliary 4 and 8 pin connectors

-New 6+2pin PCI-Express Connector

-Quiet Fan

Cons -

-High end users may want more power than 500 Watts.

Techaddicts.net would like to give this power supply a 9.5 out of 10 rating and the Techaddicts Editors' Choice Award for its great power delivery, quietness and next generation readiness.

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