Today's Hard|Forum Post
Today's Hard|Forum Post
Date:
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Author:
Paul Johnson
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
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Seasonic G-Series: G-550 Power Supply Review

The Seasonic G Series PSU is here for review in its 550 watt capacity and it looks to be a return to basics for the company with this being basically a "no-frills" unit that has been released without much fanfare. But the basics for Seasonic usually outline what you truly need in a PSU; reliable clean power with a low sound profile.

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Torture Testing

The final component of our load testing involves our 8 hour torture test. This test is meant to simulate what gaming or hardware enthusiasts might encounter when they use their systems for extended periods of time under stressful conditions such as 3D gaming or long term stability testing and benchmarking. However though, we do not suggest using your power supply at 100% loads for extended periods of time and our torture test does reflect this. We load the PSU being tested to ~80% of its rated capacity for 8 hours at a temperature of 45c. This is outlined in our testing Methodology should you wish to have more information.

Torture Test Results

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The Torture Test is equal to approximately 80% of the rated capacity of the Seasonic G-550 at 45C. This makes the Torture Test equal to 442W by loading the 12v rail to 31a, the 5v rail to 7a, the 3.3v rail to 5a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.5a. At the end of the Torture Test, we see the results that the G-550 has posted are in line with the closely related Test #3. At most, the unit is deviating ~0.01v here or there when it comes to the DC output voltages. The efficiency is excellent with a value of 88.41% and an exhaust temperature of just 54C.

80 Plus Load Testing Results

The 80 Plus Compliance portion of this review marks the second revision to our living testing methodology. Readers can read more about this inclusion in our testing here in our methodology section, but briefly we will be examining the compliance of units advertised as being 80 Plus certified with their 80 Plus Test Report. While 80Plus compliance is NOT part of any official specification for power supplies similar to what is seen with the ATX12v and EPS specifications, it is a widely used advertising talking point that many users seem to use to guide their buying decisions. As such, we will be examining whether units claiming certain 80Plus specifications really meet these advertised levels. You can also read our editorial about 80Plus in this article entitled, "Why 80 PLUSŪ is Irrelevant to You When Buying a PSU."

80 Plus Load Testing Results

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Since the Seasonic G-550 is advertised by Seasonic as being certified for 80Plus Gold, meaning that it is supposed to be 87%-90%-87% efficient at 20%-50%-100% load, we went ahead and ran the 80 Plus Load Tests as shown here with 80 Plus' lower ambient temperature and the AC input voltage of 115v.

80 Plus Load Testing Summary

As we see here, the Seasonic G-550 posts efficiency values of 88.67%-89.99%-88.29% efficient using 80 Plus’ load testing parameters. This puts the unit right at the 80 Plus Gold standards. However, we do use different equipment than 80 Plus for our testing and there is always a bit of component variation. As such, it seems that the 80 Plus Gold rating for this unit is extremely plausible on production units.

Load Testing Audio Impressions

The Seasonic G-550, like the X-560 we reviewed some time ago, has a large number of characteristics going for it that should allow it to be a quiet power supply. These things include excellent efficiency, an excellent fan controller, and so on. One area where these two units differ significantly is in the actual fan used as the X-560 had a high quality San Ace fan while this unit sports an ADDA fan. Overall though, even with the lower quality fan, this unit was rather quiet during testing. It took well into the Torture Test before the unit was adding to the noise profile of our load testing environment. Alternately, it never was apparent at full load unless I was behind the incubator. As such, this unit is likely going to be a good option for a quiet environment but perhaps not as good an option as the previous X-Series units that had better fans and have the fanless operation mode.