Seasonic "Super" series poll

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

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar

Seasonic functionality

My Super Tornado works fine
19
27%
My Super Tornado fan/controller doesn't work right
21
30%
My Super Silencer works fine
17
24%
My Super Silencer fan/controller doesn't work right
14
20%
 
Total votes: 71

MikeC
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Seasonic "Super" series poll

Post by MikeC » Tue Dec 09, 2003 1:30 pm

Just a quick & dirty poll of Seasonic "super" series PSUs to try to get some idea of the number of iffy units out there. If you choose "has fan noise issues", please comment further.
Last edited by MikeC on Thu Dec 11, 2003 7:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

JVM
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Post by JVM » Tue Dec 09, 2003 1:46 pm

Mike, this poll is a great idea and should provide much needed info to help better assess the Seasonic "Super" series.

Inexplicable
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Post by Inexplicable » Tue Dec 09, 2003 1:46 pm

My Seasonic 300FT has fan noise issues. It's all documented in the thread
Less than pleased with Seasonic Tornado (second revision). :shock:

MGP
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Post by MGP » Tue Dec 09, 2003 3:59 pm

Hey Mike. My Super Tornado 300 (retail) experience is also in the above thread (a few more like it around the SPCR Forum). Although I must say that my "second revision" PSU from Fry's does work a little better (fan starts up automatically sometimes...other times it takes anywhere from ten minutes to an hour to begin spinning, whining until the fan starts).

MGP
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Post by MGP » Tue Dec 09, 2003 4:02 pm

BTW...is it possible for a PSU with all of its problems like the Super Tornado 300 to cause a PC to suddenly restart ever once in a while? I've so far mostly given up complaining about my Super Tornado 300 (at least in the very near future) as the fan does eventually start, and, hey my PC works when I need it! However, I do intend to further contact Seasonic as soon as I get the time (e.g. when final exams over :D ).

Paul Beattie
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Post by Paul Beattie » Tue Dec 09, 2003 6:58 pm

Even after building an air duct to the Super Silencer-400 from front of PC, the fan was the loudest noise source in the PC. (Dual P-III 1Ghz - 2x92mm L1A@5V, 80mm L1A@6v for quad-video card/circulation, 92mm L1A@5v exhaust, 60Gb Cuda V HD). I replaced the SuperRed PSU fan with an 80mm M1A and it runs quieter: PSU is no longer the loudest identifiable sound. Fan control circuit "revs" the fan occasionally for 15 second bursts, even when system is doing very little.

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Post by flyingsherpa » Tue Dec 09, 2003 8:10 pm

my 1st super tornado that the "no start fan" issue... RMA'd it.
my 2nd one is now the loudest component in my pc. i can easily hear it over 8' away (about as far away as i can get in my room). its kind a low frequency whirring noise... definitely some beats in it. :(

i'm just glad i have a MikeC-modded PSU enroute, i am tired of dealing with noisy psu's.

helzerr
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Post by helzerr » Tue Dec 09, 2003 9:11 pm

I sure hope Seasonic fixes the Super Tornado. I really want one for its high efficiency and active PFC in addition to the (potentially quiet) 120mm fan.

Ginta
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Post by Ginta » Wed Dec 10, 2003 3:05 am

My Tornado has start up fan issues. Bought it back in September I think, or about a month or so after computergate.com started stocking them. Since my computer had been on most of the time since then I haven't encountered the problem till just last week when doing a major hard disk swap. Friend of mine with the same PSU says his is fine and he ordered his right when computergate.com got them.

The squeeling noise is caused by the fan not spinning up but I found that you can spin the blade by hand to get it going then the noise goes away. I'll probably RMA this back to Seasonic after the holidays when things settle down.

gman
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Fan issues with Seasonic Super Silencer

Post by gman » Wed Dec 10, 2003 6:08 pm

I received my Super Silencer 2 weeks ago since my Zalman 300watt psu failed for now reason(thats on another thread). So i overnight a Seasonic from outpost.com, since I desperately needed my computer. I though would be happy with it since i read Mike's review. Like I said I overnight it so I didnt have much time to look at the forums. Well I am dissapointed with my Seasonic. My previous Psu i modified it with a Panaflo L1. Now, I have a lot of heat generating components in there. My system is quiet not silent, thats the most I can do under the circumstances and Im satisfied. Biggest difference I notice between this PSU and my old one is that I can hear the fan motor a lot more on this one. I have 2 other panaflos L1 in my system, and both are at 12V(Not quiet) currently. The panaflos have a "swoosh" noise in them than i can tolerate, specially in my sleep. This Super Silencer on the other hand is whiny. Not easy to sleep or nap with it on. Now my question to you guys is this. What should I do? Should I RMA, or should take my chances modding it with a panaflo. I know how to do it and this one seems a lot easier than modding on other psus. To you guys who do have a Panaflo in there is it worth the difference?
Thanks
Gman

dxdn
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Post by dxdn » Wed Dec 10, 2003 10:54 pm

I picked up a Super Tornado 400W. It's quiet when it's running about 800 rpm. But any sort of moderate load it will quickly speed up to about 1500rpm (which is damn noisy), then slow down to 800rpm when things are idle. So I get this continuous fan oscillating which is really getting on my nerves!

Has anyone replaced the cheap SuperRed with something better? How about modifying the fan control circuitry so it doesn't have this yo-yo effect?

Ducky
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Post by Ducky » Wed Dec 10, 2003 11:34 pm

No real issues with it. It's in a case where the fan would actually be vertical instead of horizontal, though, so it'd sidestep any "fan not starting" issues, even if it is a first rev. PSU (Which it does not appear to be -- no sticker about it not starting, etc.)

No revving fans, either -- Then again, I'm using it in a "fully loaded" P3-500 system. (1 6x DVD drive, 1 52x CD drive, 2 HDs, 2 video capture cards, 1 802.11b card, and a floppy drive) So no real gigantic power draw...

Still slightly disappointed, though, since it's less silent than what I expected. Total noise of the PC is about half to 1/3rd of my Antec TruPower, but more than with a NX3000. Main reason being the honey-comb mesh -- it lets interior case noise from, say, the Slot-1 Pentium 3 fan and the HD leak out extremely easily vs. the other PSUs. Still, I'm keeping it on the PC 'cause it's more efficient. (That computer's on 24/7 as a PVR/File server.)

nap_loaf
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Post by nap_loaf » Thu Dec 11, 2003 3:00 am

There were two ways I could've interpreted this poll: One was "Are you satisfied with your PSU fan?", and the other was "Is your PSU fan working correctly?". It's possible that my fan is working as it should be, but that just happens to not be good enough for my needs.

Whether or not my fan is defective is a difficult question to answer, because I don't have a 300W Tornado that someone who knows what to expect has verified as working correctly. From what I've read in these forums though, it seems unreasonable to expect a 300W PSU to stay at a low fan speed when powering a 3.3GHz P4 + Radeon 9800 Pro under load.

My PSU fan starts consistently - no whining. It doesn't speed up immediately after I put it under load either. The biggest issue I have with it is the bearing noise: low frequency clicks that blend together to make a hum. To be fair the humming isn't that loud (similar noise level to my CRT, and besides my 120mm L1A hums as well); it only seems that way after silencing other parts of my system. I tried replacing the fan with an Evercool but it doesn't get enough starting voltage (thus it whines until I push-start it myself or put the PSU under load).

I voted for my PSU working fine because I think it is. That said, I intend to get a 460W Silencer and swap the fan with a Panaflo or Nexus, because 1. The high power rating means it should never need to spin up, 2. It's so much easier to find quiet 80mm fans than 120mm ones and 3. The "straight through" airpath means my CPU won't heat up the PSU like it does in the "right angle" style one.

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Post by MikeC » Thu Dec 11, 2003 7:42 am

nap_loaf --

Good point about interpretation of the choices. I changed the language for the negative options.

luap
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Post by luap » Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:29 pm

hello,
my 400w super tornado has fan rpm/speed problems, from very slow/quiet
to running loud , speed up, speed down, no apparent reason. mbm doesnt show any kind of temp changes tied to this.

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Post by haysdb » Thu Dec 11, 2003 10:13 pm

I only got to vote once, but I have two ST 300's, both working fine. The second does have just a hint of fan noise.

David

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Post by gourdo_1 » Thu Dec 18, 2003 3:10 pm

Add me to the list of SuperSilencer owners who believe it's probably working as designed, but is too loud and whiny for my taste.
--Gordo

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Post by wussboy » Thu Dec 18, 2003 4:18 pm

My ST 400 spins up the fan every 10 minutes or so, seemingly for no reason. Not always, just sometimes. For example, it seems to do it in the evening when I'm done using it and go to bed, but I don't notice it in the morning.

Mauler
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Post by Mauler » Sat Dec 20, 2003 5:01 am

I have a Seasonic Super Silencer AGX 460W (active PFC and ball bearing fan). My only gripe is the constant change of rpm. It is VERY silent on low rpm, but gets quite noisy when it speeds up (from around 1800 rpm and above). It is clealy noisier than the 12 cm fan that came with my BQE and the Zalman ALCu7000 cooler. Its not air flow noise but very annoying whining sound highpitched sound (sound a bit lit a very muffeled drill). Im thinking about replacing the fan. Any suggestionons on fan replacement - Panaflo or Papst?

snutten
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Post by snutten » Sat Dec 20, 2003 10:04 am

I swapped in a Papst 8412 NGML (26cfm, safe choice). It always starts and constitutes an enormous noise improvement. Recommended.

I also fall into the category "Super Silencer Works Fine" but Too Noisy anyway.


EDIT: The Papst fan makes a big racket when I used the S2FC connector in the PSU. Not clear why. Stays quiet when the Fan-O-Matic is used. I should have pointed out I don´t use the PSU to control the fan. The Seasonic is the only fan control mechanism which messes thing up like this. All other fan controls I´ve used constitute no problems for these Papst fans, which are quit at low voltages. Yes, I tried with two different fans, both labeled 8412 N/2GML.
Last edited by snutten on Tue Jan 06, 2004 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

dxdn
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Post by dxdn » Sat Dec 20, 2003 11:57 am

I finally got my Super Tornado 400W to stop continually speeding up and down for no apparent reason! I replaced the superred with an aluminum evercool and reverse the rear fan in a Sonata to suck air in.

Now it only speeds up when under max load for at least 5 minutes.

Mauler
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Post by Mauler » Sat Dec 20, 2003 1:44 pm

snutten wrote:I swapped in a Papst 8412 NGML (26cfm, safe choice). It always starts and constitutes an enormous noise improvement. Recommended.

I also fall into the category "Super Silencer Works Fine" but Too Noisy anyway.

For how many cfm is stock superred fan rated? Is it the same fan in the 300, 400 and 460 W models?

snutten
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Post by snutten » Sun Dec 21, 2003 3:37 pm

The SS 400 has a superred rated 32 cfm.
Fans with very low cfm, like the Papst 8412 NGL or Panaflo L, may have problems starting or even spinning at the low initial voltage fed to it from the S2F2 circuits.

Riffer
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Post by Riffer » Sun Dec 21, 2003 6:39 pm

Just put my super Tornado in a few hours ago. I'll vote in a couple of days after I do some tweaking. So far not particularly offensive, but my Video card temps are up. Will have to work on airflow.

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Post by hmsrolst » Tue Dec 23, 2003 3:15 am

My first 300 wouldn't start reliably. I RMA'd it and the second had the same problem. The third starts reliably, but is noisy (although it stays at the lowest speed). I replaced it with one of MikeC's modded ones, and the decrease in noise was very substantial.

Riffer
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Post by Riffer » Thu Dec 25, 2003 7:36 am

Riffer wrote:Just put my super Tornado in a few hours ago. I'll vote in a couple of days after I do some tweaking. So far not particularly offensive, but my Video card temps are up. Will have to work on airflow.
400W Super-Tornado - here are my impressions after a couple of days:

Alll speeds-emits annoying high pitched whine
Higher speeds - fan has unpleasing acoustic qualities. Not that it is actually that loud, it's just that the fan is hard to listen too.

I hope that the whine is fan, not circuit, related, as I will probably replace the fan with something better.

Also, the PSU doesn't provide much in the way of case cooling. Temps in the area have risen considerably(5C+).

Metaluna
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Post by Metaluna » Fri Dec 26, 2003 10:27 pm

My Super Tornado 400 starts at about 1400RPM but quickly rises to about 1700 under load, which is subjectively noisier than my old TruePower 430 in the same machine under the same load.

What is really annoying, though, is once the fan speed elevates, it never slows back down, even after the load has been gone for many hours. I have done tests where I would start out with an idle CPU, start Folding@Home, wait a few minutes for the fan to wind up into screamer mode, then disable F@H and watch the fan sit at 1670RPM for literally 12+ hours after the load has been removed. My case temps are typically under 30C so I don't think heat is an issue.

Shawn O
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Post by Shawn O » Tue Jan 06, 2004 11:50 am

No problems w/ my 400w ss.Even when running foh the fan hardly ever speeds up.Lucky I guess.

snutten
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Post by snutten » Tue Jan 06, 2004 1:06 pm

The fan control system uses some strange whacky PWM or something because it makes my otherwise quiet Papst fans produce a loud sound reminiscent of a petrol engine if I connect them to the S2FC. I don´t hold the Superred to be quit enoguh and thus have to use external temp and fan control. Not what I expected.

mrk22
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Post by mrk22 » Wed Jan 28, 2004 9:12 am

I ran prime95 and 3DMark2001 for over an hour in a room with an ambient temperature of 26-27 Celsius to see what this Super Silencer PSU might do.

I did notice a faint whine which I think was coming from the PSU fan.

I think in an intense gaming session (with sound) in which these conditions might arise again, I'd be hard pressed to hear the PSU.

My SS is an A1 revision. I'm curious what revision the people in the "works as supposed to, but too whiney" camp have.

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