Another Seasonic product passed through my lab's door, and its performance was near perfect. Their newest platform, although not digital, is amazing, offering up great voltage regulation, high efficiency, and good ripple suppression on all rails. This PSU also operates without a hitch, regardless of the conditions it has to operate in, easily handling full and overload scenarios at extremely high operating temperatures. Its fully modular cabling design is definitely a great feature many will appreciate during its installation, and its many connectors will allow you to build the system you were always dreaming of if you have the cash to buy all those VGAs. With eight PCIe connectors available, the Platinum 1050 W Seasonic unit can feed up to four high-end VGAs, so you can have it run a two-way SLI or Crossfire system that will easily crush every game and resolution you throw at it. Another very important feature is the exclusive use of Japanese caps. These caps are very reliable and incredibly long-lived, which is especially important with a PSU. Should something somehow go wrong, the SS-1050XP3 is also covered by a pretty long seven year warranty, and as far as I know, Seasonic's support is spotless. These people care a lot about the products they sell and stand behind them and their customers.

However, I will have to cease praising them at this point to mention some of the pitfalls I spotted. For starters, Seasonic should really consider replacing the fans they use with larger, quieter ones. Most users nowadays consider noise output a serious facet of their system, and it is a great shame to see such a good, incredibly efficient platform perform poorly in terms of noise. I strongly believe many more would prefer a Seasonic PSU over other offerings if they were quieter. The second but not as significant negative is its inconveniently placed fan-mode switch. Once the PSU has been installed, enabling/disabling its semi-passive operation becomes a chore, as you have to access your system's internals to do so. Some users have also voiced complaints about coil-whine issues with these platforms. Although my sample didn't have any coil-whine issues, I know for a fact that platforms with LLC resonant converters for higher efficiency are especially prone to coil whine. Unfortunately, it is impossible for a manufacturer to check all of their products for such problems. Coil whine can also be due to the combination of hardware used, for instance, which makes cracking down on the problem very difficult for all OEMs, not just Seasonic. Yet the PSU's warranty also covers coil-whine, which makes exchanging it for another an option. But make sure the PSU is the sole cause of the problem before proceeding with an RMA by installing it into another system if you can. As I said, the combination of hardware used can cause coil-whine, which could have such a problem disappear as soon as you try another VGA, update your mainboard's BIOS, or change a BIOS settings.

To conclude the review, I today had the chance to evaluate another fine Seasonic product that fits right in with their good tradition of solid products. The SS-1050XP3 is really worth its price tag, and it won't let you down should you elect to buy it; however, you should keep in mind that once stressed, it can be noisy, so make sure to look elsewhere if a whisper-quiet PSU for your system is a prerogative. Seasonic's engineers have pushed analog circuits to their limits, and I think their next platform should go digital, backed by a nice software interface. The competition (CWT, for example) has already taken huge steps in the area, and I believe Seasonic should hop on the train before it is too late to adapt. As it goes, digital circuits in PSUs are a one-way road, and Seasonic should make a point of gathering as much experience as possible as soon as possible.