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It isn't long time ago when Metku introduced its lastest power source review. At that time NoiseBlocker Fortron 400W had a chance to represent itself, and quite well it did it.
This time Metku had a chance to test Seasonic Super Tornado 350W, which is said to be very powerfull and extremely silent. Let's see if thats true.
The package
Seasonic Super Tornado 350W is delivered in a very stylish carton, which holds quite complete product specifications and features on it's sides. The power source is packed to bubble plastic preventing it from damaging during the transportation.
Contents of the package
The bundle shipped with the product is quite great. It consists of some ordinary items bundled with every power source and a few helpfull extras. The package contains these items: power cord, SATA power adapter, product warranty card, user's manual, cable management kit (Dr. Cable) and mounting screws.
The user's manual is printed in english. It explains almost everything about installing and using the product and it's bundle i.e Dr. Cable kit. The manual also includes a short brief to the product specifications, wire configuration, mechanical drawing and terms used when speaking about power sources. The text is easy to understand and it is supported by clarifying pictures and captions.
The product warranty card is needed when returning a broken product back to Seasonic for warranty. The card includes information about i.e warranty terms, self trouble shooting and claiming warranty service.
Specifications
Sticker
| Maximum power: | 350W (390W peak) |
| +3.3V: | 28A |
| +5.0V: | 30A |
| Combined power: | 200W (46A) Max. |
| Input voltage: | 100-240V ~6A 50/60Hz |
| PFC: | Active PFC 99% with effiency |
| Noise: | 22dB/a up to 35% load or 25C temperature |
| Other features: | Universal Free input, S²FC or Smart & Silent Fan Control, 80% effiency, Forward converter |
Sounds pretty complicated, huh? Well let's find out what these terms stands for.
Power Factor represents the ratio of usable working power and the apparent power. Fox example power source equipped with Active PFC of 99% is able to use power up to 99% with only 1% loss. Most of passive PFC power supplies can only use about 70%, which surely increases electric utility bills.
Power supply efficiency represents the ratio of power converted from AC to DC. The remaining of the power is converted to heat during the AC/DC conversion process. For example power source with 80% effiency means less heat (20%) and more power (80%).
A power supply equipped with Universal Free Input is able to handle every voltage from 100-240V. The difference between Universal Free Input and Auto Switch is the way they work. As mentioned before, Universal Free Input uses any voltage from 100V to 240V but Auto Switch can handle only voltages between 100-120V and 200-240V.
S²FC or Smart & Silent Fan Control is Seasonic's new fan control concept which reduices noise and extends the fan life by eliminating unnecessary rotation.
Seasonic Super Tornado 350W
Seasonic Super Tornado 350W
Fan
The power source itself is gray like the most of the power sources on the market. There is nothing out of ordinary to mention except the honey comb ventilation structure on the back panel and the silent 120 mm fan which isn't actually very rare these days. There are also few vents and specifications concerning the power supply on one of its sides.
Seasonic Super Tornado 350W is 150mm long, 140mm wide and 86mm high and it weights quite a lot. This is usually a sign of quality and especially big fan sinks. This isn't the absolute warranty for quality though. If you want to compare two power supplies by their weight you should at least consider these factors: DC output wattage, circuit design, raw materials and other product characteristics and functions. For example you can't compare 350W and 550W power supplies only by weight because they're made of different components etc. The same fact applies to difference between active PFC and passive PFC power supplies. Power supply equipped with active PFC may be considerably lighter than one equipped with passive PFC but the fact is that active PFC beats passive PFC easily.
Power switch
AC input and the hard power switch are located on the back panel as usual. There isn't any switch for selecting mains voltage. The system has been automated and it can handle any voltage from 100V to 240V. This solution prevents the power source from damaging because of wrong AC input selection.
As mentioned before, the proper air flow of the power source have been taken care by very silent 120mm fan and the honey comb ultra ventilation structure. The fan has seven blades and it's made by Yate Loon Electronics. The specifications for the fan are 56 CFM at 1650 rpm and 39 dB but apparently Seasonic has reached 22 dB by lowering its input voltage.
Connectors & Dr. Cable kit
Molex
There are seven molex and only two fdd connectors which are surely sufficient for most systems. The connectors inside the plastic cover seem to be a little loose. In order to connect something to the molex you have to shake it a bit. This is just a minor problem though.
Molex
There are also 20-pin ATX, 4-pin p4, AUX and fan sensor connectors, like it should be. The ATX connector is a little different compared to the other power sources because of its missing -5V line. It is an old relic from time before PCI so naturally it's unnecessary nowadays.
Dr. Cable
The last but not the least, Dr. Cable kit. It's designed to clear up the messy wires inside the computer and this way improve the cooling and airflow. Dr. Cable kit consists of two split tubes, one cable mount and several cable ties. The two split tubes are for gathering the wires into one, the cable mount is for positioning the gathered wires in the system and the cable ties are for adjusting cable lenght.
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Content in english!
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