Seasonic Snow Silent 750W Power Supply Review

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

Early Verdict

The Snow Silent-750 is a top-notch Seasonic unit offering a unique look, high performance and silent operation, thanks to the quality FDB fan, the relaxed fan profile and the semi-passive mode.

Pros

  • +

    Full power at 45°C

  • +

    Load regulation

  • +

    Efficiency

  • +

    Low ripple

  • +

    Silent

  • +

    Fully modular

  • +

    Unique look

  • +

    Quality caps

  • +

    Hold-up time

  • +

    FDB fan

  • +

    Semi-passive

  • +

    Warranty

Cons

  • -

    Position of the fan mode switch

  • -

    Black modular cables instead of white ones

  • -

    Can be noisy under stress

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Introduction

Until now, Seasonic offered only one PSU in its Snow Silent series, which was geared mostly toward enthusiasts. With 1050W capacity, the Snow Silent 1050 offers a power level that is overkill for many systems, so the company acted wisely by releasing a 750W Snow Silent unit. Besides being a lot quieter than the rest of the Seasonic PSUs in this category, both Snow Silent models feature a unique look attributable to white paint and a nicely brushed frame around the fan grill. Silver lines on the sides of the chassis add a classy touch as well. Despite so many companies in the PSU market, white power supplies are still relatively rare. And although the color makes it more difficult to take pictures of these PSUs, we have to admit that they look great installed in a white case. The only thing we would suggest to Seasonic is that it should bundle white modular cables instead of black ones.

All of Seasonic's high-end PSUs use 120mm fans, which means that they're noisier compared with the competition, which uses 140mm fans. Nowadays, in addition to high performance, many users also want a silent PSU, which is what led to the introduction of the Snow Silent series. The Snow Silent PSUs offer significantly lower noise output than Seasonic's SS-1050XP3 at all load levels. Both power supplies are based on the same platform, except for the Snow Silent series' fluid-dynamic bearing fan. The FDB fan, with its more relaxed fan profile and longer semi-passive mode, is what facilitates quieter operation.

Specifications

The Snow Silent 750 has many similarities with the 1050W unit, including Platinum-rated efficiency, fully modular cabling, a maximum operating temperature of 50 degrees Celsius for full load operation, a full set of protection features and the seven-year warranty. However, the 750W PSU has smaller dimensions than the Snow Silent 1050 since it uses a smaller PCB and doesn't need such a large enclosure. The second crucial difference between the two Snow Silent units is what you'll pay for them. Unfortunately, there is no information on what the Snow Silent 750 will cost, though.

Power Specifications

Swipe to scroll horizontally
RailHeader Cell - Column 1 3.3V5V12V5VSB-12V
Max. PowerAmps25256230.5
Watts125744156
Total Max. Power (W)Row 2 - Cell 1 Row 2 - Cell 2 750Row 2 - Cell 4 Row 2 - Cell 5

The +12V rail can almost deliver the unit's full power alone, and with 62A on this rail, the Snow Silent 750 can power two high-end Nvidia graphics cards. You'd have a harder time with a couple of flagship AMD boards peaking at over 300W each, though. The minor rails are pretty strong and the 5VSB rail has enough amperage for a 750W PSU.

Cables And Connectors

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Modular Cables
DescriptionCable CountConnector Count (Total)
ATX connector 20+4 pin (610mm)11
4+4 pin EPS12V (660mm)22
6+2 pin PCIe (610mm)44
SATA (400mm+110mm+110mm+110mm)28
SATA (300mm+110mm)12
Four-pin Molex (400mm+120mm+120mm)13
Four-pin Molex (300mm+120mm)12
FDD Adapter (+110mm)11

The Snow Silent 750 has an adequate number of connectors. However, some high-end 750W PSUs come with even more PCIe connectors. In our opinion, four of them, along with two EPS connectors, is more than enough for a PSU of this capacity. In addition, all cables have sufficient length. Distance between the connectors is good too, especially the four-pin peripheral ones. Seasonic also provides two short SATA and peripheral cables with two connectors each, for usage in smaller cases. Finally, all connectors use 18-gauge wires, which are recommended.

Power Distribution

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to say about its power distribution.

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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.

  • 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