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Seasonic Platinum Series Fanless 520 W

crmaris

crmaris

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Mar 3, 2011
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Seasonic has decided to upgrade the platforms of their smaller PSU models, which includes the fanless ones. The fresh SS-520FL features Platinum efficiency, increased capacity, and promises sky high efficiency. Read our review to find out how good this new Seasonic PSU is.

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It's not digital right? Seems to match the regulation and efficiency numbers of the 760i/860i.
 
nope this is old school, but still manages to register this level of performance.
 
Pretty nice price too!
 
In cons you mentioned only 2 pci-e connectors. Most of the PSU in this power ratings(500-550W) have only 2 pci-e connectors. Also most people who plan to use this psu wont be using multi-CPU/GPU setup rather a PC with single mid-range graphics card and 2-3 hdds. So personally IMO that is not a con.
 
the competition (Super Flower Golden Silent 500W and its rebranded versions) provide 4*PCIe
 
Chaitanya said:
In cons you mentioned only 2 pci-e connectors. Most of the PSU in this power ratings(500-550W) have only 2 pci-e connectors. Also most people who plan to use this psu wont be using multi-CPU/GPU setup rather a PC with single mid-range graphics card and 2-3 hdds. So personally IMO that is not a con.
Click to expand...

+1 to that. Highly improbable that someone going for a 500W will plug in 4 GPUs or something. I understand the comparison with the competition, but I don't find a con too. Man I want this one. :) I have a CM Silent Pro 500W, and it really is almost inaudible, but fanless..............I'd take that any day.
 
Im not sure if im a fan of that lol
 
lZKoce said:
+1 to that. Highly improbable that someone going for a 500W will plug in 4 GPUs or something. I understand the comparison with the competition, but I don't find a con too. Man I want this one. :) I have a CM Silent Pro 500W, and it really is almost inaudible, but fanless..............I'd take that any day.
Click to expand...

A lot of cards use two connectors on their own.

Still, I think the market for passive PSUs for even dual-GPU rigs must be pretty small. It's difficult to make an SLI/CF setup silent. There were passive 6850s, but the 6850 only needs one connector.
 
Way to raise the bar! Titanium efficiency PSU's :p
Nice review crmaris. I wonder what the extra 5 deg. C on the OTP would let you do?
 
nothing special. It is just that some extra headroom would be nice. Since the PSU is fanless I expect its temperature to raise significantly in a system with not optimal airflow. And in this case a higher OTP would prevent unexpected restarts or shut downs (assuming that the PSU easily handles 45C internal temp). After all the normal ambient at the internals of a system according to ATX spec is 43C and this is why the latter recommends 50C as max operating temperature.
 
Oi...that price is just out of this world.

Picked up a X650 during a egg sale for around 69.99 and found that to be good value for the htpc, saw these fanless PSUs but couldn't justify the price of these things.
 
Thanks for great review. I still wonder why there is no PSU manufacturer that makes PSUs with integrated UPS. Batteries could be stored in 5.25"drive bays. That way unnecessary power conversions could be avoided (UPS is converting 12VDC to 230VAC then power goes to power supply and power supply is converting it back to 12VDC)
Such solution could be cheaper than dedicated PSU + dedicated UPS. Simply because some unnecessary power conversions could be avoided so less electronics is needed.

And i have one suggestion, could you please add to reviews if output capacitors can be upgraded and if yes how? Many PSUs share the same PCBs and on lower models are some capacitors not present. By adding the missing capacitors you could cheaply extend hold-up time.
 
adding caps in the APFC firstly will void your warranty and secondly can cause issues since different caps have also different ESR which will affect the whole design. The manufacturer has tuned the circuit accordingly and the balance can go off rail if you mess with different caps. The same applies to the secondary, too.
 
#1 in performance

Only 12V and 5Vsb regulation at 2nd place (lose to AX 860i) all other performance surpass all test units (3.3V/5V regulation, low load/average efficiency, inrush current, acustics noise....)

I really want one!!

I feel 2 PCIe is good enough for a 520w unit!!
 
Definitely consider the 2 pci-e connectors to be a plus for this size unit. I've owned...or should I say tried to own several of these fanless units from Seasonic. I ended up returning them because of a high pitch hum/whine. About the 3rd unit I tried, I could only hear the high pitch whine from about a foot...but it bothered me that the unit wasn't silent.

I ended up just going with the 650w units. I've used quite a few of the 650's. The San Ace fans are very quiet when running and the units are virtually dead silent when the fan isn't running.

Best,

LC
 
Hello I'm currently upgrading my HTPC. The case is a Silverstone Lascala LC20M.
I just purchased the PSU Seasonic Platinium 520 fanless. I noticed that on the user manual, it is written that "The power supply unit must be mounted into the computer case with the ventilation top cover facing UP". The problem is that my HTPC case is not a vertical "tower", it is a horizontal case, just like many HTPC's. So the PSU does not stand horizontaly inside the case, it stands vertically. So is this Seasonic 520 PSU suitable for my HTPC? Will it heat too much?
Thanks,
Gz
 
grendizer said:
Hello I'm currently upgrading my HTPC. The case is a Silverstone Lascala LC20M.
I just purchased the PSU Seasonic Platinium 520 fanless. I noticed that on the user manual, it is written that "The power supply unit must be mounted into the computer case with the ventilation top cover facing UP". The problem is that my HTPC case is not a vertical "tower", it is a horizontal case, just like many HTPC's. So the PSU does not stand horizontaly inside the case, it stands vertically. So is this Seasonic 520 PSU suitable for my HTPC? Will it heat too much?
Thanks,
Gz
Click to expand...

As long as th fan/vent in this case is not obstructed(as in put it the only other way the manual describes) it should be fine.
 
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