Seasonic G Series 550 SSR-550RM 550W 80+ Gold ATX12V & EPS12V Semi-Modular SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 105 °C Japanese Capacitor 5 Year Warranty Power Supply

UPDATE - Jan 2015 This PSU has been quietly doing it's job in my system since the day I installed it. No problems whatsoever. This actually probably is a beefier PSU than I really needed for this system, since I'm not a gamer and don't even have an add on graphics card (I have an AMD A6 APU). I bought this particular PSU not necessarily for the extra power and efficiency but simply because it's overbuilt. Well, actually, it's just built like all PSUs should be but compared to just about anything else for the same price, it's overbuilt. END UPDATE ---------------- ORIGINAL REVIEW OK. I just received this today from Amazon so this review (for now) will consist of my initial impressions of the product. First things first, I bought this power supply after I had to return a less expensive Seasonic, which I also bought from Amazon. The problem with that power supply was that it started tripping my breaker after a day or so. I don't believe it was a problem with that model. It was just bad luck I think. Really bad luck, I guess (since Seasonic is so well regarded). I did a ton of research before I finally chose this one. I have to say it was more than I really wanted to spend but if it lasts, it was worth it. A good power supply is obviously very important. So. Right to the point. PROS.... 1. Obviously, modular is a huge plus. 2. The modular cables are nice, flexible ribbon cables. While I suppose durability might be questionable, I personally like them much better than the really stiff, thick cables. Those are OK for the 24 pin but when it comes to dealing with SATA cables, these are just so much easier to work with. 3. Seasonic quality. I believe the Japanese capacitors alone are worth a premium, considering it's very tough to find a reasonably inexpensive power supply that doesn't use cheaper capacitors of very questionable quality and durability. Considering a capacitor is probably among the first things that will fail in a PSU, it's kind of scary how many manufacturers use the cheapest ones they can find. 4. This PSU is quiet enough for me. It's probably not dead silent but the fan in this is easily the quietest fan in my case and certainly doesn't make as much noise as my hard drives. My old PSU had a lot of miles on it and it had two 80 mm fans so it was much noisier. I'd have to say you probably don't have to pay $100 to get close enough to this quiet though. 5. The ball bearing fan was another selling point for me. I just don't trust sleeve bearings. Many manufacturers simply don't use ball bearing fans on their more value oriented PSUs. If you combine that with other aspects of the build quality, the lower end Seasonic units get harder and harder to beat. CONS... 1. I suppose the modular cables could have been even better. While the build quality of the PSU is apparently top notch for the price, I think they could have probably spent a little more on the cables. I'm not complaining much though because they could be a lot worse and I like them. Conclusion That's all for now. I'll be updating this periodically as I have more to say.

Seasonic has a history of making some of the best PSU out there, even some of corsair best are made by Seasonic. This PSU is one of the best PSU in the market below $100, its very efficient PSU, 160mm so it should fit almost all cases fine, its semi modular, but the none modular cables are the 24pin (mobo) and the 8pin (cpu), in essence what most build will always use, so its not a big deal not being modular. The rest of the cables are modular, but not like the usual sleeving from seasonic, but more like Corsair HX/AX series, which is more plastic cover than a sleeve, still very good though, personally i like more like this on a black interior case as less will show. One big plus this PSU has also is that is a single rail, while there is nothing wrong with multiple rails, in my experience its best to have single rail for high power components and not worry how to balance each rail depending on whats inside your build. The fan will start when you power your PC, doesn't move much air but feels adequate the air coming out is not hot at all, its very quiet even under load, while the higher end Seasonics are semi passive, this is always active, in my build with a Fractal Design Define R4, i wanted to place the PSU fan bottom, so i was looking for a quiet PSU that will start with the PC, as passive or semi passive PSU are recommended to be placed fan up, so they naturally dissipate heat by convection of hot air rising (when the fan is off), on the G550 there is no passive state, so for me was better for a bottom mounted PSU case that will draw air from the bottom of the case. Heat is the worst enemy of electical components, sometimes i do worry about my X660 when its fully passive, in terms of taking extra heat that i dont mind the fan starting, but thats how its design and havent had an issues, but for having the fan running gives me piece of mind on the G550. Overall i cant see anything wrong, specially for $80 that i paid, the higher end Seasonics start at $125, which is almost 45% of what i paid for this, most people want higher watt PSU now a days, but with CPU/GPU bieng more efficient every gen, there is less need of high watt psu, a 500W is more than enough to power the best CPU and GPU out there, even overclocked, the only reason that i would go higher than this 550W psu is for SLI/Xfire.

Last year I was working on my first PC build. All I had was PC Building For Dummies and a dream. I agonized over my components and especially over what power supply to buy. It didn't take long in my research to learn this fact....All things flow from the power supply. So I decided I would go with arguably the most trusted name in power supplies...Seasonic. As I hit that order button on Amazon a sick feeling and a cold sweat came over me. Should I have spent half as much on an EVGA? Are real genuine Japanese capacitors worth double the cost? Did I just get suckered in to paying premium price for a NAME? These are the tough questions one must ask. When build day arrived and I began assembling the Hive Mind (my new computer) a certain peaceful feeling came over me. I called for my niece to bring forth the holy power supply and upon feeling it's weight and viewing it's splendor I knew I had made the right choice. Can man love machine? Yes he can. Anyhow..I with the aid of PC Building for Morons I had everything installed into my Corsair Spec 02 case. I called the family in for the ceremonial first boot and indeed a light shown down from the heavens and the hallelujah chorus was heard as it booted up without any problem. All kidding aside..This is a great power supply..Love the semi modular design and found it had all the wiring I would need for my build. It's so quiet you will wonder if it's even on. So as of the writing of this review the Hive Mind has run perfectly with this power supply for going on 5 months. I will be using Seasonic on all my builds in the future till I have reason not to. If you liked my review please hit the helpful button below. My advice..skimp on something else in your system but buy a good quality power supply...For Confucius say " All things flow from the power supply"

This is a very high performance power supply unit (often abbreviated as "psu"). The two cables which are permanently attached to the psu are necessary for every PC motherboard. All other cables are detachable so you plug in only the ones you need, and this eliminates the problem of trying to stuff a load of cables somewhere out of the way inside the computer case. Voltage regulation and ripple suppression are both outstanding. Efficiency is very high even at extremes of use. A modern processor, memory and SSD draw very little power when idling or when executing many everyday tasks. Your PC might have a total power use when idling of 25 to 50 watts, so you want the psu to remain efficient even at a low percentage of its maximum rated power. Conversely, when playing intensive 3D games with a powerful graphics card, you need the psu to deliver full power and still maintain that high efficiency. Seasonic handles all this with ease. It's also as near silent as you could hope for. There's no noise at all from this unit until you crank up the power demand to over 400 watts; even then it's quieter than my Corsair TX750 or Antec TruPower psu's. All in all, i'm very happy with this G series 550watt Gold !

If you want the best review possible please check out johnnyguru as he covers everything you will ever need to know and is the best power supply reviewer around. http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=323 Ill just touch base on a few things that were important to me: Pros: -This is a VERY quite power supply, I cant even tell its on. -80 Plus efficiency rating ( see cons ) -Modular cables -Nice power supply bag, I use it to store the extra cables. -Free cable reusable and non reusable cable ties. Cons: -One of the modular molex connections only had two connectors -"had a little trouble clearing Gold efficiency"- JonnyGuru Other thoughts: -Worked very well in my nod 304, its flat cables were perfect to go under the hard-drive cages and effectively power the drives.

The advantages of this PSU are all in its specs: It's short and compact, keeps cool, has modular cables, and has a simple rail layout: It will work well with any reasonably powerful system you throw its way. The 80 Plus Gold rating also means that it'll save you quite a bit on your electric bill. My personal experience with the PSU was poor, though - It caused my rig to conspicuously completely power down for a split second when rebooting, and also seems to need some windup time to be able to turn on in the first place. Both these issues seem to be related to its poor sustaining period - when power is cut off from a computer power supply, it should run for a good second or two when power is lost. To cut on some costs, this PSU lacks this feature. As a result it might feel a bit odd and tough to get used to when you first put it into your machine. Everything else points to it being a very solid supply, though. I didn't hold on to this model for long; the graphics card I was going to use it for was, returned and other factors, including how it played poorly into my tower's airflow (oddly enough - the bottom fan does have some implications for altering air flow, but these can be designed around if you're building a system from the ground up), lead to me not really having any extensive experience with the PSU. If you can get used to its somewhat unorthodox feel, and especially if you can ensure a steady supply of power, this Power Supply should serve finely, especially if designing your system on a budget.

This PSU is nice, very quiet, and best of all, because it's a Seasonic it comes with a 5-year manufacturer's warranty. It is a semi-modular PSU, with all cables except the CPU and 20+4 pin power connector able to be plugged in separately. The only negative about this PSU was that the cable for the (non-modular) CPU power connector was too short to be routed behind my motherboard like it should be. Instead I had to route the CPU power cable behind the main power cable to try to keep it mostly off of the motherboard (setup shown in the included picture), and if I ever want to add more RAM I will still have to disconnect the CPU power. The two SATA power cables included (one with 4 connectors and one with 2) were also shorter than I would have liked. My case isn't even a full tower - it's a mid tower - so it would have been really nice to have longer cables.

You only need to look it up on Google for reviews to tell: this PSU is amazing. I've been building PCs for well over 10 years, and have always found funny how some Builders cram the highest powered PSU their budget allows into their PC. That's not how it works. You need to know approximately what's the peak power of the PC you're building. Reason? Efficiency. Efficiency suffers the most when a PC is pulling a small amount of power (eg: idle, web surfing, music, youtoubing, office, etc). The lower the percentage of load you're pulling from the PSU from it's total, the less efficient it is, the more money you're not saving on the electricity bill. That's why office PC usually have a 250W-300W PSU. Secondly: don't bother with 80Plus Platinum/Titanium PSUs just yet. It's 2% and 4% more efficient than Gold at 50% load, but usually come with a hefty price premium over Gold certified PSUs. It would take a lot more years to get the Return on the extra investment, than what you're probablly going to keep the PSU. With that off the table, let's talk about the PSU. This device is powering an Intel Core i5 based system, overclocked to 4.0GHz, 16GB of RAM, one SSD and one HDD, 5 fans and a GTX760. It has power to spare, while being EXTREMELY quite, and exhaust air is relatively cool compared to older PSUs when gaming. The cables are flat, which are a godsend for cable management within the case, and a pouch for those extra modular cables you won;t be needing. Comes with a rather large sticker. Why Seasonic and not higher named (Seasonic is not small by all means) brands like Corsair, Antec eVGA or similar? We can't generalize, but keep in mind that SeaSonic is one of the OEMs for many of the PSUs from those brands. They rebadge, relabel and rename the units, and sell them usually more expensive, adding little to no value. Save yourself a couple of bucks here.