Since their start in 1975, Seasonic has been focused on "research and developent and the production of quality power conversion products." But it seems that only recently has Seasonic been a key player in the enthusiast market. In the year 2000, Seasonic was "the first PSU maker to provide the PC and IPC market with cost-effective Active PFC (Power Factor Correction) solutions." Since then, PFC (either passive or active) has been slowly gaining popularity as a desireable feature found on all power supplies. Today, PFC is something that can make or break the sale of a power supply, especially in the enthusiast market.
Since their start in 1975, Seasonic has been focused on "research and developent and the production of quality power conversion products." But it seems that only recently has Seasonic been a key player in the enthusiast market. In the year 2000, Seasonic was "the first PSU maker to provide the PC and IPC market with cost-effective Active PFC (Power Factor Correction) solutions." Since then, PFC (either passive or active) has been slowly gaining popularity as a desireable feature found on all power supplies. Today, PFC is something that can make or break the sale of a power supply, especially in the enthusiast market.
With that said, let's see what the Seasonic SS-250SVP power supply unit has to offer....
The Smart and Silent Fan Control can be seen in the form of an incredibly quiet (and prettymuch silent) fan that puts out about 25dBA (according to Seasonic). The "Smart" part of this feature probably lies in the extra fan speed RPM sensor wire that is included on this model. The 3-pin connection on the end of the blue and black RPM sensor can be plugged into most motherboards that support fan speed monitoring.
The super high efficiency of up to 75% is a combined effort from cool operation (due to a good fan and heatsinks inside the PSU) and the active power factor correction (which is essentially "a measurement of how effectively electrical power is being used").
The "Forward Converter" supposedly makes the PSU more reliable and more efficient (which is a good thing). This is accomplished through a superior DC to DC converter topology, which you can find more information on here.
Also included with this power supply is something that Seasonic calls the "All-in-one Magic Bracket". This ingenious little piece of metal will screw directly to the exhaust side of the PSU and enable you to install this mATX PSU into a case that only has an opening for a full sized ATX PSU. It's a pretty good idea and I am glad to see Seasonic thinking these things through and taking the time and effort to include such accessories to make your life easier. We'll take a closer look at the Magic Bracket a little later.
Another accessory that Seasonic is known to include with their PSU's is the "Dr. Cable" cable management kit. Again, it's something that Seasonic did not have to include, but did. This shows that the company is willing to go the extra mile for the customer, an image that many companies do not portray. Again, more on the Dr. Cable accessory later.
Finally, the last thing that Seasonic proudly displays on the side of their box is their 3-year warranty. Obviously, the longer the warranty, the better. This warranty term, although not lifetime, is definately something to be proud of. Many video cards, and even hard drives do not even have a warranty this long!
Retail Box and Accessories
The retail box is colorful and proudly displays logos and information regarding the major selling points of this product.
Inside the box, you find a pretty extensive accessory package. First up is the Magic Bracked I touched on earlier.
Next we have the printed manual.
Although it is informational, the information is pretty limited, and it is only in English. Not that I care about it being in any other language, but some other people might. I guess there isn't much instruction required for a PSU, but this still seems pretty weak.
In the middle top of the accessory picture above you can see the PSU its self (which I will discuss in more detail later) and a warranty card. To the right of the warranty card is two bags of screws (one bag with M3 screws and the other with 6/32 screws) and a typical power cable. At last, we finally come to the Dr. Cable cable management kit (seen at the bottom right of the accessories picture)!
This kit comes with two "mostly" clear spiral pieces of plastic (one large diameter for the ATX cable and another small diameter for the molex cables) and a generous bag of zip-ties. The zip-ties, as many of you probably already know, can be an invaluable item when trying to tidy up the cables inside a computer. This is a very nice accsesory to see bundled with a PSU! The spiral wire loom is wound around the bundles of cables as they come out of the PSU.
As you can see, it can help to control the masses of wires for easier cable management. Although pretty cheap and simple, it is still an effective way of tidying up the inside of your computer case and it's nice to see such accessories bundled with a PSU. Seasonic actually claims that the Dr. Cable management kit is actually a better alternative to traditional cable sleaving because it still allows the cables to be flexible while traditional cable sleaving can actually make the cables stiffer and harder to manage. Some like the looks of the traditional cable sleaving while other may prefer the ease of use and flexibilility of the Dr. Cable type management; both have their merits and I'll let you be the judge of which you prefer and use.
The Power Supply Unit:
For a 250w mATX PSU, the SS-250SVP has a fair selection of available cables and connections. Starting at the top, there is a handy 3-pin connection for you control freaks out there who like to monitor the speed of the power supply fan. The main ATX connector is of the 20-pin variety. This is unfortunate since most newer motherboards are all 24-pin, but what is even more unfortunate is the fact that Seasonic did not include a 20-pin to 24-pin adapter. For a company that included everything but the kitchen sink as far as accessory packages and leave out a 20-24 pin adapter is aggrivating.
Moving on we have the 4-pin ATX12V "auxiliary" power connector which is required on most motherboards nowadays. There is also a cable dedicated to providing two SATA power connections, a very nice feature indeed. The last two cables available on the SS-250SVP are twins. There are two cables that both feature two 4-pin molex connections followed by a 4-pin "floppy" type power connector.
|
Connector |
Count |
|
4-Pin Molex |
4 |
|
4-pin floppy |
2 |
|
SATA |
2 |
|
4-pin ATX12V |
1 |
|
20-pin ATX |
1 |
|
3-pin fan speed |
1 |
The SS-250SVP features a quiet 25dBA operation thanks to Seasonic's Smart and Silent Fan Control and choice of cooling fans. Here you can see the intake fan and the perforated exhaust panel.
The fan is of a typical 80mmx25mm size and is made by "SUPERRED" and has the model # CHA8012CB-A. From what I could find on their website, SUPERRED is part of ChengHome Electronic Co., Ltd which is based in Taiwan and claim to have been focused on making DC brushless fans and motors since 1985. Unfortunately, the products section of the Cheng Home website didn't seem to be working properly, but after some extensive searching elsewhere, I managed to find this pdf specification sheet. Although the exact model number is not listed, the parts are pretty close. From what I can gather, this fan has a Ball Bearing motor system and is rated for about 25CFM at approximately 23dB and operates at 2100rpm and draws 0.09A. I listened carefully to this fan during operation and although it is extremely quiet, there is however a slight high-pitched motor whine. But I could only hear this when my ear was right up next to the PSU. When installed in a case, I doubt you would be able to hear this noise through the case or over the other case fans. With my exhaust fan on full blast, I definately could not hear any noise coming from the PSU.
In addition to quiet operation, the SS-250SVP is a microATX sized unit so it's dimensions are much smaller than the typical full sized ATX power supply. Including the fan, the SS-250SVP measures 4.9" (125mm) wide, 3.9" (100mm) deep, and 3.0" (76.5mm) thick, it is about 53% smaller than a full sized ATX PSU (which usually measure about 150mm x 140mm x 86mm). It's small size makes the SS-250SVP suitable for small form factor cases and an especially great candidate for HTPC cases.
As you can see, it is indeed very small. The most significant size improvement is definately the depth. The SS-250SVP is much shorter than a full sized ATX PSU. And, like most all power supply units, there is a sticker on the side of the unit that details it's specifications; the SS-250SVP is no different.
The +3.3v line is rated at 18A, the +5v at 21A, and the +12v at 16A with a 110W maximum combined +3.3v and +5v DC (direct current) output and a 250 watt maximum total DC output. This particular PSU is one of the newer ATX 12v 2.0 compatable versions since it doesn't have dual +12v rails. This powersupply also lacks a 24-pin ATX connector as well as any native PCI-Express connections.
The inside of the PSU is jam packed full of high powered electical capacitors and components.
You can see the two aluminum heatsinks very well. These are used to transfer heat from the hot components down below to keep the PSU nice and cool. Obviously, the bigger the heatsink, the better they will cool; and these heatsinks are pretty generiously sized for the type of PSU we are dealing with here. You can also see the leads for the fan power and rpm speed monitoring in the upper right hand corner. Unlike many PSU's where the fan's power leads are soldered directly to the PCB, the fan is connected via a 2-pin connector that can be easily unplugged should you ever need to switch out the fan. The twisted pair of blue and black wires are the wires for speed monitoring of the fan and go from the fan out the main cable hole in the back of the PSU with all the other cables (which you can see at the bottom right corner.
Just remember that computer power supply units (or any other high powered electical component for that matter) can be extremely dangerous if not handled with complete caution and the utmost care. If for some reason you should need to remove the cover of your PSU, just keep in mind that it will void the warranty and you run the risk of electrocution or at least a powerful electric shock. Capacitors are electronic components that store an electronic charge, and power supply units are full of very large capacitors that, upon discharge, could severely injure you. So be wary of these units and handle them with care. It is best just to leave the cover on and never remove it. Should the fan need to be replaced while the unit is still under warranty, simply contact customer support and you will most likely be issued a new PSU or the fan will be replaced by the company and returned to you.
Test Setup:
Testing of the Seasonic "Super Versatile" 250w PSU was done with the following components:
| Component |
Notes |
| AMD Athlon64 3200 Venice |
Stock 10x200mhz speed and default 1.4v |
| Chaintech VNF4 Ultra |
BIOS V5 |
| eVGA 6600GT 128MB PCI-Express |
Stock 500mhz core and 1Ghz memory speed
and 81.98 nVidia driver |
| Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB HDD |
PATA, 8MB cache, 7200rpm |
| LiteOn DVD-ROM |
This was the only optical drive connected |
| Seasonic SS-250SVP 250 watt "Super Versatile" PSU |
A generic ATX 20-pin to 24-pin adapter was used
for compatability with the motherboard |
| Cooling/Other |
Evercool 120mm aluminum/chrome case fan
XP-90 with 92mm Panaflo FBA09A12L1BX |
These components were selected in an attempt to mimic the basic systems that will most likely be used with this PSU in a "HTPC like" machine. All voltages were read using a digital multimeter and measured directly from the 20-pin ATX connector on the PSU cable, not the 20-24pin adapter.
Looking at the analysis, you can see that the +3.3, +5, and +12 volt rails on the SS-250SVP remain very stable across the board throughout the testing. The only time I saw the voltage drop below the rated power on a particular rail was the 12v line during the 3DMark2003 benchmark test (which happened to be during the "Mother Nature" test). But even then, the voltage was at 11.94v, still a pretty reliable amount of power output. The only other thing that jumps out at me from looking at the results is the fact that the 12v and 5v rail are slightly overvolting when not under extreme load. Although the voltages vary slightly from what they are rated to, the measured voltages are still well within the +- 5% voltage range tolerance for the +3.3, +5, and +12 volt rails. Regardless of the actual voltage measurements and tolerances, all three voltage rails remained incredibly stable during testing. Even when holding the multimeter on the connections, I never saw any large jumps or fluctuations in the voltage. It is safe to conclude that this PSU is incredibly stable, even when running a modestly powerful system for today under full load.
I also took a subjective look at the heat generated by the SS-250SVP. By just feeling the air coming out the back of the PSU (which isn't much), it was fairly warm, but definately not anything to be concerned about. Unfortunately I didn't get an exact temperature reading of the exhaust air, but just by feeling the sides of the PSU its self, I did not feel any alarming hot spots or the funky smell of melting PCB.
Warranty and Support:
Even from the first time I checked out Seasonic's website, it was obvious that they are very customer focused. This particular PSU offers a commendable 3 year warranty, which seems to be the standard for most all of Seasonic's power supply units. Seasonic also has a nice list of Frequently Asked Questions available under Technical Support. If you still cannot find the answer to your question in the FAQ's or need help regarding warranty information and support, you can contact Seasonic by means of telephone, post mail, or e-mail. They even have office hours Monday ~ Friday 9am-12am / 1pm-5pm except holidays.
Our Recommendation:
In short, the Seasonic 250W "Super Versatile" PSU has really impressed me. I wasn't expecting a lot of performance out of a "puny" 250 watt PSU, but this little engine that could powered my system beautifully. The voltage rails remained rock solid even under full load, operation was cool and quiet, and the accessory bundle was rich. Unless you plan on running a fast dual core processor (PentiumD or FX-60) or high end graphics card (7900GTX or X1900XTX), the SS-250SVP is a great little PSU that seems like it woul be perfectly suited in the HTPC market and should be capable of running most any fairly modest system of today.
Pros:
- Quiet Operation
- Great Accessories (like the Magic Bracket and Dr. Cable kit)
- Incredible Stability and Quality for a 250w PSU
- Active PFC
- Small/Compact Size
Cons:
- 20-pin ATX Connector and no 20-pin to 24-pin Adapter
- Not ATX12 V2.0 Compliant
