Computer Hardware News: Seasonic S12-II 500W PSU

Manufacturer:Seasonic
UK Price (as reviewed):£48.40 (inc. VAT)
US Price (as reviewed):$85.99 (ex. Tax)

Introduction

Seasonic is one of those rare companies that enjoys a continued reputation of recommendation from online communities the world over. Corsair contracts the company to make its own HX range, and while we didn't rate the last Seasonic unit we reviewed, this one looks a lot more promising. Based on our first impressions the price, style and quality look great so we couldn't wait to get a hold of one of the 500W units to see if it works as well as we'd expect.

The S-model is a non-modular unit, so this 500W goes up straight between our personal favourites in the mid to low-end market – the Corsair VX450 and VX550 (who are instead made by OEM, CWT). This latest S12-II has both eight and six-pin PCI-Express power connectors as well as support for the latest motherboards with an eight-pin EPS 12V connector, so it's still built with grunt. We'll go into detail to see if Seasonic does enough to tip the crown of the mighty Corsair.

Box Contents

Single Molex to two floppy adapter
Kettle lead IEC mains lead (to be technically correct)
Four case screws
Manual

In the box you have the basics to get you going, although there are no cable management bits which is unsurprising given the price, however even Corsair chucked in a few free cable ties with its VX550. The PSU is packaged reasonably well with bubble wrap, but again it's nothing spectacular – it simply suffices.