Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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KILLI
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Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by KILLI » Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:03 am

I've received my SS-1200XP3 yesterday and am slightly disappointed because of it's fan noise.
The unit replaced a Silverstone Decathlon DA800 which has shown some signs of instability when heavily loaded. However, the Silverstone is much quieter than the Seasonic, even under load!
The Seasonic is clearly audible even under light load whereas the Silverstone was whisper-quiet. The hybrid fan-mode is only of little help, as the PSU will turn on the fan pretty quick when starting a game and is likely to never turn it off again (except if the temperature gets lower than 25°C).

I was hoping to get an almost inaudible power supply as reviews of (lesser wattage) Seasonic PSUs suggest. Even Seasonic itself is stating "16dBA" fan noise with this very model (http://seasonicusa.com/Platinum_Series_XP3.htm)!

What's your experience with Seasonic Platinum PSUs? Are the lesser wattage models quieter?
I don't really need 1200W, ~800 would suffice; as Seasonic is advertising this PSU to be as quiet as the smaller units and a little headroom is never a bad thing (especially with PSUs which are efficient over a broad load range), I figured I could get the 1200W-version without any drawbacks or even have the advantage of staying in relatively lower load ranges which would keep the fan running quieter.

So, what are your experiences?
Any suggestions for a PSU of at least ~850W, of similar build- and electrical quality as the Seasonic, but with whisper-quiet operation?

Thanks!

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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:10 am

Welcome to SPCR. If you post your build specs, we can properly size the PSU.

Also, with the semi-fanless operation, the fan shouldn't be spinning until you hit ~400W (less if in a hotter than usual environment).

Abula
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Abula » Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:26 am

According to Hardware.info Seasonic Platinum Series V2 660W/760W/860W review: extremely efficient,
Noise production

Lastly the noise levels. We measured the amount of noise produced at a distance of 10 cm with three different loads, about 100W, 300W and 500W. 30 dB(A) is the lowest we are able to measure, and values in this vicinity mean that a PSU is inaudibly silent. Everything below 35 dB(A) is extremely silent, and above this level you will start to hear the power supply. At 40 dB(A) and higher the PSU is clearly audible.

The Seasonic Platinum Series V2 660W/760W/860W PSUs are semi-passive. At 100W and 300W the fan stays off on all three and on the 860W model it stays off for 20 minutes at 500W as well. On the other two models the fan starts spinning, but the 33 dB(A) that's produced is still very quiet.

For the 760W and 860W models we recorded 20 dB(A) instead of 18 dB(A) (the value we use when there's no sound whatsoever). That's because they actually produced 20 decibels, likely caused by some very light coil whine. In reality, you're not going to hear it.
Just a warning, some people have experience coil whinning on seasonic platinum PSU, this is not something that affects all, and to me its more a mix of hardware not only the PSU, but just in case you get unlucky, you were warned. That said, im about to buy a couple 860W one for my server and another for my main desktop to make room for a SLI.

KILLI
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by KILLI » Tue Apr 29, 2014 8:01 am

Thanks for your replies!
There is absolutely no audible coil whine, it's just the fan and the moving air.

Like I said: "The hybrid fan-mode is only of little help, as the PSU will turn on the fan pretty quick when starting a game and is likely to never turn it off again (except if the temperature gets lower than 25°C)."

The noise level stood exactly the same yesterday, from switching the unit on, during gameplay (I guess it's loaded with ~400W then) and cool-down afterwards. So my assumption is that this is the lowest fan setting of this PSU, but it is still more than clearly audible (which it shouldn't be, given the 16dBA-statement from Seasonic).
I've deliberately chosen a PSU with a lot of headroom for two reasons: to be future proof, and to not load the unit so much that it's fan has to spin at a high speed. Unfortunately, this unit seems to be pretty loud at the lowest fan setting already.
"Is it just me"? ;)

quest_for_silence
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Apr 29, 2014 9:13 am

KILLI wrote:Any suggestions for a PSU of at least ~850W, of similar build- and electrical quality as the Seasonic, but with whisper-quiet operation?


According to Jonnyguru's findings, one of the few which can run fanless up to 350-400W is the Super Flower Leadex Gold.
Probably the Leadex Platinum (and the EVGAs G2/P2) can do the same, but "Wolfie" (Oklahoma Wolf, Jeremy Schrag) didn't certified that: you know that forum, so you may ask directly to Jeremy or to Johnny himself for first hand details.

At any rate, given that you're drawing a mere 400W, what about going (completely) fanless (for the PSU, I mean)?

Abula wrote:According to [url=http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/5011/10 ... production]Hardware.info Seasonic Platinum Series V2 660W/760W/860W review


The 1200w should be the first of the kind "Platinum-series V3" (XP3).

KILLI
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by KILLI » Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:49 pm

For a Fanless PSU my requirements are a bit too high, as I will load such PSUs pretty heavily, even in summer and hotter climate. I don't feel comfortable without a "backup fan".

Furthermore, I'm not looking for fanless operation; I'd rather have a fan spinning slowly all the time to keep things cool, prolonging the lifetime of the components.
The Silverstone DA800 did exactly that: You could hardly hear the fan spinning at low loads, besides some bearing noise. Only when upping the load, one could notice it - but it was not annoying at all.

The fact that the Seasonic SS-1200XP3 is much more efficient than the DA800 even at the small loads I tickle it with (as can be clearly seen on my wattmeter) and is rated for a much higher power output led me to the assumption, that it should generate only about half the heat of the DA800, but have a great heat dissipation capability because of its high wattage rating. This should result in an even quieter power supply than the DA800 was.
Unfortunately this seems to be wrong - as long as my unit doesn't turn out to be defective.

I had hoped that the SS-1200XP3 would spin it's fan nearly inaudible and keep it this way at the loads i present it with...

quest_for_silence
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:03 pm

KILLI wrote:For a Fanless PSU my requirements are a bit too high, as I will load such PSUs pretty heavily, even in summer and hotter climate. I don't feel comfortable without a "backup fan".


Well, 400W aren't too many for an high quality fanless PSU (they are just two: the Seasonic and the Super Flower), as they don't need at all a "backup fan" (check the SPCR torture round-up for some evidences).

KILLI wrote:Unfortunately this seems to be wrong - as long as my unit doesn't turn out to be defective.


If you cannot return it, resell it and then pick a smaller unit (so with a less aggressive fan controller).

LongJan
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by LongJan » Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:04 pm

I recently bought the SS-660XP2 and I am as disappointed as you about the noisy fan.
Fortunately I only have a Core I5-4770S and a Radeon R7 250 Passive so I could switch to Hybrid mode
and the fan almost never kicks in. Not even then playing a light game, like World of Warcraft.

But for me, fanless (SS-520FL) had been a better choise. Nevertheless, I can't understand why a PSU-fan while
dissipating mere ~15W of heat must make more noise than all my other fans together (one CPU and two Case-fans).

If the fan in the future kicks in more often I will replace it and control the new one from a motherboard header (w Fan Xpert2).

lodestar
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by lodestar » Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:02 pm

LongJan wrote:But for me, fanless (SS-520FL) had been a better choise. Nevertheless, I can't understand why a PSU-fan while
dissipating mere ~15W of heat must make more noise than all my other fans together (one CPU and two Case-fans).
The fan controller is triggered by heat, normally the heat generated by the load on the PSU. However room and internal case temperature can be a factor. Another issue is that the Seasonic X series use the casing of the PSU as a heatsink to cool the output components. This cooling is compromised by higher ambient and/or case temperatures, a scenario where a passive GPU in gaming mode could have a significant impact. PSU placement within the case will also come into it, and possibly also whether the unit is installed fan down or fan up.

LongJan
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by LongJan » Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:56 am

lodestar wrote: The fan controller is triggered by heat, normally the heat generated by the load on the PSU. However room and internal case temperature can be a factor. Another issue is that the Seasonic X series use the casing of the PSU as a heatsink to cool the output components. This cooling is compromised by higher ambient and/or case temperatures, a scenario where a passive GPU in gaming mode could have a significant impact. PSU placement within the case will also come into it, and possibly also whether the unit is installed fan down or fan up.
In Hybrid mode the fan almost never kicks in with my light load, so obviously there is not much heat to take care of.

What's bothering me is Silent mode with fan always on. A decent fan taking fresh air from bottom of the case should be able to handle 100-150W (and more) very quiet, not making considerably more noise than three Noctua fans together.

Curvin
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Curvin » Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:56 pm

KILLI wrote: I've deliberately chosen a PSU with a lot of headroom for two reasons: to be future proof, and to not load the unit so much that it's fan has to spin at a high speed. Unfortunately, this unit seems to be pretty loud at the lowest fan setting already.
"Is it just me"? ;)
I'll add my recent experience to the mix here.

Having used Corsair HX/AX series PSU's for quite a while, I am familiar with the current Seasonic OEMed units that have the hybrid switch, so I was expecting the Platinum Series to have similar characteristics. Unfortunately the 1200 Watt unit I have just fitted to a Dual 10 Core Xeon System is displaying extremely odd fan profile behaviour similar to the O.P. On Normal setting at idle the fan is immediately on at a very audible level, switching to Hybrid will stop the fan but it will eventually kick in again at a high level for a few minutes before switching off again. This behaviour remains even under Burn In, so with Dual 10 Cores 64GB RAM , 2 x SSD's ( not burning in ) and 3 x 2TB HD's pegged, it will be silent and then kick in at a high audible level, and then switch off again, repeat , rinse, repeat.

So I can either have it on normal setting where the fan is constantly at a high audible level, or this schizophrenic hybrid mode which behaves the same under idle or load.

Surely this cannot be correct ?

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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:56 am

Curvin wrote:Surely this cannot be correct ?

Providing it's not a faulty unit, no: it's how Seasonic programmed the fan controller.

Maybe swapping the fan with an underrated one may delay when the fan kicks in (and perhaps the maximum noise level), but you will loose the 7-years warranty.

KILLI
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by KILLI » Mon Jul 28, 2014 2:26 am

I've solved the problem once and for all by switching to another PSU.

The beQuiet Dark Power Pro 10 (850W - it's the only model with platinum certification) is inaudible even under "gaming" load (~50-60% of its wattage capacity). That is, in an externally watercooled system with some silent case fans running around ~300rpm. So yes, the beQuiet IS really, really quiet ;). You can barely hear some electronic and minimal fan noise when you're just a few inches away from the exhaust grille, but other than that it's completely silent. You can't tell that the system is actually powered on without looking, so it es even quieter than the Silverstone unit I had before. :)

The Seasonic 1200W has been returned to the dealer which has already given me a full refund; my explanation for the return got accepted: it does not deliver what it promises.

Curvin
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Curvin » Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:28 pm

Further follow up.

System has completed Burn In successfully so the unit is solid, but the fan profiling is completely flawed on the new XP3 range.

The simple fact that switching to the "Normal" Silent Mode immediately sends the fan into a consistent high and very audible rate should have been sounding alarm bells to anyone testing/reviewing the unit , let alone the developing engineers. I have used 100's of Seasonic based PSU's over the years ( I am a specialist workstation builder ) , and am very familiar with the fan profiling . The behaviour on this line / unit is totally different to anything I have experienced and has to be a manufacturing flaw, IMO.

I found a recent review from one of the more respected PSU reviewers on the net , JG , who omitted any comment on the fan/noise profiling , and on the follow up thread that I have posted on , has simply responded that the load testing is so noisy, it was impossible to test the noise levels of the unit. He obviously didn't switch to Normal mode or he would have immediately spotted the issue on initial boot up.

I have multiple units here which I'll be trying to return , including a sealed 660 XP2, which I am now concerned could have a similar issue after reading an earlier post noting a noisy fan profile .

I don't get it, the Seasonic OEM'ed Corsair AX 760's that I use for my single socket builds have been perfect , which are the same series as the XP2.

Now to find an alternative around 1200 Watt , with a sensible fan profile.

V.C

Curvin
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Curvin » Tue Jul 29, 2014 1:48 pm

Hey Killi,

As I posted at JG , I have returned the unopened units but have held onto the existing unit to test a theory whether the fan issue is due to the system being a Dual CPU , but reading in on your other thread and seeing you are using a single socket x58 Xeon system , I am not going to waste my time. There is either a bad batch or its an inherent design flaw that is not being reported by any of the reviewers.

Seeing I am in Australia, if it is a bad batch its spread far and wide , if its a flaw, then Seasonic need to step up and resolve it , either way, they need to respond to these experiences. All the reviews I have read so far are either omitting any detail or totally misrepresenting the fan profile/noise performance .

I have placed all reviews on the current Seasonic into the advertorial basket from here on in , not one reported the issue.

I did read your other thread at JG where they are debating the quietest PSU. JG has not responded to my observations past snapping at me that noise profile details are impossible for him to report, but then comments on other PSU's being quieter than what you purchased. My only question would be gauged on what exactly, considering he missed or omitted reporting the issue with the Seasonic ,

FWIW - I have resolved it by going to a Corsair AX 1200i , I am not bothering with the software , the unit itself works perfectly without it and has performed as expected. ( mind you it does rev up on initial boot, which I have discovered is the fan control testing the fan, that settles after a few seconds and then performs perfectly ). This was my first choice which I should not have navigated off, but was drawn to the fact that the AX 750/760 PSU that I use extensively has been so good for me over 100's of systems , I foolishly assumed that the Seasonic branded units based on the same platform would perform in the same manner.

My advise to anyone reading in here would be to avoid any of the Seasonic Platinum Series , unless Seasonic respond , acknowledge and confirm a fix.

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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Abula » Tue Jul 29, 2014 2:32 pm

No issues to report on two Seasonic Platinum SS-860XP2, both are perfect for a month now, no electronic noise or coil, or loud fans.

Curvin
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Curvin » Tue Jul 29, 2014 7:42 pm

O.K, most likely just the XP3's then, but there is post earlier where someone noted fan noise issues with a 660 XP2.

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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Jul 30, 2014 2:54 am

Curvin wrote:I have placed all reviews on the current Seasonic into the advertorial basket from here on in , not one reported the issue.

It doesn't seem exact: at least TPU pointed out an aggressive fan controller behaviour: "Temperatures inside our hotbox were also high enough to nullify its passive operation with even low loads... The unit was noisy overall because Seasonic uses a high-speed fan and a somewhat aggressive fan profile.".

Curvin wrote:My advise to anyone reading in here would be to avoid any of the Seasonic Platinum Series

Currently it's an unjustified overreaction.

LongJan
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by LongJan » Wed Jul 30, 2014 9:21 am

Abula wrote: No issues to report on two Seasonic Platinum SS-860XP2, both are perfect for a month now, no electronic noise or coil, or loud fans.
Curvin wrote: O.K, most likely just the XP3's then, but there is post earlier where someone noted fan noise issues with a 660 XP2.
Abula says 'no loud fans' while I may have called my SS-660XP2 noisy. To clarify, my computer (passive VGA, 2 Noctua <700 rpm) is inaudible from one meter away until PSU-fan kicks in. Then it becomes clearly noticeable but I have a feeling that many people still would consider it rather quiet.

Curvin
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Curvin » Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:10 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:
Curvin wrote:I have placed all reviews on the current Seasonic into the advertorial basket from here on in , not one reported the issue.

It doesn't seem exact: at least TPU pointed out an aggressive fan controller behaviour: "Temperatures inside our hotbox were also high enough to nullify its passive operation with even low loads... The unit was noisy overall because Seasonic uses a high-speed fan and a somewhat aggressive fan profile.".
The issues I experienced and reported have absolutely nothing to do with heat , the fan profiling is completely flawed because as soon as you switch the unit to the Normal Silent Mode , the fan ramps to full rate at idle, and remains on. So to be 100% clear, on the Normal Mode, there is no fan profiling what so ever , no ramping due to load or heat, just an immediate and instant full ramp. Under Hybrid Mode , the fan will spin down but will at random times ramp to full load , under idle, again, nothing to do with load and heat. The same behaviour is experienced under full load of Burn In, so for the most part the PSU fan is inaudible, but will ramp to full in short burst and then switch off again. This is not how the fan profiling is meant to behave , and it is not what is being reported.

It could well be bad batch , but without any response or acknowledgement from Seasonic, the question remains unanswered.
Curvin wrote:My advise to anyone reading in here would be to avoid any of the Seasonic Platinum Series

Currently it's an unjustified overreaction.
I am simply reporting my experiences , if you had experienced what I did with a unit you purchased, I doubt you would be making that accusation.

Lets see what other users report who have actually purchased the units.

Either way, I couldn't care less from here on in, I have moved to an alternative that actually delivers as advertised and I will never use or recommend the Seasonic XP3's again.

All the best of luck for those purchasing in future.

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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Abula » Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:35 pm

LongJan wrote:Abula says 'no loud fans' while I may have called my SS-660XP2 noisy. To clarify, my computer (passive VGA, 2 Noctua <700 rpm) is inaudible from one meter away until PSU-fan kicks in. Then it becomes clearly noticeable but I have a feeling that many people still would consider it rather quiet.
The fans on all the seasonics i have owned have been triggered by heat, in my cases, i owned a X660 (gold not platinum) and was perfect, never i heard the fan, i had to stand up take the filter out to see if the fan was spinning, even gaming for 5 hours, and in the TJ08-E the PSU is on top of the case with an opening directly to it, if it was noisy i would have notice it right away. On the SS860XP2, on my main pc same situation, is now on R4 and i have never heard it, cant say if its spinning or not because now its mounted toward the bottom, not sure if helps or hides the tone or makes inaudible for me. On the sever, same psu, i mounted fan on top, but not even prime95 triggers the fan, it does spin on startup and on shutdown, so the fan is working and probably now on closed case it might spin on very demanding circumstances, but i personally haven't heard it there either. Im not trying to defend seasonic, nor discredit my finding, just sharing my personal experience into being different to others, and ill continue to use seasonic until i get a bad experience. One thing to remember is that i dont build silent pcs ever, i just try to drive them to inaudible levels under quiet ambient noise, but we all have different needs and tolerances and even hearing perceptions.

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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:52 pm

Curvin wrote:The issues I experienced and reported have absolutely nothing to do with heat , the fan profiling is completely flawed

If you had taken care to closely read my quote, you would have understood that TPU remarks. TPU complain was just about the minimun fan speed (above 1200rpm). So it's not exact that no review pointed out there were some issues with the 1200W fan controller.

Curvin wrote:I am simply reporting my experiences

No: your experience is about a single 1200W unit, while saying: "avoid any of the Seasonic Platinum Series" is an unjustified overreaction.
Broadly speaking, I'm sorry for you (even if you satisfactorily solved your problem), but that single experience doesn't entitle you to denigrate the entire flagship lineup from one of the most reputable seller in the world, do you?

Seasonic Rep
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Seasonic Rep » Wed Jul 30, 2014 2:51 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:
Curvin wrote:The issues I experienced and reported have absolutely nothing to do with heat , the fan profiling is completely flawed

If you had taken care to closely read my quote, you would have understood that TPU remarks. TPU complain was just about the minimun fan speed (above 1200rpm). So it's not exact that no review pointed out there were some issues with the 1200W fan controller.

Curvin wrote:I am simply reporting my experiences

No: your experience is about a single 1200W unit, while saying: "avoid any of the Seasonic Platinum Series" is an unjustified overreaction.
Broadly speaking, I'm sorry for you (even if you satisfactorily solved your problem), but that single experience doesn't entitle you to denigrate the entire flagship lineup from one of the most reputable seller in the world, do you?

Dear Luca and other Sea Sonic supporters on this forum, thank you for your input and support over this matter, this is highly appreciated. My apologies for not being active in this forum ... too much to do... too little time. Please do know that we are grateful for your help!

To Curvin & Killi, In regard to the P-1200, it is very possible the first production lot, something was overlooked. I can assure you, this is not intentional as we will not purposely deliver faulty products to damage our name and reputation. The P-1200 is a new model added to the existing line up of the tested and proven P-series and our QA is looking into this matter with high priority. It is important to us that the P-1200's performance, reliability and quality matches the rest of the P-series models'.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me any time via PM. I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience this issue has caused you and I hope that in the future, if you are in the market for a new power supply, please do consider Seasonic. Thank you.

Curvin
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Curvin » Wed Jul 30, 2014 4:20 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:
Curvin wrote:I am simply reporting my experiences

No: your experience is about a single 1200W unit, while saying: "avoid any of the Seasonic Platinum Series" is an unjustified overreaction.
Broadly speaking, I'm sorry for you (even if you satisfactorily solved your problem), but that single experience doesn't entitle you to denigrate the entire flagship lineup from one of the most reputable seller in the world, do you?
Killi's experience on 2 units proves its not isolated to just my single unit.

I didn't realise my opinion held so much weight.

If anyone is overreacting, its you, I am entitled to report my findings, and give an opinion. And maybe you missed the part that I have used Seasonic manufactured PSU's for many years, over 100's of systems , and continue to do so, it is my preferred OEM. Reputable manufacturers screw up sometimes as well, and these units have obviously slipped past QA.

Seeing the rep has responded I'll wait to see the result of their investigation and any follow up.

I'm done here, all the best.

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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Seasonic Rep » Wed Jul 30, 2014 10:01 pm

Curvin wrote:
quest_for_silence wrote:
Curvin wrote:I am simply reporting my experiences

No: your experience is about a single 1200W unit, while saying: "avoid any of the Seasonic Platinum Series" is an unjustified overreaction.
Broadly speaking, I'm sorry for you (even if you satisfactorily solved your problem), but that single experience doesn't entitle you to denigrate the entire flagship lineup from one of the most reputable seller in the world, do you?
Killi's experience on 2 units proves its not isolated to just my single unit.

I didn't realise my opinion held so much weight.

If anyone is overreacting, its you, I am entitled to report my findings, and give an opinion. And maybe you missed the part that I have used Seasonic manufactured PSU's for many years, over 100's of systems , and continue to do so, it is my preferred OEM. Reputable manufacturers screw up sometimes as well, and these units have obviously slipped past QA.

Seeing the rep has responded I'll wait to see the result of their investigation and any follow up.

I'm done here, all the best.
Sorry, I must have mis-read something here? Kili had 2x P-1200 with faulty fan control? Curvin, you are in AU, correct? Can you please tell me from where you purchased the unit and we will do a follow up.

Kili, can you please tell me where you have returned the unit (or 2 units) so we can do a trace.

Thank you.

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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:44 am

Curvin wrote:Killi's experience on 2 units proves its not isolated to just my single unit.

Curvin, probably I wasn't enough clear, maybe due to my english: you had a bad experience with a single Platinum 1200W and that's all (and our community and me are glad to know about those experiences, as that will help all of us: and the same thing goes for Killi and his two 1200W units).

About that, you can either think the PSU might be flawed (as the Seasonic Sales Rep suggested as a possibility for the relevant first production run, if I understood him correctly), or alternatively you can think the Platinum 1200W is just a not quiet unit (due to some design flaw, like TechPowerUp! also suggested, and like Killi maybe already thinks): and definitely I think that your comment should reflect one of these two options.

So, given that the whole Platinum-series product lineup includes as many as *nine* different models, not just that 1200W one, it's not fair or you're not entitled to say: "avoid any of the Seasonic Platinum Series"; also because those nine models are based on three different fanned platforms (the one of the 1200/1050W models is different from the one of the 860/760/660W models, which is different from the one of the 1000W model), and given that there are three fanless models in the very same Platinum-series (so, with reference to them, there's no fan controller which could be flawed, isn't there?).

The SPCR community is meant to serve all of us, not to support either in favor or against this or that brand (please, pay attention: I am not saying you are a sort of fanboy, afaik you're just a rightly dissatisfied/disappointed customer/user), and that needs the most veritable comments: I hope you'll understand this point.

About me, I'm just taking care of our "courtyard"/"playground", as any of us should want to (that's what a community is meant to be, isn't it?), with kindness and patience and at best of my language proficiency.

Thank you.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:55 am

Seasonic Rep wrote:Dear Luca and other Sea Sonic supporters on this forum, thank you for your input and support over this matter, this is highly appreciated. My apologies for not being active in this forum ... too much to do... too little time. Please do know that we are grateful for your help!
Please, check also the TechPowerUp! (so, Europe I mean) relevant review, as they found the same issue (or a very similar one), to that issue Killi and Curvin are complaining about: a too much fast spinning fan coupled with a too much aggressive fan controller behaviour. That's not appropriate for a quiet PSU, given also that the Platinum-series includes a 520W fanless model (so that, theoretically there should be no need for a spinning fan up to that power level in any higher powered Platinum-series PSU, shouldn't there?).
Thanks for your concern.

KILLI
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by KILLI » Thu Jul 31, 2014 1:01 am

Hello Seasonic rep,

thanks for your efforts!
I've chosen the P-1200XP3 because I've only made the beste experiences with Seasonic in the past; hence, I was all the more disappointed by this unit.
My experiences are exactly the same as Curvin's: I don't know if it was a "full ramp", but the fan was more than clearly audible even at idle and low temperatures. It seemingly didn't change it's rpm based on load or temperature as it stood the same throughout the whole period it was switched on. Hybrid mode was no remedy, either, as the fan constantly ran with small bursts of high-rpm operation, which was even more annoying than the constatn vacuum cleaner sound ;).

I got my unit(s) from Alternate in Germany (shipped to my home in Austria (no kangaroos here ;->)) (http://www.alternate.at/, https://www.alternate.at/html/help/contact.html, https://www.alternate.at/Impressum). The second one was a replacement unit (brand new and factory sealed, though) which I got because I couldn't imagine that the whole series could be flawed; initially I thought of just a bad unit (bad thermal sensor or whatever).
Perhaps I have a notice of the serial numbers somewhere, but do better not count on that. However, I can give you the Ticket ID which I got in the case with Alternate: 108052178.

"Somewhere on the internet" ;) I've read that Seasonic's lab is allegedly in a rather noisy environment in Taipei and that it's pretty hard for the engineers to develop really, really silent PSUs. Just as a sidenote... ;)

I, for myself, am a fan of powerful yet silent hardware. That's why I use watercooling with an external radiator and pump (in another room), and that's why I need high-wattage PSUs which are truly silent. So often I've read that the noise of the PSU is irrelevant because every case and GPU fan will be much louder. Actually, that's not true in any case as you can see ;).

Kind regards,
Michael

Seasonic Rep
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by Seasonic Rep » Thu Jul 31, 2014 1:24 am

Hi Killi,

Once again, sorry for the inconvenience. I have looked through our RMA records and have not found any P-1200 returned by Alternate, I will ask our DE salesperson to contact Alternate to double check.

It is very possible something went wrong as the April units were first production lot. I am in contact with our QA over this matter and they have started an investigation. As for your replacement unit having the same issue, it is most likely because it is of the same production lot.

As for our lab being noisy, can you please give me the link. This is kind of... interesting... because in Taipei, or China, most, if not all labs, are "noisy" because of machinery and forced air cooling of the offices (high background noise). In our Taipei lab, we have our small sound room but more importantly, all our units are tested at accredited independent sound labs for noise measurements during both the design phase and the production phase (sample testing).

In terms of overall fan performance of our units vs others on the market, I think there is a misconception here in terms of how we view things. To call it "aggressive" would be the reverse thinking. In our view, we see many of our competitors being "aggressive" in their fan control, meaning, they tune it down to put low noise (customer happiness) over actual need for cooling of the power supply (for reliability). We comply to safety requirements and we sometimes wonder how is it possible that some high wattage units, at high or full loads, can have such low rotation, quiet fans.

If silence is priority, then please consider our 520FL which is actually based on the 850/1000w platform and only by using that platform are we able to achieve a true fanless power supply that can actually run to 520w without OTP shutting it down. Or use our P series in Hybrid mode. Thank you.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Seasonic Platinum 1200 (SS-1200XP3): Noisy?

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Jul 31, 2014 3:32 am

Seasonic Rep wrote:In terms of overall fan performance of our units vs others on the market, I think there is a misconception here in terms of how we view things. To call it "aggressive" would be the reverse thinking. In our view, we see many of our competitors being "aggressive" in their fan control, meaning, they tune it down to put low noise (customer happiness) over actual need for cooling of the power supply (for reliability). We comply to safety requirements and we sometimes wonder how is it possible that some high wattage units, at high or full loads, can have such low rotation, quiet fans.

If I can take the liberty, whether broadly speaking I can understand that high temp ratings, longer warranty and relevant reliability concerns cannot allow for lack of airflow, in my humble opinion there is no apparent reason why a 1200W PSU cannot run either fanless or with the fan spinning under 7-800rpm up to say a 200W load (so when dissipating at most around 25W, don't it?) in any commercially available ATX enclosure.

Seasonic Rep wrote:If silence is priority, then please consider our 520FL which is actually based on the 850/1000w platform and only by using that platform are we able to achieve a true fanless power supply that can actually run to 520w without OTP shutting it down. Or use our P series in Hybrid mode. Thank you.
So, if I'm not wrong, currently are those three fanless models along with the fanned 1000W one (I see the 850W as discontinued) the only truly quiet (or if you rather, the most quiet) Platinum-series PSUs, while cannot the 660/760/860/1050/1200 models be as quiet as their priorly mentioned siblings? And what about the 80plus Gold-rated X-Series? Thanks in advance for you clarifications.

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