Seasonic Snow Silent 750W Platinum

Introduction

Sea Sonic Electronics Co., Ltd was founded in 1975 with its headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, it is a company specialized in the manufacturing of power supplies for the consumer & industrial markets. In 1981 the company starts the production of power supplies for PC type of systems, being one of the first manufacturers to do so.
SeaSonic manufactures and sells power supplies under its own brand and is also the OEM manufacturer for many other power supplies companies. This makes SeaSonic one of the well-known and respected brands in the industry.

Official product link:

https://seasonic.com/product/snow-silent-750/

Packaging and accessories

The power supply comes packaged in a completely white cardboard box, at the top there are the manufacturer’s name next to the total output of the power supply.
The front side is simple, a single chromed line goes across the packaging to highlight the SnowSilent name, here there is also a general image of the power supply next to the Platinum certification emblem.

The sides of the box present a few features of the power supply in eight different languages and the specifications of the product.

The back side of the box presents the features of the product, on the upper part we find printed the Seasonic logo while on the right side there is a general image of the power supply. On the lower left corner, there is a QR code and the “Made in Taiwan” certification.

The power supply is packaged in a textile bag while the cables are packaged in sealed plastic bags, these are inside a separate cardboard box.

Accessories

The product comes with the following accessories:
– 1x Manual
– Quick installation guide
– Velour bag
– 6x Velcro cable straps
– 1x Seasonic Badge
– 4x Metallic screws
– 5x Zip ties

Specifications

Model: Snow Silent 750W
Max. DC Output: 750W
Efficiency: 80PLUS® Platinum
Modular: Full Modular
Form Factor: Intel ATX 12 V
Operating temperature: 0°C – 50°C
Fan Size: 120 mm
Fan bearing: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Fan Control: Semi-Passive
Protections:
– Over Power Protection
– Over Voltage Protection
– Under Voltage Protection
– Over Current Protection
– Over Temperature Protection
– Short Circuit Protection
Connectors and cables:
– 1x 24 pin ATX connector (610mm)
– 1x 4+4 pin EPS12V (650mm)
– 1x 8 pin EPS12V (650mm)
– 4x 6+2 pin PCIe (550 + 100mm)
– 10x SATA (400 + 120 + 120 + 120 mm)
– 5x 4 pin Molex (400 + 120 + 120 mm)
– 1x FDD (+101mm)
Dimensions: 150 mm (W) x 86 mm (H) x 170 mm (D)
Weight: 1.9 kg
MTBF @ 25 °C, excl. fan: 150,000 hours
Life Expectancy: 150,000 hours at 25 °C
Compliance: Energy Star, RoHS, WEEE, ErP Lot 6, REACH\
Warranty: 7 years

Features:

– 80 PLUS®Platinum: The 80 PLUS® Platinum certification guarantees greater than 90 %, 92 % and 89 % efficiency at 20 %, 50 % and 100 % operating loads, respectively. The Seasonic Platinum Series represents the highest level of technology and efficiency achievement of Sea Sonic during its 40 years of commitment to engineering excellence.
– Fluid Dyanamic Fan Bearing: High performance Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) fans are designed to take advantage of the impact absorbance effects of oil. They are extremely reliable and generate considerably less operating noise and heat than ball bearing fans.
– Ultra-Stable Voltage Regulation: Seasonic has implemented and even stricter voltage regulation which entirely eliminates negative deviations and keeps voltage 80% tighter than Intel specifications and 66 % tighter than top reviewers recommend. The result of clean output power is quicker CPU response and a better overclocking performance.
– Dual Copper Bars: Due to their increased diameter, pure copper bars carry high current much more effectively than the traditional copper strips. It is very important that power conduction in the high wattage area remains extremely efficient, because it also reduces impedance and minimizes voltage drop as the load increases.

Visual inspection

The Snow Silent 750W model is distinguished by its unique color scheme use in the case of the outer casing and the PCB inside. In addition, the SnowSilent series feature an 80PLUS® Platinum certification. The metallic plate that covers the fan is chromed and has a honeycomb pattern. The power supply has the following dimensions: 150 mm (W) x 86 mm (H) x 170 mm (D).

The sides of the power supply are decorated with a chromed line alongside the S letter stanced on the metallic case of the PSU. The SnowSilent name is also positioned at the end of said chromed line.

On the back side the PSU is perforated for a better airflow. On the right side, there are placed both the on-off switch and the AC slot.

On the front side of the power supply there are the 12 modular connectors alongside the Hybrid mode button for the fan. In addition, each connector is labeled on the case of the PSU.

On the top of the Power Supply we have the label with the specifications and certification of the PSU.

The cables of the Power Supply are completely black and flat to ensure an easier installation and wire management.

The fan used is provided by Hong Hua, model HA1225M12F-Z specifications: 12 V, 0.45 A, 2050 RPM, 135 mm. In addition, the fan is connected to the PCB using a 2-pin Molex connector.
This model is Fluid Dynamic Bearing type, a system that is ideal for low noise operations and endurance.

The SnowSilent series uses the Seasonic XP2S platform which features an analog controller, the Hybrid mode allows the power supply to function with the fan turned off until a temperature stage is reached.
The active cooling is done by the Hong Hua 135mm fan while the passive cooling of the components is ensured by 4 metallic heatsinks.

Behind the AC receptacle there are two Y capacitors and one X capacitor. Also, the AC slot is protected by a metal case. The filtering is continued by two Y capacitors and two X capacitors alongside a single filtering choke.

The power slot of the power supply is connected to the main PCB using two Spade terminals connected to their respective slots.

In the APFC section we find installed two capacitors manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con with the following spec: 270μF/420V with a maximum operating temperature of 105°C. Next to they there is placed the APFC converter which uses two Infineon made IPP60R199CP transistors with the following specifications: 650V, 10A @ 100°C and a single SiC SCS106AG diode with the specifications as follows: 600V, 6A @ 25°C.

On the PCB that handles the modular connectors we have the two DC-DC converters of the power supply, both use MOSFETs made by Infineon and model: BSC0901NS. In addition, the PWM controller is the known APW7159, manufactured by Anpec.

Next to the two main capacitors, mounted on a vertical PCB there is the PFC (Power Factor Correction/Controller) NPC1654 IC manufactured by ON Semiconductor.

A secondary PCB is mounted vertically on the side of the power supply, here there are placed the Weltrend WT7257V, supervisor IC, which deals with the protections of the PSU, especially the OCP (OverCurrentProtection) and a Dual-Voltage comparator, model AS393.

The standby PWM controller of this unit is an Infineon ICE2QR4765 IC.

The capacitors used in the Snow Silent 750W are manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con.

Testing

The following system was used to test the Power Supply:
– Processor: Intel i5 4690K @ 4.5 GHz
– Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 9 ACK
– RAM: 16GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical
– GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Founder’s Edition
– SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
– HDD: WD 1TB Blue / Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB
– CPU Cooler: SilverStone Tundra TD02(Custom) with NoiseBlocker eLoop B12-PS
– Display: AOC i2769VM
– Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe White
– OS: Windows 10 64-bit

The above system has a power consumption of approximately 495W when in full load and 67W when idle, in order to test the efficiency of the Power Supply, the power draw of the system was measured at the wall socket. Also, the voltages were measured on the +12v +5v and +3.3v using a multi-meter.
To load the system to its maximum the stability test of the AIDA64 Extreme (5.90.4200) was used with Intel Burn Test V2.
The Power Supply was tested with the system both idle and at maximum load.

Power Supply efficiency

For rail voltage tolerance levels, ATX (Power Supply Design Guide) specify that a 5% variable fluctuation is acceptable.

Voltage oscillation idle

Voltage oscillation load

The noise level was measured at three different distances from the fans (10cm, 20cm, 30cm.) the noise was measured with a margin of error of ± 5 db.

Final thoughts

The Seasonic Snow Silent 750W uses the XP2S analog platform with an efficiency of 92% and an 80PLUS® Platinum certification. The power supply is silent during the whole load range due to the 135mm fan with its Fluid Dynamic Bearing rotor and the semi-passive profile implemented with the Hybrid mode. In addition, the passive cooling of the internal components is ensured by four aluminum heatsinks.

The overall design of the Snow Silent series is distinguished by its color scheme on the outer case and fan. The cables are flat and completely black, the only cable being covered in sleeving is the 24Pin ATX cable for powering the motherboard.

The performance of the power supply is excellent thanks to the internal components used by Seasonic, the efficiency is very good when the unit is in load, reaching a value of 92% while the voltage oscillation is minimal.

In conclusion, the Snow Silent 750W model is the living proof that analog platforms are still relevant, especially in this price range where most power supplies are using fully digital platforms. The build quality is very good, at the same level almost as the newly launched Prime line of power supplies, this is obvious starting with the packaging, accessories and the internal components.