Seasonic: Silencer vs. Tornado

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:37 am

I've spent a while searching the site but can't find any thread relating to the difference between the Seasonic Super Silencer and the Super Tornado - could someone explain please?

Also, is the S12 worth waiting for?

Thanks
Cams

Pjotor · Post by **Pjotor** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:48 am

Silencer has an 80mm fan, Tornado has a 120mm fan. The heatsinks inside the Tornado are smaller to accommodate the larger fan.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 10:34 am

Cams wrote:I've spent a while searching the site but can't find any thread relating to the difference between the Seasonic Super Silencer and the Super Tornado - could someone explain please?

Super Silencer has a single, relatively lousy Super Red brand 80mm fan.

The Super Tornado has a much smoother 120mm unit from a different company.

Overall, I'd say Super Tornado is quieter than Super Silencer. If not lower volume, at least much smoother in sound.

-Ed

RaNDoMMAI · Post by **RaNDoMMAI** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 1:38 pm

but you can mod the seasonic SS with a 80mm panaflo for super low noise uber easy

~RaNDoM

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:46 pm

And on the same level you can mod a Super Tornado with a Nexus 120 and achieve the quietest possible air cooled PSU there pretty much can be.

Sometimes it's easier just to avoid modding or voiding your warranty.

-Ed

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:59 pm

Personally it is up to your preference - both has its up and downs

ST - The PSU will gain some heat as a result of breathing in the air from within the case faster than the SS.

SS - Smaller fan, has to work harder to get the same amount of air out as the ST.

Personally I have the SS460WA3, and I love it. ;P Installation was simple, fanswapping was super easy (5 minutes, flat). With the ST i think you may have to dremel out the closed-screw channels?

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 1:41 am

I have a Tornado 400 (Rev A3). Although I haven't bought any of the components for the system it's going to be used in yet, I've tested it on a couple of other machines and it is VERY quiet.

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 2:23 am

Thanks for the replies folks. I shall seek out a Tornado 400. I'd rather not go swapping any fans.

luggage · Post by **luggage** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 5:08 am

Edward Ng wrote:And on the same level you can mod a Super Tornado with a Nexus 120 and achieve the quietest possible air cooled PSU there pretty much can be.

Sometimes it's easier just to avoid modding or voiding your warranty.

-Ed

I'm not sure if this is mentioned often but - in some countries you do not only void you warranty but also your home insurance if you mod your PSU.

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 5:16 am

It seems that all Seasonic PSUs sold in Europe are rev A2s. I got this email from KoolnQuiet in the UK:

All the Seasonic power supplies sold in the USA are Rev A3. All other markets, including Europe, have Rev A2. It was done as a marketing ploy but they have shot themselves in the foot.

So I guess I'll play it safe and go with the Nexus 4090 instead.

JanW · Post by **JanW** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:04 am

Couldn't resist to repeat what I've said in this thread:
Don't underestimate the possibility to duct the SuperSilencer!

I guess acaurora implied this mentioning the heat from the CPU the ST will take in. In many cases a piece of cardboard and opening a 5.25" bay will suffice for a simple "duct" (for the SS and PSUs in similar configurations), preventing the PSU fan from spinning up, independent of load. No voiding of insurance or warranty...
That is quite a bit harder to achieve with the ST.

I've found this out the hard way. Bought a ST 300W, revA2 (I agree this a big part of the problem), and I ended up swapping back to the noisy Antec TruePower 380W, ducted

Hard to believe, but it's more quiet this way!

echoes · Post by **echoes** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 9:21 pm

One problem with the Tornado is that, depending on the layout of your motherboard, it might interfere with the CPU HSF. On my PC, the CPU HSF is very close to the PSU, so with a Tornado, I'd have nearly half of the fan intake area blocked off. That's why I went with the Silencer.

freak_in_cage · Post by **freak_in_cage** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 1:59 pm

Cams wrote:It seems that all Seasonic PSUs sold in Europe are rev A2s. I got this email from KoolnQuiet in the UK:

All the Seasonic power supplies sold in the USA are Rev A3. All other markets, including Europe, have Rev A2. It was done as a marketing ploy but they have shot themselves in the foot.
So I guess I'll play it safe and go with the Nexus 4090 instead.

i dont get what you mean! whats the difference between A2 and A3? how has producing an A3 model "shot themsleves in the foot?"

i agree with the SS, so you can duct the PSU and keep it completly seperate from the rest of the system

i want a SS 350W but cant seem to find one in the uk

:( koolnquiet have a more powerful one but its way too expensive

i guess im stuck with my antec TP 330W

wing · Post by **wing** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 5:03 pm

freak_in_cage wrote:
Cams wrote:It seems that all Seasonic PSUs sold in Europe are rev A2s. I got this email from KoolnQuiet in the UK:

All the Seasonic power supplies sold in the USA are Rev A3. All other markets, including Europe, have Rev A2. It was done as a marketing ploy but they have shot themselves in the foot.
So I guess I'll play it safe and go with the Nexus 4090 instead.
i dont get what you mean! whats the difference between A2 and A3? how has producing an A3 model "shot themsleves in the foot?"

I guess what I don't understand is the "marketing ploy" part; as far as I can tell in these forums, the A2 and A3 have at least 2 real differences.

Based on what I read here, I imagine the "shot themselves in the foot" part refers to more vents in the PSU that could cause the undesirable hot air to flow back into the case, but I fail to understand why this could count a marketing ploy (perhaps they mean a "reverse marketing ploy"?)

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 5:15 pm

Shot themselves in the foot in terms of suddenly having a whole bunch of A2s sitting on shelves unbought because of the A3's release? I dunno'...

freak_in_cage · Post by **freak_in_cage** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 4:31 am

i guess what I don't understand is the "marketing ploy" part; as far as I can tell in these forums, the A2 and A3 have at least 2 real differences.

do you know what the 2 differences are m8?! seems to me they Edward is right, and they are getting rid of their A2 in Europe

i really want a A3 but can only get them from koolnquiet and thats crazy expensive, and Rev A2

JanW · Post by **JanW** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:48 am

freak_in_cage wrote:do you know what the 2 differences are m8?!

According to Mike's RevA3 review, there are several differences:

- higher efficiency in RevA3
- different (lower noise) fan
- updated/corrected fan controller

I think anyone who read MikeC's review of the RevA3 (or the comments from users of the latest RevA3 models in this forum, for that matter) will agree that the introduction of the A3 is not a simple marketing ploy.

The Tornado RevA2 models I own are beasts that are difficult to tame. While I don't get the erratic "fan spinning up to max speed on load drop", the fan does speed up to max (or what sounds like max, I don't have a voltmeter to test) at moderate loads and temperatures, and stays there. I couldn't bear it anymore and finally swapped the 120mm fan for a Nexus "Real Silent" case fan (voiding that 3 year Seasonic warranty). It's much better now, but the PSU is still the loudest component in that system (not the one from my sig). I suspect that is due to the proximity of the heatsinks to the fan (an identical Nexus case exhaust fan @12V is a lot quieter).

I don't have firsthand experience with the SuperSilencer, but a duct (+ fan swap) should tame them easily.

gtrz · Post by **gtrz** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 11:06 am

I have a SS 460 rev3 and it doesn't need taming at all. The fan only
makes it up to proabably 1100 rpm at most and that's hard telling cause
my mb sensor almost never picks it up it's too low. It's easily the quietest
fan in my setup.

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 3:30 am

I think what people were trying to say (and this has already been hit on once) is that Seasonic shot themselves in the foot with the A3 by marketing it fairly intensively then only supplying it to the USA.
That means Seasonic retailers outside of the USA are losing out to people like me, who imported their A3 from the USA rather than get landed with an A2.

mathias · Post by **mathias** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 8:10 am

meglamaniac wrote:I think what people were trying to say (and this has already been hit on once) is that Seasonic shot themselves in the foot with the A3 by marketing it fairly intensively then only supplying it to the USA.
That means Seasonic retailers outside of the USA are losing out to people like me, who imported their A3 from the USA rather than get landed with an A2.

I don't think they mind that. But I'm sure there's also lots of people who get something other than a seasonic to avoid getting an A2.

Seasonic: Silencer vs. Tornado

Seasonic: Silencer vs. Tornado

Re: Seasonic: Silencer vs. Tornado