The Seasonic PRIME Titanium PSU (650W, 750W, 850W) Review: Mythical Performance

Conclusion

In this review we had a look at Seasonic’s latest top series, the PRIME Titanium 650W, 750W and 850W PSUs. They are not the most powerful models on the market designed for quad-GPU beats, but they are the technologically best units that Seasonic is currently offering to consumers.

It is slightly ironic to label these units as Seasonic’s “technological pinnacle”, because they are not using any of the latest “leading” topologies or technologies. As a matter of fact, their core topology is relatively common and simple; just a typical input bridge converter and APFC circuit, a resonant LLC full bridge on the primary with synchronous rectification on the secondary. It is a configuration that we have seen many times in the past, yet no other designer before Seasonic has ever reached such performance figures with it.

Seasonic made it easy for us to summarize the entirety of these units’ performance in just one word: mythical. The very high efficiency that easily broke the 80Plus Titanium certification requirements with 230V AC input was a small surprise at first, but surprise turned to shock when we began testing the units inside our hotbox. Not only the high ambient temperatures hardly shook the efficiency of the units, the power quality and voltage regulation figures were just incredible.

The AnandTech Recommended Award
For the Seasonic PRIME Titanium Series

Before testing these three units, we would not believe that such performance would be possible with a consumer-grade PC PSU.

In terms of quality, Seasonic did not hold back at all. We found only top-tier quality components in the PRIME Titanium PSUs, even down to the least significant elements of the design. The fact that the three units that we have tested display almost indistinguishable performance under the same load conditions suggests that there are no discrepancies due to component characteristics. Seasonic covers the PRIME Titanium units with a 12-year warranty, which is more than reassuring. The only small issue here is that the designer had to sacrifice some acoustics performance to ensure that the internal temperatures of the units will remain very low, even under very adverse operating conditions.

So perhaps the only real enemy of the new Seasonic PRIME Titanium series is their own retail price tag. Seasonic aims to be the best vendor with their OEM designs, and it all comes at a cost. With the 650W, 750W and 850W units retailing for $160, $175 and $200 respectively, many regular users will be satisfied with the performance of an “average” 80Plus Gold certified unit that will cost half as much, or even less. With all that being said, the retail price of these three units is not forbiddingly high - super high end PSUs reaching 1200W and above can come in at similar W/$.

But for these price tags, you get one of the most stunning PSU designs available today, combined with high efficiencies and a long warranty to back it up. 

Suggested Reading

• The Andyson N500 Titanium PSU Review: High Efficiency For The Common PC
• The Raidmax RX-700AT 700W 80Plus Titanium Power Supply Review
• The SilverStone ST60F-TI Strider Titanium 600W PSU Review
• Best PC Power Supplies: Holiday 2016