Seasonic S12 500W Power Supply

Performance Summary & Final Conclusions:

Probably the most memorable thing about the Seasonic S12 500W power supply is how quiet the fan is under typical / heavy loads. The heatsinks are larger than average, which the more surface area, the better the heat dissipation. The twisted & tidy wires are probably my least favorite feature, I would of been much happier with just plains straight wires. Efficiency peaked out at 85%, higher than most other PSUs. Also active PFC ensures a PF of ~.99, without PFC it usually hovers around .55-.60. Don't know what Power Factor is? Read our guide Powering Your PC: Truths and Misconceptions - A Guide To Power Supplies

It is worth noting that the S12 600W (the big brother of the 500W) is on NVIDIA's official list of SLI approved power supplies. Both the S12 500W & 600W models support 150W PCI-E Video with two 6-pin connectors.

While this PSU did perform most excellent under our load tests, one area of minor concern was the inability to trigger an overload or over-temp condition. As stated previously, when loaded beyond the max rated specs, the power consumption reached a certain peak, and would not go any higher as more load was applied. The only thing that would happen was the voltage levels would drop well below acceptable tolerances. This probably explains the lack of triggering an over-temp situation, since fan could handle the heat generated at the peak load. Anyhow, in theory with the voltage levels dropping so low, the PSU should send a signal to the PC (along the dedicated signal wire) that it can't maintain proper voltages and to shutdown, at the very least the drop in voltage would cause the PC to lock up.

Lastly, the S12 500W has a 3 Year Warranty, so if anything should happen you can RMA it directly online with Seasonic.