Looks like Seasonic S12 PSUs will soon be available in the UK

[dodgybob]

Ok, they wont be available until late May and the 430W S12 wont be available but these are very nice PSUs. Just thought they might be of interest. They have an excellent reputation in reviews, particularly from silentpc review. A bit pricey, but they are quality units. They have have slightly noisier fans than the 430W and below models but still should be very quiet, particularly as silentpc pretty much rated the 430W S12 as one of the quietest fanned PSUs you can buy. Roughly 80% efficiency too.

Here's the link.

I've got a 500W model on pre-order for when i build my new system in June.

Edit:

They've added the 430W model which has a slightly quieter fan. SilentPC Review think it's the dog's danglies - very quiet, superb power regulation and very efficient.

Here's the review

Now the question is whether to ditch my pre order and go for one of those 430W models. Hmmm, decisions decisions.

[owen1978]

I got the Seasonic Super Tornado 400w from Ebay for £40, best psu i've ever bought!!

[BenW]

You can already get the 500W and 600W models in the uk

At the bottom of here

[dodgybob]

Same link mate

The oem models have been available for a while but the retail S12 series hasn't. There's a lot of confusion about it but the internals are believed to be different. Certainly the SS401HT isn't the same as a 430W S12. Retail models get longer cables amongst other niceties as well.

[BenW]

Ah yea, didnt realise they were pre-order and obviously didnt click the link in your original post!

Been on xcase for at least a week now though

[cah]

hmmmmmmmmm. not sure i'm too convinced with the noise level. Does anyone know of how these compare Globalwins?

[skattrd]

The 600w only has 18A on the 12v rails, might not be too good for dual systems .....

[BenW]

Well, SilentPC forum guys love this as a fanned psu. If they get a fanned psu then they go for the seasonic S12 430W version. So yes its about as quiet as a fanned psu gets!

[dodgybob]

Although the 500W and 600W do have a slightly noisier fan than the 430W model. Then again they do have a higher rating so it's probably a fair trade off.

Didn't realise they had been available for so long on pre-order ben

Now just got to find someone that stocks the S12 430W model. I'm going with the 500W model as it has the 6 pin pci-e connector which the 430W model doesn't. Although some people in the silentpc forums said that their 430 did come with one, it seemed to be luck of the draw. I'm going to need to use quite a few of those molex connectors and may be buying more hard drives in the future so i'd rather not overload those lines with a convertor cable to power my x800xt at the same time.

Skattrd, remember it's a dual rail psu, that makes 36A combined. I think I remember reading that someone in the anandtech forums had one of these running a dual opteron setup with quite a few scsi drives and professional opengl graphics card so there should be enough juice. I think they rated it as good as pc power & cooling power supplies.

[skattrd]

Skattrd, remember it's a dual rail psu, that makes 36A combined. I think I remember reading that someone in the anandtech forums had one of these running a dual opteron setup with quite a few scsi drives and professional opengl graphics card so there should be enough juice. I think they rated it as good as pc power & cooling power supplies.

I've just been reading up on the 600w on 2cpu and you're right a few people over there rate them as well.
It looks like a contender for my new psu .... its just most people seem to reccomend one single high ampage rail for the motherboard I've got ......... I'm confused again

[dodgybob]

I'm building a pc in a month with the following specs:

A8N-SLI Deluxe
A64 3200, venice core
1GB Ballistix ram (already own)
X800XT (already own as bought on special offer)
200GB Seagate PATA drive (already own)
120GB WD SATA drive (already own)
NEC 3520a (already own)
Sony 52x CD-RW (already own)
Antec SLK3000B

I'm definitely getting a Seasonic PSU, just not sure which model to go for.

The 430W model has the quieter fan and noise is a big concern. However the 500W model has a 6 pin pci-e connector. The reason i'm so fussed about the connector is that I'm not keen on the adapter cables. They need to be attached to 2 molex connectors on different cables. In that case I'm worried about attaching hard drives to those cables, particularly as I might buy extra drives in the future.

There's a cost issue too. The 430W model is £53 and the 500W model is £88.

Will I be fine with a 430W model and an adapter to power the X800XT or should I pay the extra for the 500W model? Am I simply worrying too much?

[Steve]

The reason i'm so fussed about the connector is that I'm not keen on the adapter cables. They need to be attached to 2 molex connectors on different cables.

Following a PSU failure, and having to run on a 400W OEM PSU for two weeks without enough molexes, I can tell you that my 6800GT did just fine with only one molex plugged into the PCIe power adapter. Shame there wasn't a molex left for my DVD drive... damn that RAID 5 array

The biggest reason for the dual molex connection through the PCIe adapter is current down each wire, not the actual power output of the PSU. The current is distributed over the wires if there's a few of them, whereas if it's all going down just one, a dodgy cable might not handle it too well...

[dodgybob]

Following a PSU failure, and having to run on a 400W OEM PSU for two weeks without enough molexes, I can tell you that my 6800GT did just fine with only one molex plugged into the PCIe power adapter. Shame there wasn't a molex left for my DVD drive... damn that RAID 5 array

Bloody hell! Some setup you have there

So I should be fine with the 430W and for the next 3-4 years? I must admit I would prefer that model as it's quieter and a lot cheaper, particularly as I'm obsessed with noise.

In fact I'm getting an XP120 for the CPU and a VF700 for the graphics card. I chose this motherboard over the DFI models as it's a lot easier to replace the chipset fan with something quieter due to the way the board is arranged.

I might do some upgrades in 2 years but I'm never going to actually do an SLI setup. I just wish Asus made an Nforce 4 Ultra board or DFI made one where the graphics card didn't overhang the chipset.

[Steve]

Well the biggest trouble i see with current PSUs is ATX/EPS compliance. I'd say 430W should be OK, but it's really hard to tell right now. I recently had the choice between a 480 and 530W model, and went for the latter just to be on the safe side. However, if noise is a big issue for you... then you already know which on you're going for

[dodgybob]

Yup, you're right I guess I pretty much have chosen the 430W model

If I build something requiring more power in the future it would be a substantial upgrade anyway so might as get the best available at that time. I maintain pcs for several friends and family so I would always have a buyer for it.

Thanks for your help Kez, much appreciated

[Lu-tze]

the asus A8N-E is an nforce ultra board with good northbridge placement. it is a good £20 less than the SLI and has the same layout except for a PCI-E 1x slot where the second 16x slot would be.

look here