Seasonic Snow Silent 750W Power Supply Review

Reviews
By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

Recently, Seasonic introduced a new 750W Snow Silent unit, featuring Platinum-rated efficiency, fully modular cabling and semi-passive operation.

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Pros, Cons And Final Verdict

The Snow Silent 750 is a high-quality PSU in the medium-capacity category. In addition to its good performance and silent operation, it has a unique look thanks to its white chassis and nicely designed fan frame. It was wise to add a lower-capacity Snow Silent model; many users don't need 1kW or more for their systems. Even 750W can drive a powerful gaming system with two high-end graphics cards installed. Before the introduction of the Snow Silent series, Seasonic didn't have a medium- or high-capacity PSU able to meet the competition in terms of silent operation, mostly due to the 120mm fan that it liked to use. Smaller-diameter fans can produce a more focused airflow than larger ones. However, they have to spin at increased speeds in order to provide enough airflow, and this inevitably leads to higher noise output.

In the Snow Silent units, Seasonic offered a much more relaxed fan profile, along with a longer passive mode that kept the cooler silent in typical load scenarios. So, with normal ambient temperatures, the Snow Silent units can offer low overall noise levels. Nonetheless, if you stress this PSU with high loads in a hot environment, the fan will spin at full speed, outputting high noise levels. If you need a silent 750W unit, even under worst-case scenarios, the Snow Silent 750 probably won't do the trick. With that said, though, you won't easily find a PSU that offers super-quiet operation under full load at ambient temperatures higher than 40 °C (104 °F).

The Snow Silent 750 targets users who don't have a problem investing in a quality, high-performing, reliable PSU, since this one is backed by a seven-year warranty and uses only quality components. Seasonic combined a nicely designed chassis with its top-notch platform, and the result easily meets the top competition in this popular capacity category. Seasonic's engineers pushed the analog circuits to their limits, offering superb load regulation on all rails, along with high efficiency and good ripple suppression.

All of these traits, combined with silent operation, will satisfy most users. The only possible downsides might be the high price and the black modular cables, which, ideally, would be white. We expect Seasonic to further expand the Snow Silent line with more units offering a variety of capacities to users who want silent, high-performing PSUs. In addition, we are eager to test Seasonic's Titanium-rated platform, and to see the company enter the digitally-controlled PSU market.

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Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware, covering Power Supplies.
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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

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20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dragget
    "Unfortunately, the on/off switch for toggling hybrid mode is located on the back side of the PSU, so accessing your system's internals becomes necessary if you want to change fan modes."
    Most likely they did it this way to avoid having two switches on the outside face of the PSU. If they had placed both switches there I can see people reaching around the back of their case to change fan modes and accidentally turning off their PC because they flipped the wrong switch.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    This would look awesome in my H440!
    Reply
  • Adroid
    Yea to be honest I prefer the fan/hybrid toggle on the INSIDE of my case anyway. I put my Seasonic Platinum 650W in hybrid mode a long time ago and forgot about it.

    I don't see any need to flip the switch on and off, in fact I can't think of a single good reason why I would ever want to touch the thing again. So for me, it would be a con to have the switch on the outside of the case.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    this switch is much smaller than the on/off one so it is really hard to mix them up. Also the on/off switch is harder to activate. In any case as a reviewer I see this as a con, not a serious though. Some users out there will share my opinion while others won't.
    Reply
  • dragget
    this switch is much smaller than the on/off one so it is really hard to mix them up.
    If you were looking at the back of the PSU, then yes, but I'm assuming the more common situation where the user is reaching around the back of the case where they can't see. In this scenario, one would have to feel around the back with their hand so it's much easier to get it wrong. I almost never use the switch on the back of my PSU, so every two or three months when I DO use it, I have to fumble around in the back to find the switch. For your average user, having two switches back there would just be asking for trouble.
    Reply
  • MasterDell
    A lot of companies are putting the hybrid switch on the inside of the PSU. Just like the new units EVGA is putting out. It makes no sense to put the switch on the outside due to confusion with the on/off switch
    Reply
  • LookItsRain
    180 dollars for this? No.
    Reply
  • JQB45
    I'd pay $150-$180 USD for this PSU and not just because its pretty.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    180 dollars for this? No.

    For a rock-solid PSU with a 7-year warranty? This thing would power my next three or four computers. $180 for not having to buy another PSU for a decade is a damn good deal.

    Regarding the fan switch, my PSU has a similar feature, and honestly, I imagine most people would set it at installation and never change it. I sure haven't.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    Indeed a PSU is an investment, something that unfortunately most people cannot see or understand while on the same time they have no problem spending serious money on GPUs and CPUs.

    You can keep a good PSU for many system builds while a not reliable, cheap PSU besides breaking down fast can also destroy many of your system components.
    Reply