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Thirteen PSU Roundup
Join the community - in the OCAU Forums!
Date 30th March 2005
Author James "Agg" Rolfe


Super Flower 400W, SeaSonic Super Tornado 400W

These last two units we actually received several months ago and never got around to reviewing. They're included here for reference - the SeaSonic, for example, has been superceded by their S12 range already.

Super Flower SF-400TS:
The main drawcard of this Super Flower unit is the immense fan in the bottom of it. That's no 120mm fan, it's a full 140mm, bigger than any I've seen in a PSU before. As you no doubt know, the bigger the fan, the slower - and hence quieter - you can run it for a given level of airflow. However, this large fan makes the PSU a bit longer than most. This may be an issue if you have long 5.25" devices positioned with their backs towards the PSU. In smaller cases it can already be a bit of a squeeze to fit cables from PSU, and from CD-Burners and the like, past each other.

Click to Enlarge   Click to Enlarge   Click to Enlarge

Actually, the large fan isn't the only thing that catches the eye about this PSU. It's coated in some kind of super-shiny dark grey coating. And, of course, the fan glows blue:

Click to Enlarge

There's a red momentary-contact pushbutton on the back of this unit, which lets you switch between three modes. Each mode indicated by a different-coloured LED next to the switch, with Auto, Turbo and Silent. Auto adjusts the fan according to non-user-configurable temperature threshholds inside the PSU. Silent runs it at a slow RPM, where it is very quiet indeed, unless the temperature reaches a preset threshhold when it switches into Auto mode automatically. Turbo mode, as you might have guessed, runs the fan at high RPM, making a fair bit of noise and adding a lot of airflow to your system. As the fan speed increases, so does the amount of light produced by the fan. Finally, the fan continues to run for several minutes after you power your system off (not if you use the back-of-PSU switch, obviously) and in this state the LEDs alternate on and off. This gets the hot air out of the case after shutdown - I'm not too sure how useful this is, but you can decide if it's a feature you're interested in.

Click to Enlarge   Click to Enlarge

The package is pretty basic - there's just a manual and a power-cord included. It should be noted that the first unit Super Flower sent me wouldn't power up. Also, it was set to 110v instead of 240v, using the red Input Voltage switch on the back. I remember many years ago a customer of mine switched his PSU to 110v because he thought it would save power. The resulting loud bang cost him a PSU, a motherboard and several other components. It's worth checking that the PSU is set correctly before plugging it in, if it has an Input Voltage switch. Regardless of all this, the first unit would only flicker the LEDs before shutting down again, so I returned it to Super Flower and they sent out another which worked fine. Repeated emails over several months querying the RRP and available warranty on these PSU's have gone unanswered - draw what you will from that.

It's rated for a total of 400W, a peak of 460W and a combined +3.3 and +5 of 203W. According to the documentation it supports Intel's P4 and AMD's K8, but it's not ATX 2.0 compatible. There are two SATA power connectors as well as 9 molexes, 2 floppies and the normal 20- and 4-pin ATX power.

SeaSonic Super Tornado 400W:
This is the highest-rated of SeaSonic's Super Tornado range, which they say is the "advanced choice for gamers and over-clockers". Visually, this unit is a throwback to the days of boring grey steel boxes tucked away inside cases, with no fancy fan grills and, refreshingly, no glowing blue bits. It does have a single 120mm fan on the bottom, however, and a hex-pattern grill on the rear - which is very sparse, having only the mains input and a power switch. No 110/230 selector is needed as the Seasonic switches automatically.

Click to Enlarge   Click to Enlarge

There are no user-selectable features on the Seasonic, unlike the fan modes present on the Super Flower unit. It claims a combined +3.3 and +5 rating of 46A (200W) and a total of 400W. In use it is very quiet, not living up to the "Super Tornado" name at all. It provides 8 molex, 2 floppy and the usual 20- and 4-pin ATX and the older AT style power connector.

Click to Enlarge

It's not ATX 2.0 compatible and doesn't have any SATA power connectors, but it does include a molex-to-SATA power converter in the box. Also in the box is a manual explaining the various features and some installation tips. There's also a card for the 3-year warranty, some mounting screws and an Australian power cord. Finally, they include "Dr Cable", which is a kit containing plastic cable wrap, quite a few little cable ties and an adhesive clip. This is all intended to help you keep the PSU cables tidy inside your case and is quite a nice inclusion.



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