Seasonic S12-II 620 Bronze extremely loud

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 17:05

Hi peeps, I had to replace my Aerocool Integrator that's served me a few years as I got black screens while gaming.

I got a Seasonic S12-II 620W from Amazon as I have read good reviews and it has great components inside like 105 caps etc. The PSU works great, except for one major flaw... The fan ramps up and creates jet like sound levels when under load. I have no idea what my computer draws, but I can imagine around 400W mark.

I'm quite disappointed as Seasonic is supposed to be a good brand and this unit was supposed to be silent as far as I could find (until I googled it and saw many have same issue). I contacted Amazon for a refund as I don't dare replace it in case the new unit has the same problem.

So now to my question, I need a new in the same price bracket, max £70 and I am leaning towards the Corsair CS650M, but I have read about some bad experiences with these and the CX / CXM series. Am I gonna be safe with this one in capacity and sound levels? I can't have a loud PSU as the rest of my computer is fairly silent.

Specs if not in sig:
i5 2550K @4.4GHz, cooled with CM Hyper 612S
16Gb ram
MSI R9 390 slightly OC'd
2 standard HDD's
FD R5 with an additional Be Quiet 140mm fan exhaust.

Borealis · 28 Jul 2017 at 19:20

You need to remove the competitor link as it's against the forum rules. The Corsair CS/CX series generally aren't recommended here because they're cheaper units using cheaper internals, particularly capacitors.

A quality 550W PSU should be fine for that system. If you're OK with a non-modular PSU, then either of these two would be suitable:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/antec-truepower-classic-550w-80-plus-gold-power-supply-ca-202-an.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/supe...0-plus-gold-power-supply-black-ca-003-sf.html

If you can afford £75, the Superflower offer this unit which is slightly more efficient:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/supe...us-platinum-power-supply-black-ca-056-sf.html

If you really need a modular PSU, then this one is fairly decenmt but comes in at £80:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/bitf...plus-gold-modular-power-supply-ca-22a-bx.html

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 19:46

Thanks for the info, I removed the link.

Do you really reckon 550 would be enough, the 390 is a fairly power hungry card and in tests I've seen it draws well over 250W on it's own. The reviews for the CS650M is pretty solid, but I'm just not 100% sure. Couldn't find a JohhnyGuru review of it but other tests seem to think it's a pretty good PSU. Also RRP is 104.99, but that must be slightly false?

pastymuncher · 28 Jul 2017 at 20:42

That's the biggest problem with the S12-II which is why I never recommend them. Don't go for a Corsair CS as they are barely any better than the poor quality CX series. I would also normally suggest a 550w psu for a single card system however, I have just checked a load of reviews for the R9 390 and the total system power draws are all over the place from 322-475w. I would probably go for a 650w unit just for the extra headroom so that it won't be particularly taxed so should run cooler and therfore quieter. The next problem is that the ones I am going to suggest are considerably above your budget although they are quality psu's and will last you a long time. The saying "buy the very best you can afford" applies particularly to psu's as they are the one place you shouldn't skimp on when building a pc.

The first is the Bitfenix Whisper M 650w at £87. It is a quad 12v rail, Gold rated, fully modular unit with a 7 year warranty. The full 650w is available across the quad 12v rails, each of which powers it's own group of components. It also has a very quiet fan. It has one downside, the 24 pin cable has a large shroud covering it which may or may not bother you. You can see it on the second page of this review of the 550w version. It shouldn't detract from the fact that this is a very good psu.

The second is argueably one of the best series of psu available at the moment, the EVGA Supernova G2 650w. This is built by Superflower and is based on their own Leadex Gold platform. It's a Gold rated, fully modular unit with a single 12v rail of the full 650w and also has a 7 year warranty. If I was looking for a psu for myself at this moment I would be buying a G2 or the newer G3 (still Superflower built but based on the new Leadex Gold II platform). These units have a "Eco" fan mode where the fan is off until the unit hits a certain temperature (it also has the normal fan mode where it's on all the time and both modes are switched between by a switch on the rear of the unit). There is a review of the 650w version here.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply= £99.95
1 x Bitfenix Whisper M Series 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £86.99

Total: £198.04
(includes shipping: £11.10)

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 20:59

Thanks for the input and for confirming my theory and fear regarding the power draw of the 390 - that's probably the main reason my old PSU didn't last longer. Unfortunately I am not able to go above £70 at this time, do you have any tips on a 650w at this price, or any major reasons I shouldn't choose the CS?

Oh, also you said that's the biggest problem with S12, if I would have chosen a replacement it's likely the new unit would have the same issue? How come they have such an aggressive fan curve when all the components are better than the competition in that price range?

Borealis · 28 Jul 2017 at 21:02

I can definitely recommend the G2 650W as I have one in another PC at home and it's very quiet under load. Corsair have also changed the OEM for the CX/CS series again and apparently they've expanded the vendor list for capacitors (who knows what this means in terms of quality). A good quality PSU will last you for years and can be transferred between builds. If you can afford it, get the G2 650W as it's an excellent PSU.

If you can't, then there may be another option. OCUK don't stock this model unfortunately, but EVGA have released a new line of Bronze rated fully modular units based off the Superflower Leadex Silver platform. A review of the 750W model can be found here:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=526

In the UK it costs around £85, so I'd say go for the G2 650W or the Whisper M. There is however a 650W model, the B3 650W. That retails over here for around £72 and might be good enough for your needs. These units are significantly better than all of EVGA's other Bronze rated units, which aren't that great at all.

If it was me, I'd go for the G2 or G3 every time but I understand that some people can't afford a more expensive unit.

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 21:24

The B3 is on Amazon for £70, not on Prime however so I'd have to wait until next week. Should I definately stay away from the CS and get this EVGA instead? How much of a difference do you think it will make? Seeing how they are the same price as well, the EVGA seems underpriced if it's as good as Johhny says.

Borealis · 28 Jul 2017 at 21:41

Corsair tend to play on their brand name, much like Seasonic. Seasonic units are mostly decent, albeit sometimes noisy. Corsair make some excellent units and I do mean excellent. Their SFX units are some of the the best on the market and the RMx, HXi and AXi units are great. Some of the cheap Corasir units however are pretty ordinary for the price and use low-tier caps. That's something you don't really want, as budget caps will degrade more readily and are not as well made.

The B3 line hasn't been out long so the European pricing may increase long-term, but the 750W unit at least has decent internals. Assuming that the 650W model doesn't use cost-downed garbage capacitors, then it's better built than the CS650. Both are Bronze-rated so you're not going to be winning in terms of efficiency, but if the 750W unit is anything to go by it uses better quality internals.

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 21:58

Fair enough, that's one of the main reasons I chose the Seasonic in the first place but that was a huge letdown. Now I sit here and hardly want to use the bloody computer as it's extremely loud whatever game I play... Unfortunately because of this, I am not able to wait another 4-5 days for the B3 to become available. If I wasn't pressed for time I would deffo go for that one, but I'm afraid in this instance I will have to go for the CS for now, maybe a stupid decision, but from what I have read it should serve me well enough. BTW, what caps in the CS unit are bad, the reviews I've seen mentions that the main line caps are ok? (The dual main capacitors (Nippon Chemi-Con) on the primary are rated at 270uF, 400V, and 85°C. The secondary features a combination of electrolytic and solid polymer caps for filtering.)

Maybe I can return the CS unit worst case scenario and get a B3 next week, we shall see.

Thanks for your wisdom, I really appreciate it

JasonM · 8 Aug 2017 at 12:18

My Seasonic X series and the Seasonic Platinum are dead silent under normal usage, basically the fans only start spinning under load and by then your CPU and GPU fans are much more noisy anyway.

My main development machine is low powered with only Quadro NVS cards. If I were to disconnect the CPU and case fans the computer would be outputting 0db (other then HDD's), same goes with some low power home servers I have the Seasonic units in those the fans don't spin.

This is the real real truth on how quite Seasonic X series PSU's are in low power usage. If I take a microphone and place in on the grill of a Seasonic X PSU, then I take the same microphone and place it on the glass of a mechanical wrist watch. There will be more noise from the tick of the wrist watch then than the Seasonic X.

pastymuncher · 8 Aug 2017 at 19:41

There is a huge difference between the budget S12 II and the X series and Platinum units though and you cannot compare a budget psu with a premium model.

EvilDreams · 13 Aug 2017 at 11:43

I got one of those last week, and at first I was impressed by how quiet it was. The first time I was five minutes into a game I noticed the same thing as you...at first I thought it was the PWM fans on the AIO ramping up but after ruling this out, I couldn't believe that a PSU that I had spent ages going through reviews on the website I bought it from, all of which had praised it for quietness, could be so loud...why would anyone want to have to listen to that while gaming?

I also sent it back.

I still don't know how any of those people that gave it a good review and said that it was quiet could tolerate that and choose not to send it right back. Maybe they weren't gamers and never encountered the problem. It was a shame because it was a good price and while outdated (if actually quiet like it said) would have been a decent purchase.

It's put me off Seasonic now.

mikedigitales · 13 Aug 2017 at 11:51

+1 for the G2/G3 options - it's worth searching google for the G2L models too - same as the G2 but with LED

smogsy · 13 Aug 2017 at 18:12

pastymuncher said:
That's the biggest problem with the S12-II which is why I never recommend them. Don't go for a Corsair CS as they are barely any better than the poor quality CX series. I would also normally suggest a 550w psu for a single card system however, I have just checked a load of reviews for the R9 390 and the total system power draws are all over the place from 322-475w. I would probably go for a 650w unit just for the extra headroom so that it won't be particularly taxed so should run cooler and therfore quieter. The next problem is that the ones I am going to suggest are considerably above your budget although they are quality psu's and will last you a long time. The saying "buy the very best you can afford" applies particularly to psu's as they are the one place you shouldn't skimp on when building a pc.

The first is the Bitfenix Whisper M 650w at £87. It is a quad 12v rail, Gold rated, fully modular unit with a 7 year warranty. The full 650w is available across the quad 12v rails, each of which powers it's own group of components. It also has a very quiet fan. It has one downside, the 24 pin cable has a large shroud covering it which may or may not bother you. You can see it on the second page of this review of the 550w version. It shouldn't detract from the fact that this is a very good psu.

The second is argueably one of the best series of psu available at the moment, the EVGA Supernova G2 650w. This is built by Superflower and is based on their own Leadex Gold platform. It's a Gold rated, fully modular unit with a single 12v rail of the full 650w and also has a 7 year warranty. If I was looking for a psu for myself at this moment I would be buying a G2 or the newer G3 (still Superflower built but based on the new Leadex Gold II platform). These units have a "Eco" fan mode where the fan is off until the unit hits a certain temperature (it also has the normal fan mode where it's on all the time and both modes are switched between by a switch on the rear of the unit). There is a review of the 650w version here.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply= £99.95

1 x Bitfenix Whisper M Series 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £86.99

Total: £198.04
(includes shipping: £11.10)

on side note my seasonic prime 750W Gold is rattle to hell (brand new) when fans spins. (so even top end have issues too)