Seasonic SS-460FL Active PFC F3, 460W Fanless ATX12V Fanless 80Plus PLATINUM Certified, Modular Power Supply

Pros: The biggest pro of course is that this thing is completely silent. I haven't heard any coil hiss coming from my unit...and even if there was I doubt very much it would be audible once the case is enclosed. I use it in a HTPC/file server in my living room with the rest of my HT equipment and it was just what the doctor ordered after my Antec died on me. Admittedly, I have it mounted in my case as instructed, but the case lies horizontally on its side opposed to its intended vertical position, thus causing the vents of the P/S to be inverted. I was worried that this would cause some issues with the heat dispersion, but it is still running cool and after about 3 months of constantly being on, it is still working like a champ.

I never owned a Seasonic P/S before and was impressed even with the packaging. It may seem naive to think that the quality of the packing is related to the quality of the product, but I for one believe it shows the company cares about how it is perceived by its customers, and that their commitment to quality will likely extend to the product. To this point, it seems that perception is spot on in this case.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: This thing is worth the few extra dollars compared to other units out there that compare. For the fan-less design and quality of the product, it is worth every penny from what I have experienced thus far.

Pros: Silent, modular, little heat.

Cons: My first one literally blew up first time turning it on. Newegg replaced it; now second one blew (smoke, sparks, ozone, bang) when turning on after about six months.

Other Thoughts: Bad design, or some bad components.

Pros: Seasonic is a rock-solid PSU that never fails to deliver under load. I wouldn't trust my components plugged into anything other than a Seasonic PSU.

Cons: The modular cable design doesn't seem to have any thought put into it. First and foremost there are exactly the same number of cables as there are modular connectors. This, in my mind, means that Seasonic didn't think of versatility but instead wanted to market what shouldn't be a modular power supply as a modular one. Because of the extreme in length changes between teh cables I couldn't find one that worked for my system. Contacting Seasonic Customer Support (Kevin Han) yielded them telling me to buy an adapter. If there had been information regarding the cable lengths, the number of cables, or any details whatsoever I could have planned for the eventuality that the cables wouldn't fit my build. I'm personally appalled at the fact that Seasonic's only remedy for bad design on the cabling is for me to purchase another non-tested possible point of failure and plug it in. Seasonic surprised me by not thinking about the cable design, and then they insulted me by explaining how power adapters are utilized. When I buy a PSU I shouldn't need power adapters to make it fit my build.

Pros: Very high quality modular plugs and cables, and appearance of of quality all around. Doesn't put out hardly any heat.

Cons: First one went up with flash of light, smoke, the ozone smell first time powering on. Did hurt mobo or any other components, but was wondering till I got the replacement. Would have given 5 eggs if not for meltdown of first unit. Don't know what to make of it, but I've had several issues with new components lately (mobo, other psu's, memory, cases) which I did seem to have in times past!?

Other Thoughts: I will be testing all PSUs in future with just fans before plugging into other components.

Pros: Virtually silent (see below). I like how the orientation of the PSU has the vents at the top: my case has a separate PSU chamber that vents to the outside at the top so this was perfect. The top stays cool even at load.

Great voltages, Seasonic build quality, etc. You can't go wrong with Seasonic.

Cons: Docked 1 egg because of the flat cables. Maybe they are nice in a larger case where you can route them behind stuff or down the side or something.

My case is an Antec NSK3480 (the small squat case). Routing cables was a PITA: this unit has flat, wide cables, kind of like 40-wire IDE. I suppose some people would like flat but I think round or twisted cables are better for me. Round or twisted can be bundled together in a wire sleeve, etc.

This PSU replaced a 9 year old Seasonic SS-430HB that is developing a little fan noise (high pitched) after so many years of good use. BUT: this new unit is about 1-inch deeper, so I had to cut some metal out of the PSU chamber hole on the NSK3480, and also get rid of my DVD-RW. I never used that thing anyway.

Other Thoughts: Virtually silent. But: if you are within 1-2 feet, you *can* hear a high-pitched buzz or whine over your PC's fans (if they are very silent Nexus and Scythe brand like mine). Depending on ambient noise as well. You really have to put your ear close, like 1 foot or maybe 2 if you are young. I suppose all PSUs make the noise to some extent as they do their magic with electrons, so it's more of expected behavior.

Pros: Usual Seasonic quality. No coil whining whatsoever, and I have sensitive ears for that...

Cons: Someone at Seasonic had a brain fart. There are no straight sata power connectors, not even the one on the end of the 4x cable. Cases today have dedicated SSD slots which require straight sata power connecters. Their previous 460w gold fanless had one, but not this one. I'm baffled. That easily deserves -1 star.

Pros: Silent!

Cons: This power supply must be oriented with a specific side up (presumably for heat dissipation). I you are familiar with installing power supplies, you know that the four mounting screws are in a specific pattern which will force the unit to be installed in a certain way. In every case that I own, this power supply would be mounted upside down because of this. On of the cases is new this year. None of my cases are "gaming rigs," so maybe they do something differently.

Other Thoughts: I love the idea of getting to silent via a fanless power supply, SSD's, etc. I'm willing to buy a new case to install this power supply into, but I don't see a spec that tells you which orientation the power supply will go into.

Pros: This is my first no fan PSU. It works like a champ without any issues. I don't feel any excess heat even if I touch it. newegg displays that warranty is 5 years, but actually the box says it is 7 years.

Cons: It is not a really con, but I like to have round cables rather the flat ones for SATA, PCIE, etc.

Other Thoughts: This replaced OCZ 600W PSU that fails after little over an year of light usage. Hopefully this is going to hold up for a long time. I am a programmer and I don't enjoy too much hardware replacements.

Pros: Noiseless and cool. i7 at 4.6 and honestly has no detectable heat.

Cons: Price? But I'll take quiet over cheap cost and high elect. bills any day!

Other Thoughts: I admit it...I don't know a lot about power supplies. But the site Silent PC said this company puts out good stuff and so far it shows.


- Seasonic SS-460FL Active PFC F3, 460W Fanless ATX12V Fanless 80Plus PLATINUM Certified, Modular Power Supply

- Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case

- GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

- Rosewill USB 2.0 External Aluminum DVD Burner Model ROD-EX002

- CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A2400C10

- Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K

Pros: Silent. Modular cables reduces case clutter. Was concerned that it might not have the output for my system because online calculators put my needs at around 430w, but works at peak performance without complaint.

Specs:
CPU: 3.4ghz i7 Quad
GPU: nVidia 560ti
RAM: 2x 8gb DDR3 1600
Other things that need power: 2x SSDs, 1x 7200rpm HDD, 1x DVD RW, 2x 120mm case fans, misc USB devices

Cons: Since installing this power supply, occasionally my "display driver will stop responding," causing the screen to lock up for a couple seconds while Windows 7 restarts it. This is very rare, and only happens when my computer is using very little power. For example, this has never happened in over 100 hours of playing Skyrim on Ultra quality, but about once a week with nothing but Chrome open my display driver has a hiccup.

I've scanned and my system and GPU memory check out ok, so I'm pretty confident it's the power supply. I suspect what is happening is that it's trying so hard to be efficient that when it's not being pushed for power it drops the voltage to the PCI-E rails just a hair too low. Windows 7 handles it just fine, but Googling the issue suggests that older OSs might have trouble with this kind of thing.

Other Thoughts: Comes in a cool velvet bag. Put your old power supply in the bag with the wires coming out of it to make a beautiful power supply chord bouquet!