Seasonic S12 II (new revision) - now widely available

kater · Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 659 Location: Poznań, Poland

S12 380W II

S12 430W II

S12 500W II

There's no text there so no worry, just click on the pix to learn more.

All models have slightly stronger 12V rails. 500W has PCI-E 8-pin connector. And they have new boxes and grills. 430W has EPS 8-pin connector. 380W has PCI-E 6-pin cable. And they all have 80+ sticker on boxes Very Happy

Strange thing is Seasonic's website has no info on them. Even stranger, no info on them here Laughing

Poland may be backwoods Wink

but we can already buy the new revision of the legendary PSU's. I believe I'll be able to give you more info on that as soon as my favorite PSU vendor dissects one of them Very Happy

EDIT - had to change the title finally Razz

Even you heathens can get the S12 II now Wink

burebista · Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 402 Location: Romania

Hmm, I saw them in France too.
Strange that they're not on website (tw, us or eu).
Nice find kater.
I'll ask our Seasonic reseller about them.

JazzJackRabbit · Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 1281

Heh, seasonic has got me all confused. Is this a replacement for S12 Energy Plus, or is this just an update to existing S12 line? If it's the latter, which one is more efficient, S12 Energy Plus or S12 II?

We really need a seasonic rep on this forum. Very Happy

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rpsgc · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject:

JazzJackRabbit · Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 1281

Thanks for the info.

There is just one thing I find dumb on new S12 II - the exhaust is more restrictive than on Energy Plus.

This is how old Energy Plus and S12 grill looked.

The grill on new S12 II looks more like the one on M12 (M12 is pictured on this pic)
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Das_Saunamies · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:13 pm Post subject:

Yeah the S12 II rear grill is more similar to the original S12 grill, at least judging by these smudgy little pictures:

OLD

NEW

Have some Seasonic press realease to go with. Basically they say the "S12 line" has been upgraded to have a near-perfect PF and better efficiency, no word on what it's supposed to replace, except the mention on how it features the same wattages as the "original S12". If you feel like it, compare with the ENERGY+ press release... the S12 II at least has more feature badges, among which the "99% active PFC". Finding facts in the text is nigh impossible.

At about 80€ for the 430W model, that'll be my PSU of choice when I ditch my Smartpower 450W.

Edit: removed hyperlinking to year-old press releases. Guess it's time to start living in 2007... and Seasonic's website should too.

continuum · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:52 pm Post subject:

Sweet, nice find... I can upgrade again this summer. Smile

nicke2323 · Joined: 22 May 2007 Posts: 36

Das_Saunamies · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:51 am Post subject:

... oh snap. This isn't 2006 is it. Sad

And regarding the link, yes, I saw it and used Babelfish on it, but I scoured the Finnish shops' sites and they list the units and descriptions already. Also, I don't link anything that's not in English, just for convenience.

kater · Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 659 Location: Poznań, Poland

OK, this LINK will take you to Zenfist's (yup, the Fander guy) shop where, lo and behold, three new models - 380, 430 & 500 - are on sale.
Pics are worth a thousand euros, uhh, words each so go ahead. Pity we still can't see the internals. But I hope they'll add some inside pics soon. From what I've heard so far from the guys, the radiators are just as beefy as before - and what else to expect, duh. The fan is AD1212MB-A71GL - just like in E+ 550W. They tested one of them so far and were very pleased with how quiet it was and how well the fan controller behaved. Again, that was to be expected - but it's nice to have it confirmed, even if the tests are kinda quick.
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winguy · Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 443

Shucks. So now the cables come out from the same side of the case for the whole family? Wished they kept it the current way (one of the reasons why I got the 430...):

S12 330, 380, 430

S12 500, 600

merlin

I just found a couple articles through google talking about how the S12 II was upgraded with solid capacitors on the 12v line. It's amazing how many things are suddenly using solid caps...there must have been some sort of major cost reduction/improvement to make it possible to use those now in a variety of products.
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Tzupy · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 3:30 am Post subject:

How are the inner vents (that dump heat into the case) compared to the previous version: larger, smaller or the same?

TomMe · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 138 Location: Antwerp, Belgium

A176 · Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 20

Saw this at tweaktown ...

Das_Saunamies · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:19 am Post subject:

I ordered a 430W model, so I can take precise measurements whenever it arrives. It could take a week or two, though, as the initial shipments have run out over here.

prodeous · Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 90 Location: Poland

Got the Seasonic energy+ a month ago, and now this. Razz

Still would be nice to know how much better the S12 II is compared to S12. Can't wait for silentpcreview of it. Wink

Additional website where you can get it is:

www.zenfist.pl
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kater · Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 659 Location: Poznań, Poland

My friend got a 380W 2 days ago. Claims the fan is awfully quiet, the PSU is ice cold, voltage regulation is superb. But... it buzzes under load. Load means medium load, <200W. When it idles the buzzing disappears. He can only hear air moving then. But when he ran Orthos the buzzing could be heard - so he says - from 4 m away. That's far. He's rig is pretty quiet (not really uber, but decently quiet) and the buzzing could be easily heard. I'm just reporting his words. I told him to ask for a replacement but don't know if he's gonna do it. Otherwise the PSU is mighty fine.

Also, Zenfist reported that another unit had a cricket in it - the fan could be heard from 1 m. Not the air moving, but the bearings. Otherwise, it performed great - very cold, rock stable, fan didn't ramp up noticably even when the PSU was working with >80% load (it was a 430W).

Hard to say all this but there's no other way - gotta be honest and report things as they are. I don't know what to think of it. Sample variance? Bad luck from hell? We all remember buzzing S12's, we know fans get smacked in transit.
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NeilBlanchard · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:23 pm Post subject:

Greetings,

Das_Saunamies · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:26 pm Post subject:

Uh-oh. *crosses fingers*

Mine's in the mail as we speak, I'll let you know if there are any crickets or buzzes. Confused

thejamppa · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:27 pm Post subject:

If it buzzes, RMA it...
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Sooty · Joined: 22 Sep 2003 Posts: 596 Location: UK

merlin · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:06 pm Post subject: Looks like coming out soon

Here's the press release on the website. This confirms solid capacitors and 80plus efficiency! That certainly cuts back some of the reliability concern.
http://www.seasonic.com.tw/new/twevent20070612.htm

Assuming prices aren't too high...and the buzzing issue noted isn't prevalent, the 300-400w models sound like a perfect spcr psu.
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A176 · Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 20

A176 · Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 20

Sooty · Joined: 22 Sep 2003 Posts: 596 Location: UK

atlr · Joined: 03 Nov 2005 Posts: 17

The Seasonic S12II-xxx aka SS-xxxGB is reported to reach retailers in the USA in July. No idea what the price will be.
http://www.seasonic.com.tw/new/twevent20070612.htm
A link with specs
http://www.seasonic.com/product/pc_retail.jsp

I noticed the Seasonic SS-500GB listed on AMD's recommended power supply page http://ati.amd.com/products/certified/powersupplies.html has the new 2x4 PCIe power plug.

I was going wait for it but Fry's has a $50 deal for the 500w Antec Earthwatts today.

rpsgc · Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:57 am Post subject:

Can we safely assume these are as quiet as the "old" Energy+ ?
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Das_Saunamies · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:39 am Post subject:

S12II-430 has now replaced my Antec SmartPower 2.0 450W.

So far so good: no ticking, silent fan at idle, +5V reading in Asus Probe much more stable than with SmartPower. The unit is even shorter than the SmartPower! The main power cable looks long enough to reach mobos in P18x cases and there's plenty of other cables to go around. It's a tiny, tidy and elegant PSU. I'll keep you posted if there's any trouble. Pictures to follow as soon as I'm through processing them.

Pictures!
TruePower 2.0 and S12II-430 side by side. S12II slightly shorter and fan centre stockier than on a Noctua NF-S12-1200.
Main power cables on the two PSUs. S12II has a definite advantage.
The inside interface. Just a couple of tiny holes in the top for pressure balance(?) and a sideways cut next to the cable hole, which is rather spacious.
The outside interface. Nice honeycomb mesh though a rather bulky switch assembly. Nice to see the automation for voltage.
Almost in. Had to bend that little ledge so it wouldn't interfere with the fan wire grill. Cut my fingers on that later on when installing exhaust fan. Evil or Very Mad

In place, outside view. Observe the hi-tech ducting system! Laughing

Screenshot of Asus Probe after half an hour of runtime while editing the above images and posting on these forums.

Update.
The fan is now quite audible as my ears have adjusted. It's a noise that isn't intrusive but is definitely audible. It's hard to describe its profile as it blends into the background noise very well. If I put my ear in the grill I can also hear a funny electrical noise from the PSU. So, "just" a quiet PSU, definitely not silent.

Update 2.
After watching the vids in http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=41281 I'd say my fan noise is the same chafing kind. It's not intrusive, and definitely not audible beyond point blank range, but it's there. The electrical noise I've listened to for a few minutes now, and it's a buzzing that varies with no recognizable pattern(silent at first, like a beetle, then jumps up in volume to a pack of beetles, definitely not progressive but on/off stuff). The new 'solid' capacitors maybe?

A176 · Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 20

how does it sound after an hour or two of normal use / or under load?