Seasonic G-Series 450W PSU Review

Seasonic's G series consists of reliable, high-performance PSUs. Today, we're reviewing the G-450 with 450W capacity, which features a semi-modular cabling design.

By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Packaging, Contents, Exterior And Cabling

Packaging

Image 1 of 10

The PSU's packaging is small, yet classy-looking. On the front of the box is the capacity description, the 80 PLUS Gold badge and the Haswell compatibility icon. On one side, two tables depict the technical and power specifications of the unit, while on the back, a long list of icons depicts the G-450's most significant features, including its five-year warranty, high-quality electrolytic caps, modular cabling and the double ball-bearing fan.

Contents

Image 1 of 3

Seasonic makes sure to protect its products inside the packaging, in most cases using thick pieces of foam.

Image 1 of 4

The bundle includes a set of Velcro straps, several zip ties, a set of fixing bolts, a case badge, an AC power cord, a cloth bag and the necessary modular cables, as well as a user's manual.

Exterior

Image 1 of 4

This is a compact PSU in both capacity and dimensions, featuring a good overall finish. On the front is an on/off switch, installed right next to the AC receptacle. On the PSU's sides we find two decals, one showing the power specifications table and the other depicting the series name.

Image 1 of 7

On the unit's back, the modular panel has six sockets, two of them for the EPS and PCIe cables. The modular PCB's remaining four sockets are for the peripheral cables, including SATA. The large cable exit hole is covered by a plastic grommet, which protects the two native cables. Seasonic doesn't use a fully modular design in its G series to keep production costs low. Of course, it would be nice if the company changed its strategy and went all-modular on its G-series models since many competing PSUs are, in fact, fully modular.

Cabling

Image 1 of 8

The pair of native cables is fully sleeved, though not stealth. On the contrary, all modular cables are stealth and flat, making them easier to hide in a chassis with a dark interior.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • InvalidError
    0.4 ohm Rdson is not that bad for primary-side FETs where switching losses tend to be much worse than on-losses.

    Also, FETs with better on-resistance usually have larger gate charge, which means you end up needing more gate drive power to achieve the same switching performance. Saving 3W on full-load on-losses does not sound as good if it costs you 2W in gate drive regardless of load.

    Using FETs with lower on-resistance does not necessarily improve overall efficiency by much.
    Reply
  • TechyInAZ
    Good read. I personally have the 550W version of that PSU and it works very well. Very quiet too, however my entire system doesn't go beyond 350W at max load.

    BTW...The 550W version is usually only $3-$5 more than the 450W. I've never seen the price change either, so it is a bit silly to buy the 450W version if the 550W is always only $5 more.
    Reply
  • Dunlop0078
    I also have the 550watt version, its been going strong for about two years now its very quiet even under load I think I pull about 450watts or so when I have all my overclocks applied. It has been totally stable not a single problem with my PC or the psu since I bought it.

    However I think the price should be lowered a bit for the 550watt version because now it has to compete with the likes of the EVGA 550 G2 which is about the same price but it seems to perform a bit better and comes with a 10 year warranty.
    Reply
  • TechyInAZ
    16760449 said:
    I also have the 550watt version, its been going strong for about two years now its very quiet even under load I think I pull about 450watts or so when I have all my overclocks applied. It has been totally stable not a single problem with my PC or the psu since I bought it.

    However I think the price should be lowered a bit for the 550watt version because now it has to compete with the likes of the EVGA 550 G2 which is about the same price but it seems to perform a bit better and comes with a 10 year warranty.

    10 year warranty!!?? I've been using EVGA graphics cards for years now, I think ill start buying EVGA PSUs now. :D
    Reply
  • Dunlop0078
    16760449 said:
    I also have the 550watt version, its been going strong for about two years now its very quiet even under load I think I pull about 450watts or so when I have all my overclocks applied. It has been totally stable not a single problem with my PC or the psu since I bought it.

    However I think the price should be lowered a bit for the 550watt version because now it has to compete with the likes of the EVGA 550 G2 which is about the same price but it seems to perform a bit better and comes with a 10 year warranty.

    10 year warranty!!?? I've been using EVGA graphics cards for years now, I think ill start buying EVGA PSUs now. :D

    Actually im wrong on that its a 7 year warranty for the 550watt model (still very good in my opinion) the 750watt g2 and above have the 10 year.
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    I know Seasonic is good and an OEM to PSUs for Corsair and whatnot, but I was an unlucky one. My 620W S12II crapped out on an older backup rig after about a year of light use, maybe 250 hours. Unfortunately I voided the 5-year warranty when I had to break the screw seal and open it to get a screw out that accidentally fell in (PC was unplugged when that happened). I figured I'd never need to worry about dealing with a warranty RMA anyway since in nearly 20 years of PC building I've never had one die early on me. WRONG.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    16760681 said:
    I figured I'd never need to worry about dealing with a warranty RMA anyway since in nearly 20 years of PC building I've never had one die early on me. WRONG.
    Murphy strikes again!
    Reply
  • Blueberries
    This PSU isn't bad but I don't see why anyone would want to pay in the $70's for it when there are gold-- almost platinum rated Leadex PSUs for $80-$90.

    The build quality is what I've come to expect from SeaSonic. Very well built with mostly Nippon Chemi-Con capacitors. Rubycon is also a good brand, and I like to see Infineon MOSFETs in PSUs. This PSU should last forever but isn't very efficient compared to similarly-priced competition.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    16760497 said:
    16760449 said:
    I also have the 550watt version, its been going strong for about two years now its very quiet even under load I think I pull about 450watts or so when I have all my overclocks applied. It has been totally stable not a single problem with my PC or the psu since I bought it.

    However I think the price should be lowered a bit for the 550watt version because now it has to compete with the likes of the EVGA 550 G2 which is about the same price but it seems to perform a bit better and comes with a 10 year warranty.

    10 year warranty!!?? I've been using EVGA graphics cards for years now, I think ill start buying EVGA PSUs now. :D

    Yeah, aside from the fantastic quality, that was another reason I purchased the G2 over any other PSU.
    Reply
  • tsnor
    "... Seasonic doesn't use a fully modular design in its G series to keep production costs low. Of course, it would be nice if the company changed its strategy and went all-modular on its G-series models since many competing PSUs are, in fact, fully modular...."

    Or maybe they
    (1) know that people will always use the permanent cables that power the MB
    (2) know that two less connectors is a good thing for product reliability
    (3) want to ship a product for people like me that prefer this configuration to a fully modular configuration
    Reply