Mnogo smo puta slušali prave sage o Seasonicovim napajanjima, pa nas je jako zanimalo da li će se ova napajanja u jednako dobrom svijetlu pokazati i u našem labosu. Testiranja su pokazala da Seasonic svoju odličnu reputaciju itekako zaslužuje. Seasonicov model S12Energy+550 pokazao je zaista fenomenalne performanse, bilo da je riječ o stabilnosti napona pri opterećenju, niskoj razini buke ili općenitoj kvaliteti izrade. Nezavisno o opterećenju koje smo koristili, Seasonicovo napajanje zadržavalo je potpuno jednake vrijednosti napona na 12-voltnoj i 5-voltnoj liniji, što je podvig vrijedan hvale. Osim toga, vrijednosti napona izuzetno su se malo razlikovale od teoretski idealnih vrijednosti (12.08V za +12V liniju, 5.01V za +5V liniju). Napajanje je također u oba režima rada generiralo izuzetno malo buke tako da ga mirne duše možemo preporučiti korisnicima koji se trude što više utišati svoje računalo.

Što se tiče negativnih strana modela S12Energy+550, to je u prvom redu cijena. S cijenom od oko 1070 kn ovo je napajanje oko dva puta skuplje od mnogih kvalitetnijih napajanja sličnih teoretskih specifikacija. Premda će zbog visoke cijene mnogi radije kupiti neko drugo napajanje sličnih mogućnosti, sigurni smo da postoje i oni koji će bez puno razmišljanja odabrati Seasonic S12Energy+550 njegovih fenomenalnih performansi i niske buke pri radu. Druga i posljednja manjkavost ovog napajanja je izostanak 8-pinskog PCI-E konektora. S obzirom da na tržištu postoji samo jedna kartica koja može iskoristiti ovakav konektor, ovo nije veliki minus, no na budućim revizijama ovog napajanja bi svakako voljeli vidjeti ovaj konektor.

Conclusion

Many times we had opportunity to listen tales of quality and performance of Seasonic power supplies, so we were really excited when one of these PSUs finally landed in our little greedy hands. As it turns out, Seasonic really deserves its excellent reputation. Seasonic PSU S12Energy+550 showed phenomenal performance in our testing, whether judging by stability of voltage rails under load, low level of noise or overall quality of build. Seasonic’s PSU managed to hold exactly same voltage regardless of load on both +12V and +5V lines, pretty stunning achievement for a 550-watt PSU. In addition to that, voltages differed extremly little from ideal theoretical values (12.08V for +12V line, 5.01V for +5V line). PSU also managed to fulfill our expectations regarding low operating noise so we can recommend it to all users who are trying to make their computer run as silently as possible.

As for negative sides of S12Energy+550, it is in the first place its high price. In Croatia Seasonic S12Energy+550 has a price tag of about 1070 kn (about 145 € including VAT) which is about two times higher that price of other brand PSUs with similar specifications. Altough this high price will force many users to seek alternative cheaper PSU, we are also certain that some users will buy Seasonic S12Energy+550 without a second thougth because of its excellent performance. Second and last downside of this PSU is lack of 8-pin PCI-E connector. Currently this is not a big issue because only Radeon HD 2900 XT requires such connector for certain functions, but we would certainly like to see this connector added in future revisions of this excellent Seasonic PSU.