Seasonic Platinum Series 860W - Platinum without the Fuss
by Martin Kaffei on February 24, 2012 12:00 AM ESTExternal Impressions, Cables, and Connectors
Other than the change in color, the top of the casing looks exactly like the one from the X-1000 and X-1250. All the sides are very thick and even after opening the chassis we couldn't find any sharp-edged parts. One side shows the name of the series, and the opposite side has the power output label. On the rear of the PSU, next to the power input is a large power switch, occupying more than its fair share of space and taking away a bit of area that would otherwise be used for the ventilation holes.
At the front we find that all the modular plugs are uniform in color. The top right socket can be used either for a PCIe or for a CPU connector. When in doubt, the customer must choose one of the two variants, but the PCIe connector can also be connected in the bottom row. Three more PCIe plugs are available, though only two of them are required for the 860W model (e.g. there are only two PCIe cable harnesses).
Worth note is that at 19cm the body is relatively long, but it's not surprisingly long for a modular PSU in this power class. The product wasn't designed for HTPCs so the length shouldn't be a point of criticism. However, you'll want to ensure your intended case has enough room for the PSU.
| Cables and Connectors | ||
|
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Main | 1x 24-pin (60cm) modular |
| ATX12V/EPS12V |
4+4-pin (65cm) 8-pin (65cm) all modular |
|
| PCIe |
2x 6/8-pin (60cm) 2x 6/8-pin (60cm) all modular |
|
| Peripheral |
3x SATA (55, 70, 85cm) 3x SATA (55, 70, 85cm) 3x SATA (55, 70, 85cm) 2x SATA (35, 50cm) all modular |
|
|
3x Molex (55, 70, 85cm) 3x Molex (55, 70, 85cm) 2x Molex (35, 50cm) all modular |
||
In total there are eleven SATA connectors on four separate harnesses, which is above average. The eight Molex connectors are common for this performance category. Note that the connector panel of the PSU only supports using six total harnesses, so you'll have to either skip out on one SATA harness or one of the Molex harnesses. Apart from the two slightly shorter peripheral cables it would have been nice to get different lengths for the remaining SATA and Molex cables.
As noted above the upper socket can be used for graphics cards or the CPU. At up to 85cm long, the peripheral cables should work in nearly all cases, while the mainboard and PCIe plugs reach 60-65cm. The 24-pin plug is connected to the bottom row (with 12 volt) and the middle row as well.
The cable sleeving is very good and relatively opaque, but ends just before the plug sockets, which doesn't look as good as it could. That's apparently the price one must pay for the full modular connector system; perhaps flat cables would be a better solution here. But this is a matter of taste. As always the electronics is much more important for us.
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theeldest - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Maybe it's just me but I didn't see any pictures of the sleeved cables, eventhough they're specifically called out as being quite nice."pics or it didnt happen"
Stuka87 - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I was just going to say the same thing. Was looking for photos of the cables but didn't find any.just4U - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
I mentioned that earlier.. still waiting for a reply from Martin.Earballs - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Going based on the picture of the 24pin.. it can't be /that/ nice.cyberguyz - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
All of the cables on my Seasonic Platunum 860 came beautifully sleeved.No complaints at all with the quality of this PSU or its bag of goodies.
aznofazns - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
This might seem really superficial, but the main reason I probably won't get this PSU is because the 24-pin ATX connector on the PSU side isn't compatible with the 24-pin cable on the X-650. When I first heard of the Platinum Series I was intent on getting one due to the longer 8-pin EPS cable (the motherboard tray on my V2120X is too long for my current one to be routed behind). This is important to me because I'm in the process of sleeving all my cables with MDPC-X for the purpose of aesthetics.Other than that, this PSU is amazing. Seasonic consistently delivers the very best power supplies in every wattage class, and even their budget offerings outshine the competition. Will the ultra high energy efficiency recover the extra cost over time? Probably not. Almost certainly not. But at least you know you're doing the environment a slight favor and can be quite confident that your components won't be fried by a faulty PSU.
rtothedizzy - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
If you're happy with the x-650 and you don't need there extra power then there is probably no good reason to upgrade at that cost.But.....
If you're going to all the trouble to individually sleeve the cables then "length of cables" isn't all that compelling of an excuse not to upgrade (if that's you're only reason). It's a very small additional investment in time and $$ to buy a crimper, some new atx pins, and a roll of 18 or 20 gauge wire and make new cables any length you need. It even makes sleeving easier since you don't have to get the sleeve over the connector pin (you can crimp it on after you get the sleeve on the wire). It would also let you get away with 1/16 sleeving instead of the usual 1/8.
Just a friendly suggestion :)
bigboxes - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
You do know they sell extraction tools that allow you to remove the connectors so that you can easily sleeve your wiring.rtothedizzy - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Yes. I don't see how you would individually sleeve the cables (as I was talking about) without taking the pins out.ATX pins can be very difficult to get dense 1/16 sleeving over, whereas the wire with no pin is not hard at all to get 1/16 sleeving over.
Or you can just go 1/8 and it doesn't really matter.
My point remains though, if you're going to individually sleeve your cables then making longer cables out of wires and pins is not much added annoyance.
elian123 - Friday, February 24, 2012 - link
Can we expect platinum PSUs at lower wattages too? Now it only seems 750W and higher?