Seasonic S12-II 500W PSU

Value and Conclusions

While internally we found the build quality and certain claims by Seasonic either stretched the truth or not as good as we'd expected, we can't deny that the product as a whole not only does what it says, but it performs exceptionally well in the process.

We completely approve of the cable choices, braid quality, and the general look and feel of the unit. Between this and the Corsair VX range though there's very little difference – both use ADDA ball bearing fans, and while Corsair's internal heatsinks on the VX550W were slightly bigger and we feel the Corsair's build quality is slightly better, the Seasonic's performance was marginally stronger.

With regards to value, the Seasonic can be purchased for a not unreasonable £48.40 (at the time of writing), which is only a few quid cheaper than Corsair's VX550W. The VX450W on the other hand is only £41.31 which is several pounds cheaper, but 50W less.

Ignoring the other so-called "500W" tosh on the market, there's also the OCZ StealthXStream 500W which can be had for just £41 (plus a ludicrous £11 delivery charge on top of that), or the occasionally recommended Antec EarthWatts 500W PSU which is also around the £50 mark.

Enermax's Pro82+ 525W is only a small amount more expensive at £58.69 and while we've already reviewed the 625W before, the performance of the Pro82+ and the S12-II are very similar.

With regards to warranty, Seasonic offers just three years of coverage, although more and more people are now moving to five. However, we know that you will only ever have to return it to a UK address, which is a bonus when sending a brick of metal. In comparison, if you buy a Corsair unit you may get five years but you have to return it to the Netherlands instead.

Final Thoughts

The thing is, there's a minimum cost in making a quality power supply. You can buy cheap supposedly branded devices but why risk it? Seasonic produces a quality device that works exceptionally well, looks great and has all the right cable requirements for a PSU of this cost and power rating. Is it worth buying over the Corsair VX? Probably, the battlefield is littered with pros an cons, but essentially if you buy either you'd be making the right decision.

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Performance
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• 9/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• 9/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

What do these scores mean?