Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
Personally, the Seasonic PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W is one of the coolest power supplies I have seen in a very long time. While the pun was fully intended, this is unlike any of the other Seasonic PSUs we have looked at in the past. It is like the other fanless unit we reviewed in the past, the SilverStone Nightjar NJ520, whose OEM was also Seasonic. From the top of the photo here, you can see the PRIME Fanless logo smacked in the middle, surrounded by an elongated honeycomb pattern. This pattern follows across the top and sides, while the front and back have a finer honeycomb pattern. Practically all of the enclosure is covered with ventilation holes. Clearly, these design choices stem from the fact we have no fan at the top and therefore we need as much passive air cooling as possible. It may not do much for keeping dust out however, but hopefully that is not too much of a problem. The external casing of the power supply is held together with four screws at the top. One screw has a warranty seal over it and the only way to get inside this unit is to void the twelve year warranty.
In terms of dimensions, the Seasonic PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W measures 17cm in length, which is the same as other PRIME units. This is pretty awesome, considering it is an 80 Plus Titanium unit. It should be noted fully modular power supplies generally take up more room compared to their semi-modular or non-modular counterparts by a centimeter or two, as this extra real estate is used for the connector board at the back. We will explore what this looks like later when we delve inside the PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W. For most ATX or eATX chassis, this sort of length will be almost a non-issue. However, for smaller mATX or mITX cases, the extra length may be more difficult to deal with, even if it is only a few centimeters. In the end, your mileage will vary based on your build.
At the back, we can get a closer look at the similar, albeit slightly smaller, elongated honeycomb pattern. This follows the same aesthetics at the top. Traditionally, the back vents play an essential role in allowing heat to flow out the back. For a fanless unit, we just want as much airflow as possible. Most modern power supplies have an automatic full range (110V to 240V) AC line voltage selection, so you will not need to manually flip an additional switch, and this product is no exception. Therefore, the back has a single power switch and a standard power input. Thankfully, this is not a C20 receptacle, like the ones we have seen on some other power supply units.
Like most of the power supplies we have covered here at APH Networks, the Seasonic PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W is a fully modular power supply. This means all cables are completely detachable from the main unit. While some users may question the necessity of this for essential cables like the ATX 24-pin and the ATX 4-pin/EPS 8-pin, there still are benefits to having this. For example, I would argue this makes cabling easier, since users can pre-route the cables without needing the power supply installed right away. Secondly, there are a few third party manufacturers who provide sleeved cables for power supplies and this is only made possible by fully modular units. On the other hand, there is a higher, but very negligible, electrical contact loss at the connectors compared to permanently fixed cables. At the end of the day, your preference will make the final call, but I prefer fully modular units.
The rear cable connection panel is clean, with similar connectors grouped together and laid out logically. They are clearly labeled, so you know which plug is for what. On the top row, we have one part of the motherboard pins. Next to these are four sets of six pin connections, used for the peripheral outputs like SATA or Molex connections. At the bottom row we have the other part of the motherboard pins, plus the CPU or PCI Express connectors. At this power wattage rating, I think Seasonic has provided a good number of connections, especially giving users the option to power multiple CPU outputs and PCI Express plugs.
The external build quality of the Seasonic PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W is really solid, which is expected for Seasonic. The fit between the panels is quite good with very little gaps in between. The edges are finished and smoothed off to prevent cutting any people handling the unit. What matters is the inside and we will see what it is like soon enough.
The voltage specification label for the Seasonic PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W is on the bottom side of the unit. There are two main virtual rails. Up to 20A can be delivered via the +3.3V rail for a total of 66W. The +5V rail can deliver 20A too, bringing the output to 100W in this area. The total combined output for the +3.3V and +5V rail is 100W. In other words, your power allocation combination must fall within the limits of the listed specifications. Meanwhile, a single powerful +12V rail delivers up to 50A (600W) to reduce operating overhead compared to multiple +12V rails. Overall, the combined power output for the whole PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W is an unsurprising 600W. Again, your power distribution in your system must fall within the limits provided -- it must not exceed 66W on the +3.3V rail, 100W on the +5V rail and 100W combined for both, 600W on the +12V rail, and 600W combined between the positive rails. All these confusing numbers aside, this configuration allows for flexible power demands. It should be sufficient to accommodate most users and the overall distribution is pretty reasonable for a 600W power supply.
The Seasonic PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W is 80 Plus Titanium certified, which means that it is certified to be at least 90%, 92%, 94%, 90% efficient at 10%, 20%, 50%, and 100% load, respectively. There is no higher certification for 115V internal non-redundant power supplies at press time.
A total of nine modular cables are included out of the box. All modular cables are flat and easy to bend, with the exception of the ATX cable, making them extremely easy to work with. Surprisingly, all wires are 18 AWG, including high current PCI Express and ATX/EPS connectors, with some 22AWG in the ATX cable. Usually, manufacturers will fatten cables up to 16 AWG, but Seasonic opted out on that.
The following modular cables are included out of the box:
- 1x ATX 20+4 pin, 61.0cm
- 2x ATX/EPS 4+4 pin, 65.0cm
- 2x PCIe 6+2 pin, 2 connectors each, 67.5cm to first connector, 7.5cm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA, 4 connectors, 40.0cm to first connector, 12.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA, 2 connectors, 30.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x Molex, 4 connectors, 45.0cm to first connector, 12.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x Molex, 2 connectors, 35.0cm to first connector, 12.0cm spacing thereafter
A 10cm long Molex to Floppy adapter is included for those who find it useful. Most users should have no problems with routing the cables included with Seasonic's PRIME 600 Titanium Fanless 600W, even if your case has a bottom power supply mount. 50cm is the general standard, but the shorter peripheral cables may actually be advantageous in routing management with modern cases. At a minimum 12.0cm between each peripheral connector, this should be adequate for chaining multiple peripherals.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
