Seasonic S12-II 620 Bronze extremely loud

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 17:05

Hi peeps, I had to replace my Aerocool Integrator that's served me a few years as I got black screens while gaming.

I got a Seasonic S12-II 620W from Amazon as I have read good reviews and it has great components inside like 105 caps etc. The PSU works great, except for one major flaw... The fan ramps up and creates jet like sound levels when under load. I have no idea what my computer draws, but I can imagine around 400W mark.

I'm quite disappointed as Seasonic is supposed to be a good brand and this unit was supposed to be silent as far as I could find (until I googled it and saw many have same issue). I contacted Amazon for a refund as I don't dare replace it in case the new unit has the same problem.

So now to my question, I need a new in the same price bracket, max £70 and I am leaning towards the Corsair CS650M, but I have read about some bad experiences with these and the CX / CXM series. Am I gonna be safe with this one in capacity and sound levels? I can't have a loud PSU as the rest of my computer is fairly silent.

Specs if not in sig:
i5 2550K @4.4GHz, cooled with CM Hyper 612S
16Gb ram
MSI R9 390 slightly OC'd
2 standard HDD's
FD R5 with an additional Be Quiet 140mm fan exhaust.

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 19:46

Thanks for the info, I removed the link.

Do you really reckon 550 would be enough, the 390 is a fairly power hungry card and in tests I've seen it draws well over 250W on it's own. The reviews for the CS650M is pretty solid, but I'm just not 100% sure. Couldn't find a JohhnyGuru review of it but other tests seem to think it's a pretty good PSU. Also RRP is 104.99, but that must be slightly false?

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 20:59

Thanks for the input and for confirming my theory and fear regarding the power draw of the 390 - that's probably the main reason my old PSU didn't last longer. Unfortunately I am not able to go above £70 at this time, do you have any tips on a 650w at this price, or any major reasons I shouldn't choose the CS?

Oh, also you said that's the biggest problem with S12, if I would have chosen a replacement it's likely the new unit would have the same issue? How come they have such an aggressive fan curve when all the components are better than the competition in that price range?

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 21:24

The B3 is on Amazon for £70, not on Prime however so I'd have to wait until next week. Should I definately stay away from the CS and get this EVGA instead? How much of a difference do you think it will make? Seeing how they are the same price as well, the EVGA seems underpriced if it's as good as Johhny says.

netbuddy · 28 Jul 2017 at 21:58

Fair enough, that's one of the main reasons I chose the Seasonic in the first place but that was a huge letdown. Now I sit here and hardly want to use the bloody computer as it's extremely loud whatever game I play... Unfortunately because of this, I am not able to wait another 4-5 days for the B3 to become available. If I wasn't pressed for time I would deffo go for that one, but I'm afraid in this instance I will have to go for the CS for now, maybe a stupid decision, but from what I have read it should serve me well enough. BTW, what caps in the CS unit are bad, the reviews I've seen mentions that the main line caps are ok? (The dual main capacitors (Nippon Chemi-Con) on the primary are rated at 270uF, 400V, and 85°C. The secondary features a combination of electrolytic and solid polymer caps for filtering.)

Maybe I can return the CS unit worst case scenario and get a B3 next week, we shall see.

Thanks for your wisdom, I really appreciate it