Specifications

The unit comes with the by now "usual" high-end specifications for a Platinum Seasonic unit - Platinum efficiency, an operating temperature of up to 50°C at which it can continuously deliver its full load, and a full set of protection features. The only component that doesn't fit in all to well with the rest is the cooling fan, since it is small and doesn't have a Fluid Dynamic Bearing, a norm for such a high-end PSU. We don't understand Seasonic's obsession with 120 mm fans, but think it is nigh time they move on to larger and quieter solutions. Seasonic obviously wouldn't offer a semi-passive operation if noise output were of no concern, so the question of why they wouldn't equip the unit with a more suitable fan definitely remains.

This PSU is larger than normal since Seasonic used the 1.2 kW's PCB and enclosure, and at seven years, the warranty is pretty long. Currently, only EVGA offers an even longer warranty period. Given this is a unit with high-end specifications, its price is decent. Titanium units may already be available, but to the average user, Platinum and many high-end Gold-certified units are still pretty expensive.



The +12V rail can almost deliver the unit's full power alone, which is the norm for high-end PSUs that use DC-DC converters to generate the minor rails. Speaking of the latter, their maximum combined power output is enough for a contemporary system, and the 5VSB rail is also powerful enough.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

Compared to its 1.2 kW sibling, the SS-1050XP3 only has eight instead of ten PCIe connectors; however, eight will suffice. There are a ton of SATA and more than enough peripheral connectors. All cables are also long enough to provide for a trouble-free installation into even full-tower cases, while the distance between connectors is also good. As you can glean from the table above, the distance between peripheral connectors is longer than the distance between SATA connectors since drives the latter supplies with power are usually installed closer to one another. All connectors use 18AWG connectors.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on when it comes time to talk about its power distribution.