A Detailed Look
Micro Tolerance Load Regulation – MTLR
(Courtesy of Seasonic)
The Seasonic PRIME Series power supplies incorporate extremely tight voltage regulation, which Seasonic calls Micro Tolerance Load Regulation (MTLR). This results in the three primary rails (+3.3V, +5V, and +12V) exhibiting less than or equal to 0.5% voltage drop (1% for 1000W and above) within the tight 2% voltage regulation range!
The Seasonic PRIME 1200W Gold power supply enclosure is painted satin black with gold lettering and measures 170mm (6.7”) long. The back panel includes an On-Off switch, AC receptacle, Hybrid Mode fan switch and a large honey-comb grill area for good exhaust airflow.
The power supply uses a high-quality 135mm Hong Hua fan (HA13525H12F-Z) that incorporates a fluid dynamic bearing for quiet operation and long, reliable life. The fan is rated for 0.50A and 2300 rpm at 12 VDC. The power supply also features Seasonic’s Premium Hybrid Fan Control, which enables operating in silent fanless mode at low power (~40% load).
The front panel includes thirteen connectors for the modular cables, all nicely labeled and keyed so you don’t inadvertently plug a cable into the wrong connector.
The PRIME 1200W Gold power supply comes with an excellent assortment of twelve fully modular cables for easy installation and clean builds, however we would prefer to have a dedicated cable for each PCI-E connector instead of daisy-chaining two onto one cable. The cables are a mix of flat ribbon-style (peripheral cables) and sleeved which is covered with black plastic braiding. All of the power cables incorporate a small capacitor at the device end (hidden under the heat-shrink) to subdue any residual AC ripple or noise that might make it that far.
(Courtesy of Seasonic)
Under the Hood
Here are a few pictures showing the layout and components inside the PRIME 1200W Gold power supply. Of course Seasonic is the OEM – the layout and build quality appear to be excellent!
Seasonic is using a state of the art, high-performance LLC resonant design with Synchronous Rectification power conversion along with DC-to-DC voltage regulators located on a daughter card to provide very tight voltage regulation and high efficiency.
All of the Japanese made capacitors are rated for 105°C operation and the two primary bulk caps are made by Nippon Chemi-Con and rated for 680uF and 470uF, 400V, and 105°C.
seasonic never fails to
seasonic never fails to impress
thanks for another much appreciated psu review
still the most important component for me
12 yr manufacturer’s
12 yr manufacturer’s warranty. somebody believes in their product
JonnyGuru stated “PCIe cable
JonnyGuru stated “PCIe cable wire gauge is too thin for one cable to handle high power cards” for the Platinum & I think is the same with Gold version.
Yes, you are correct – the
Yes, you are correct – the PRIME Gold Series PSUs use 18 AWG wire like the Platinum Series. That is why I dinged them for daisy-chaining two PCI-E connectors onto one cable as a weakness. For the majority of users who have two high-end (power hungry) video cards, using a dedicated cable/PCI-E connector to all four connectors should be adequate. However IMO that still doesn not excuse Seasonic for putting two connectors on the end of a single 18 AWG cable set on a 1200W PSU.