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ATX Power Supply Group Test

Author Lars-Göran Nilsson
Published 8th Feb 2005
Manufacturer Seasonic
Supplier CTL Direct
Price £66.38 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed £78.00 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price Click here
Overall Score 6 for Overall
ATX Power Supply Group Test
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Seasonic has been around since 1975, although it wasn’t until 1980 that it started to manufacture power supplies for computers. The SS-400FB also goes under the name of Super Tornado 400, which suggests that it might be very noisy. In fact, the opposite is true, as this is yet another PSU to feature a low-speed 120mm fan on its underside.


In terms of appearance the Seasonic looks very dated compared to some of the other 120mm designs, and though looks are only skin deep this might put off someone building a PC with a window. The SS-400FB is a 400W PSU featuring plenty of connectors. You get eight Molex connectors split between three cables with two of those ending with a floppy connector. There is of course a 20-pin ATX, a 12V and an AUX connector as well as a header that connects to the motherboard for reading out the fan speed.

Seasonic also supplies a small bag that contains a SATA power adaptor and two plastic spiral wraps that can be used to shroud the cables with to keep them nice and tidy. Also helping to keep things neat is a cable clip that can be stuck in a suitable location using a sticky pad inside the case as well as a small bag of cable ties. This is one of only a few PSUs to come with any kind of accessories of this type and Seasonic earns itself some brownie points for this.


But what’s really impressive about the the Seasonic is its efficiency at 25 and 50 per cent load, which could save you money on your electricity bill over time. It is however, not quite as good at 75 and 100 per cent load, but it is well within spec. It also produced good results in the rest of the tests with the only issue being that the wires used for the 12V connector are too thin, which made them get hot at 100 per cent load.

Despite its dull exterior, the Seasonic SS-400FB is a high quality PSU, but it is very expensive for what you get at £78.50. This makes it a less appealing option on a cost basis that some of the other power supplies on test.

Update
We were contacted by the main distributor in the UK and had to change the supplier. The price did also change and thus the score has been changed to reflect the higher price.

ManufacturerSeasonic
ModelSS-400FB (Super Tornado 400)
URLhttp://www.seasonic.com
SupplierX-Case
URLhttp://www.xcase.co.uk
Price£69.33
Molex connectors8
Floppy connectors2
SATA connectors0
20-pin ATX / 24-pin EPSY/N
12V connectorY
AUX connectorY
Six pin PCI Express connectorN
Deditacted Molex for graphicsN
Fan speed headerY
Other connectorsN
Fans and size1x 120mm
Extras includedSATA power adapter, cable wraps and ties
Max power output (manufacturers rating)
3.3V28A
5V30A
12V22A
Total power400W

 

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