I just happened to be looking at PSUs on Newegg the other day and saw these there. I was excited at first to see a "new" 300W 80plus PSU..... Then I looked and saw it was pretty much just a retail version of the SS-300SFD which I already have. Oh well, it'll be easier to find this way as the SFD was only available at a few online dealers. But if I was going to get a 300W PSU and didn't need the SFX form factor, I'd probably go with the SS-300ES. 300W, 80plus, standard ATX form factor and cheaper.

This psu looks great if you have a system that uses a SFX psu, however it's pretty obvious that using a full size ATX psu would be much better for quietness, especially at loads above 150w. Sadly that goes against the grain of being environmentally friendly with less materials used.

really interesting and ironic statement. remind me of what was said about "perceived obsolescence" in the following short film ->
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

http://web.1.c3.audiovideoweb.com/1c3we ... ion_32.swf

fwiw I can't browse to storyofstuff.com I believe it is because of an entry in my hosts file that I got from http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm but looking at the page source from the Google cache wasn't enough to clue me in. Either the cached page is too old or the site is doing a redirect that isn't part of the page code.

Anyway the URL above has the flash for anyone else that might not be able to browse that way.

Great review, Devon! And great link posted by wim.

Now Seasonic has to build an ultra-efficient 150-250W PSU and it is really getting somewhere.

It looks almost identicle to the SFX PSU that came with the original Antec NSK-3300.

If it is, then their is an easy mod you can do to lower noise output. The fan grill on the fan can easily be removed. The fan is actually bolted to little flanges connected to the chassis, and not to the grill.

Unscrew the fan, pull the fan grill off, and then re screw down the fan to the flanges left. With the fan being on the inside of the case and not the outside, its really not a huge safety issue.

The Fan on the 300w PSU in the Antec NSK-3300 is virtually silent with the fan grille removed. You have to put your ear right up to the exaust vents to hear it at all. From a normal seated position, even with the system up on the table, you cant hear it.

Well I got one of these PSUs recently.....got it running this week-end. The system it's powering can draw as much as 290W, but the Seasonic handles that draw without problem.

My impressions are the same as the article.....the fan is noisy at maximum current draw, but quiet enough at normal usage. It certainly looks like a mod or two would help out. The exhaust grill is way too restrictive, and the intake grill could be eliminated. With those mods the Adda fan might never ramp up to the max.

Overall.....nice small PSU that runs quiet and cool most of the time.