SeaSonic SS-300ES Bronze 300W ATX12V V2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Pros: This is my third Seasonic. I'd have bought more, but I only have three computer systems. Now each of them has a relatively efficient and quiet ps.

Cons: I don't know of any. The cables are more than long enough for all my ATX towers with the ps mounted at the top. I trust Seasonic more than any other brand on the market.

Overall Review: I don't even look at other brands. They are not competitive in the 300 W category, which Seasonic dominates with Bronze ps. I bought the Seasonics to replace inefficient and in some cases noisy power supplies, and I'm pleased with the results. Knocking 60W from a 24hr system results in very real savings to the bottom line. I don't know why people ever purchase ps rated above 300 W when 300 W is overkill for 99.9% of all computer needs. I think it is just a size contest with ppl thinking a larger ps equates to more power--actually more waste. The trend is for less power consumption, not more.

Pros: I bought this to build for an Intel Atom 330 with windows home server. It's great quiet, efficient, and cool. I'm very impressed with it so far.

Cons: doesn't come with a power cord but that is to be expected with an OEM purchase.

Overall Review: I built a server off a Intel Atom 330, 2 x 1 TB WD green hard drives, and this SeaSonic PSU. The whole build was so quiet when I turned it on I thought it was broken and cursed for a bit until I realized it was already running. Even though Intel doesn't like to advertise the Atom as a server board it makes a great WHS setup. Powerful, cool running and energy efficient. I'm very happy with my rig. Cool air is exhausted from the case how often do you see that?

Pros: Nice looking 80 PLUS Bronze certified Quiet Great Price (Usually) Reliable Brand

Cons: DOA - really dissapointing

Overall Review: The power supply was DOA, which is really disappointing, especially coming from Seasonic. The PSU would not power my mini-ITX build, however another 305W PSU that I salvaged from another computer worked fine. If the RMA goes well I'll change the review to 4 stars.

Pros: -80 Plus Bronze certification. -300W -Fair pricing

Cons: Just cosmetic, the power plug does stick out about a half inch from the power supply itself. In most cases this would be fine. I was replacing a very tight fitting HP OEM power supply that it couldn't fit. The case had to be slightly modified with a dremel to fit the new power supply. It's not the PSU fault, it's the case's.

Overall Review: If you are a computer tech like myself, you should stock up on these and keep a handful around to replace OEM failed PSU. I always tell clients that spending a little more for a PSU like this will help extend the life of their machine by offering over and under voltage protection, constant and smoother power distribution (hence the certifications), AND it properly covers all necessary power plugs. The machine I just replaced the defunct PSU in was using a 20 pin PSU to fit a 24 pin. Yes, in theory that works, but in the long run it causes to much strain on the PSU and ultimately failure.

Pros: one of the most effecient ATX 300w supplies made, runs verry cool, inexpensive.

Cons: slightly noisy, will most likely replace the fan with a quieter on (voiding the warrenty)

Overall Review: is noisier than my 380W SeaSonic with a 120mm fan, but I specifically needed this design with 80mm fan for airflow through the end. rather than the large face as with the 120mm fan. I wish the total power was a little lower, my whole system only draws 70w under full load.

Pros: Very quiet PSU fan, can hardly hear it with my ear next to it. Runs very cool, can't feel any heat to the touch after running for several hours. I am using it in a Seasonic HTPC case, the only other fan was for the CPU and the system ran slient and cool - apart from the HDD for which I added an extra fan after the build.

Cons: Does the job quietly and efficiently.

Overall Review: Would prefer modular in a tight HTPC build, I needed to tuck the extra cables under the HDD cage. ____________________________________________ SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum Micro ATX HTPC case Antec ELITE Multimedia Station Internal IR receiver w/ VFD and remote BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard SeaSonic SS-300ES Bronze 300W ATX12V V2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - OEM AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Processor SDX140HBGQBOX Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal HDD

Pros: apparently more efficient at lower wattages (~45W) than other "80 Plus Bronze" or "80 Plus" PSUs as they were about 55-60W on kill-a-watt on same PC as this one at about ~45W. Also quieter (silent?) and less (no?) heat. Probably due to many PSUs not being as efficient at 20% of their rated wattage as they are at 80+ % of their rated wattage.

Cons: main and 4pin power cables too short. Why !!?? Its not like a lower-power system needs shorter cables, nor a more power-hungry system needs longer cables (in fact, electrically the opposite is true).

Overall Review: still about 200W more than what you need. I built a server w/ 6core 3.2GHz AMD athlon and it was only about 125-135W at full load folding@home on all 6 cores, PSU remained very quiet (impossible to hear over CPU's HSF) maybe didn't even speed up its fan at all and seemed to be producing very little if any heat in a well-ventilated case (Antec P180). SeaSonic - please PLEASE make some regular ATX PSUs that are less $ and in the 175W-250W range so they are more efficient for the systems that are only about 45W to 75W like Biostar TA785G3HD w/ Sempron 145 CPU or even Phenom II x2 3.2GHz CPU using onboard graphics & single HDD & optical drive & no add-in cards.

Pros: Seasonic with 3 year warranty It will not explode reasonable priced

Cons: lots of woosh noise from the wind tunnel This unit really needs a fan speed switch, i don't think a 5/7/12v option is too much to ask for, temperature controlled would be better, but i think a switch would be cheaper the color, nuff said

Overall Review: As this is not going to by my computer i am not going to bother taking the system apart and undoing my cable management, but if i ever use this unit again i am going to open it up and put at least a 50Ohm resistor on the fan's red cable (doing that will void the warranty) Here are the fan's specs: Model: AD0812UB-A70GL Airflow: 43.8 CFM Noise: 40 dBA Speed: 4300RPM If anyone wants to replace the fan i would suggest using a ARCTIC F8 fan search newegg for N82E16835186074 if you under-volt that to 5v it will move plenty of air and be almost silent (by almost i mean you have to concentrate to hear it or be in a 100% silent room) I can't find any quality units at any lower wattage, i would really like to see a 200 and 250W seasonic psu with how low power systems are becoming (would have used a 200W for this build) When a basic Intel CPU is paired with a GTX 750/750 TI a 300W PSU is plenty and those are budget class gaming GPUs, lots of people get crazy overkill with 650W+ units for this not knowing any better. You don't want too many watts, the 80 certificate only counts loads of 20% and up a 300W PSU is ideal for 60-300W loads optimizing a PSU in this way usually make very low loads much less efficient Just cause a unit has a 80+ label does not mean it puts out quality power, any PSU below $40 is most likely very low grade that should be replaced asap