Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
I would never dream of the day I would call a power supply interesting to look at, but Seasonic's PRIME Titanium 850W certainly convinced me to change my mind. The latest flagship of Seasonic's lineup is quite a departure in appearance from the Platinum I reviewed five years ago. As you can see in our photo above, the PRIME Titanium 850W I am covering today has side scoop vents and a patterned mesh for some visual flare. At 17cm deep, it is also a full two centimeters shorter than its predecessor, making it very reasonably sized for the performance grade and wattage it is designed for. Most modular power supplies are longer than non-modular units by a centimeter or two, as the extra length is needed to accommodate its connector board at the back. We will take a look inside the PSU on the next page. For most ATX or eATX chassis, length should not be much of a problem, if at all. However, if you have a mATX or mITX case that takes standard power supplies, the shorter length will definitely serve as an advantage, especially considering the fact the Seasonic PRIME Titanium 850W is fully modular. If size is your primary concern, the SilverStone Strider Titanium ST80F-TI 800W is even shorter at 15cm.
From our view above, Seasonic's Prime branding is located dead center on the honeycomb fan grille, which itself is a little offset to the side. The full branding is implemented on both sides, where you can spot Seasonic's logo and the shiny PRIME Titanium branding. To make sure you will see the branding right side up at all times, the orientation of it is different on both sides, so whatever side facing the user after installation will always be correct. Its classical SECC construction comes finished off a U-shaped chrome plate with a honeycomb mesh guarding the primary and only cooling fan installed. The 135mm fan generates airflow by drawing air from the bottom of the power supply over its internal components to keep the temperatures in check. Exhaust heat is allowed to leave at the back of the power supply through the large secondary honeycomb mesh opening. Meanwhile, four screws secure the power supply case together; where one screw has a warranty seal over it, so you cannot open the PRIME Titanium 850W without voiding its epic twelve-year warranty.
Starting from the back part of the power supply, we have the same familiar honeycomb mesh design like most PSUs with a bottom mounted fan; what you will find here is a horizontally aligned male connector for power input on the western edge, along with an on/off switch and a button to toggle Hybrid Mode. Adjacent to it is Seasonic's logo. I find having the button here to be much better than the Platinum, where the switch is located on the cable connection panel, as this is much more accessible. That aside, I do not see a reason why you will not leave Hybrid Mode on. Hybrid Mode keeps the fan off until it exceeds about 40% of the load threshold. Disabling Hybrid Mode ensures the fan stays on at all times, but the Seasonic PRIME Titanium is intelligently designed to keep it from overheating regardless of what the active setting is.
The low resistance honeycomb mesh design is implemented to maximize airflow and minimize air resistance. This is done as heat needs to leave the power supply as easily and efficiently as possible, because the PRIME Titanium 850W incorporates only one 135mm fan at the bottom with no auxiliary fan. It is also implemented in a relatively efficient manner, as the power input block takes up a minimal amount of room here. As with all active PFC power supplies, the Seasonic PRIME Titanium 850W has an automatic full range (100V-240V) AC line voltage selection, so the user does not have to worry about manually selecting input voltage.
Like Seasonic's former flagship series, the PRIME Titanium 850W is a fully modular power supply. This means all cables are completely detachable from the main unit. While it is somewhat questionable with regards to why this is necessary, since cables such as the ATX 24-pin and ATX 4-pin/EPS 8-pin have practically an 100% chance of being connected at all times, it may prove to be beneficial to an extent when building your computer initially.
The rear cable connection panel is done nicely, albeit with upside-down labels in standard orientation. Similar connectors are grouped together; and are laid out in a very logical manner. To ensure you know what is going on, they are all grouped and clearly labeled for minimal ambiguity. From the left, we have a group of eight connectors for six PCI Express 6+2 pin and two ATX/EPS 4+4 pin cables. In the Peripherals section, six outputs support ten Serial ATA and five Molex connectors by five cables. Lastly, the Motherboard section supports an ATX 24-pin connector by two separate blocks next to each other. Incompatible outputs will not physically fit into each other, so I think Seasonic has done a great job in this regard. This generous array of available connectors should be more than sufficient for casual users and power enthusiasts alike.
The external build quality of Seasonic's PRIME Titanium 850W power supply is excellent as always -- a good indication the company is serious about the product they are selling. We will take it apart in just a moment. Fit is done well with minimal panel gaps, and all edges are nicely finished off. The level of refinement with regards to the external build quality is right up there with all the other high quality PSUs I have used in the past. As aforementioned, we will crack open the power supply to see what components are inside in the following section.
The voltage specification label on the top panel of the Seasonic PRIME Titanium 850W. There are two main virtual rails. Up to 20A can be delivered via the +3.3V rail for a total of 66W; while the 20A on the +5V rail brings 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 70A (840W) to reduce operating overhead compared to multiple +12V rails. Overall, the combined power output for the whole PRIME Titanium 850W is... well, 850W haha. 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, 840W on the +12V rail, and 850W combined between the +12V and +3.3/+5V rails. It does sound a bit confusing to understand how this works at first, but generally speaking, this configuration allows fairly flexible power demands and should be sufficient to accommodate most users. I have seen higher power outputs in the +3.3V and 5V rails for lower output rated units, but the overall distribution is still reasonable for an 850W power supply.
The Seasonic PRIME Titanium 850W 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 fourteen modular cables are included out of the box. All modular cables are flat and easy to bend, making them extremely easy to work with. Surprisingly, all wires are 18 AWG, including high current PCI Express and ATX/EPS connectors. Usually, manufacturers will fatten them 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
- 6x PCIe 6+2 pin, 75.0cm
- 2x SATA, 4 connectors each, 45.0cm to first connector, 12.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA, 2 connectors, 35.0cm to first connector, 12.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x Molex, 3 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. These are specified measurements from the manufacturer. Most users should have no problems with Seasonic's PRIME Titanium 850W, 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.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
