Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
The Seasonic PRIME TX-1300 1300W carries forward many of the design elements of the PRIME Ultra Titanium 850W I reviewed a few years back, which was later renamed the PRIME TX-850 850W, except some things are rearranged like the placement of the side scoop vents and PRIME branding. Just like other models in the company's flagship lineup, the PRIME TX-1300 1300W is an interesting PSU to look at. As you can see in our photo above, the PRIME TX-1300 1300W I am covering today has side scoop vents and a patterned mesh for some visual flare.
At 21cm deep, it can almost be described as comically long. It is exceedingly rare to find a power supply longer than 20cm, and if I recall correctly, the longest PSU we have reviewed here at APH Networks is the Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 1500W at 22cm in February 2013. Meanwhile, the SilverStone Strider Titanium ST1300-TI 1300W of the same wattage and efficiency certification is only 18cm. The PRIME TX-1300 no doubt has a bit of extra length even 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, this length should not be too much of a problem. However, if you have a mATX or mITX case that takes standard power supplies, you should make sure this longer unit can fit in your enclosure and does not cause other incompatibilities.
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 of this side of the enclosure. 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 text 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 SECC construction comes with a fixed grille 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. One screw has a warranty seal over it, so you cannot open the Seasonic PRIME TX-1300 1300W without voiding its 12-year warranty.
Starting from the back part of the power supply, we have the same familiar honeycomb mesh design as most PSUs with a bottom mounted fan. What you will find here is a vertically aligned C20 connector for power input on the western edge along with an on/off switch and a button to toggle Hybrid Mode. The C20 plug is used to ensure a high current certified power cable is used. The included AC power cable is a fat 14 AWG unit, but unless you have a stack of these kicking around, be sure not to lose it. I find having the Hybrid Mode switch here to be convenient, since some older power supplies have it on the inside rather than the outside. However, I do not see a reason why you will disable Hybrid Mode. 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 TX-1300 1300W 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 TX-1300 1300W incorporates only one 135mm fan at the bottom. It is implemented in a reasonably efficient manner, as the power input block takes up a little more than the minimum amount of room physically required. As with all active PFC power supplies, the Seasonic PRIME TX-1300 1300W has an automatic full range 100V to 240V AC line voltage selection, so the user does not have to worry about manually selecting input voltage.
Like many power supplies we cover here at APH Networks, the PRIME TX-1300 1300W 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. Seasonic has made the labels correct side up 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. Starting from the left, we have the Motherboard section that supports an ATX 24-pin connector by two separate blocks next to each other. In the Peripherals section, six outputs support Molex and SATA peripherals. Lastly, group of eleven connectors are present for PCI Express 6+2 pin, ATX/EPS 4+4 pin, or 12VHPWR 8+8-pin cables. These 12VHPWR connectors support up to 450W each, but are not full PCIe 5.0 compliant. since it does not have all four sideband signals defined by the specifications. Incompatible outputs will not physically fit into each other, so 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 TX-1300 1300W 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 is located on the top panel of the PRIME TX-1300 1300W. There are two main virtual rails. Up to 25A can be delivered via the +3.3V rail for a total of 82.5W, while the 25A on the +5V rail brings the output to 125W in this area. The total combined output for the +3.3V and +5V rail is 125W. 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 108.33A -- 1300W -- to maximize power delivery flexibility compared to multiple rails. Overall, the combined power output for the whole Seasonic PRIME TX-1300 1300W is 1300W, as its name suggests. It does sound a bit confusing to understand how this works at first, but generally speaking, this configuration allows sufficiently flexible power demands and should be sufficient to accommodate most users. The power outputs in the +3.3V and 5V rails is appropriate for its wattage class. You typically do not need more than 22A, because modern systems do not have a lot of need in this area.
The Seasonic PRIME TX-1300 1300W is 80 Plus Titanium and Cybenetics ETA Titanium certified. The 80 Plus Titanium certification means that it is at least 90%, 92%, 94%, 90% efficient at 10%, 20%, 50%, and 100% load, respectively. Cybenetics ETA Titanium means at 115V input, it is certified to be between 91% and 93% overall efficiency, power factor above 0.980, greater than 77% 5VSB efficiency, and less than 0.13W vampire power. There is no higher 80 Plus certification for power supplies of this type at press time, but Cybenetics ETA Diamond is available.
A total of twenty modular cables are included out of the box. All modular cables are either sleeved or braid patterned and are easy to bend, making them extremely easy to work with. The wires are not labeled, but from a visual inspection, it looks like the high current PCI Express and ATX/EPS connectors are 16 AWG with the rest 18 AWG. Manufacturers often will fatten high current cables to 16 AWG, so this is common practice.
The following modular cables are included out of the box:
- 1x ATX 20+4 pin, 61.0cm
- 3x ATX/EPS 4+4 pin, 70.0cm
- 2x 12VHPWR PCIe 12+4 pin, 75.0cm
- 8x PCIe 6+2 pin, 75.0cm
- 4x SATA, 4 connectors each, 50.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA 3.3V, 2 connectors, 40.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x Molex, 3 connectors, 45.0cm to first connector, 12.0cm spacing thereafter
The total length figures are provided by the manufacturer and the spacing was measured by me. If you are unfamiliar with SATA 3.3, it is for high-capacity hard drives with Power Disable support. Most users should have no problems with Seasonic's PRIME TX-1300 1300W in modern cases. 50cm is the general standard, but the peripheral cables with a shorter length to the first connector may be advantageous for cable routing and management.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
