Seasonic X-760 760W Power Supply

Introduction, Specifications, Availability and Pricing

Introduction

Seasonic has been around almost longer than anyone else in the PC power supply market. Ask anyone who is known for quiet and efficient power supplies and Seasonic will come up more often than not. Seasonic launched the X-Series power supplies back in 2009 and they were well received amongst enthusiasts for the exceptional quality and efficiency. Unfortunately they were only available in 650W and 750W models at the time.

Fast forward to mid 2010 and Seasonic announced a revamp of the X-series. This also came with a much expanded lineup, offering the X-series in various iterations from 400W to 1200W. This new lineup provided power supply solutions for those needing more or less power than previously offered.

Today we are taking a look at their X-760 power supply.


Specifications, Availability and Pricing



Seasonic's X-760 features a single 12V rail serving up 63A of power for hungry GPU's and motherboards. Both the 3.3V and 5V rails are capable of 25A each which should offer more than an ample amount of power as well.



Seasonic makes sure that you are well protected with all of the voltage, current, power and temperature protections available. The X-760 is a fully modular PSU including the 20+4 pin main and ATX 4+4 connectors. All cables are fully sleeved. Seasonic rates the X-760 for 100% output at 50C. The X-760 is also rated as an 80Plus Gold power supply.

The X-760 is readily available and can be found for around $170 at many places, but Newegg does not currently list them. Newegg does show the X-850 and its price is 199.99 at the time of writing. Seasonic backs the X-Series power supplies with a 5 year warranty, one of the highest in the industry.

The Packaging

Seasonic's X-760 is packaged in a subtle black and gold box. On the top if the box is a picture of the power supply, the wattage, and the 80Plus Gold logo.



The bottom of the box goes over all of the major features of the X-760 including a rare shot of inside the power supply. Looking at this, one can't help but wonder if that is all of the power supply or if it is simply a marketing shot missing some of the internal components.



One side of the box displays the output specifications for the Seasonic X-760.



The other side of the box gives a nice shot of the front of the power supply and the fully modular setup.

Inside the Box

Pulling the contents out of the box, we can see that the power supply itself is well protected by foam. The modular cables are in the bag to the right with the user manual and marketing material on top of it all.



Seasonic also packages the X-760 in a felt bag to protect it even further from scratches during shipping. The bag for the modular cables folds in half and is held together with Velcro. At this point you really start to feel the red carpet treatment from Seasonic.



Here we see the full assortment of modular cables for the X-760. All cables are fully sleeved with zip ties and heat shrink tubing on both ends to keep the sleeves in place.



Also contained within are the user manual, warranty card, zip ties, Velcro cable ties, and mounting screws.



One side of the power supply displays the X-series logo.



The other side of the X-760 contains the I/O specification label.



The front of the power supply contains all of the connections for the modular cables. Note that the PCIE connections are 12-pin connectors. This is because each PCIE cable provides two individual cables instead of the multiple connectors on a single cable.



On the back we see the typical honeycomb grill that is used with almost all power supplies. It is as unobstructed for airflow as can be with the exception of the additional Seasonic logo directly above the AC input and power switch.



Flipping things over to the bottom, we can see the honeycomb grill that is part of the PSU housing instead of the usual wire grill. The fan contained within is a 120mm Sanyo Denki.

Cabling Arrangement & A Look Inside

Cabling Arrangement



Seasonic makes sure that you have plenty of options available to fully utilize the 760W offered up by the X-760. Besides the necessary 20+4 pin main and ATX 4+4 connectors, the X-760 also comes with an EPS12V connector. The four 8-pin PCIE connections are made via two connections that each have two full length cables instead of one chained after the other on a single cable.

Rounding out the connections available are ten SATA connections and 6 Molex connections. Note that there is no floppy connector. In the event that you do need a floppy connecter or two, Seasonic includes a single Molex to dual FDD adapter. It is nice to see a move away from including this as a standard connector, as it hasn't been utilized in a majority of systems for almost 5 years.



Seasonic keeps rail distribution simple and tidy with the entire X-series power supply lineup. There is only a single 12V rail, so not much to talk about here.


A Look Inside



Opening up the X-760 reveals some very interesting workings. Earlier it was mentioned that the picture on the box looked like part of the power supply was missing, but it is in fact all there. This is due to multiple things that we simply aren't used to seeing on most power supplies.

First is the entire lack of cable clutter coming into the power supply. Since the entire cable arrangement is modular, there are only a few wires that are necessary to transfer power from the 12V rail to the front output terminals.



Second is that almost all of the capacitors are on the secondary side and are much smaller than what most are used to seeing. This further reduces the clutter that most are used to seeing buried behind the rats nest of cables leading out of the power supply.



Cleaning things up even further is that all of the connections to the 3.3V and 5V rails are made on the modular PCB. This lets Seasonic actually move this part of the secondary to the modular PCB and removes it from the main PCB. More than a dozen components are relocated via this method and all of this comes together to explain why the power supply looks so empty.



Of the half dozen or so electrolytic capacitors that are in use, all of them are Japanese Nippon Chemi-con caps on the primary and secondary.

Test Results & Final Thoughts

Test Results

Our load tests utilize a couple of FAST ATE active load testers and a variety of other equipment such as an oscilloscope, power conditioner, temperature probe and a power consumption meter. You can read more about our standard testing approach here.

The tests performed are based around six conceivable setups that are out there and progressively load down the PSU up to the power supply's limits or 1000W, whichever comes first. Since our test equipment's limits are greater than the X-760, we can test it to the maximum.





Seasonic's quality shows in the results achieved by the X-760. All of the rails were rock solid throughout the five tests it was run through. The voltages were well within ATX specifications and stayed within 2.5% regulation. Very few power supplies can attest to such good results.

Ripple on the 12V line was miniscule as well, reaching a maximum of 24mV peak to peak under full load. Efficiency was right on par with the 80Plus Gold rating that the unit achieved, with a minimum efficiency of 88.1% under full load.


Final Thoughts

The quality and innovation shown with the Seasonic X-760 is just another great example of why Seasonic has been around for over 30 years and is still an industry leader in the power supply market.

The excellent performance of the X-760 coupled with exceptional build quality throughout the entire power supply provides an excellent option for enthusiasts seeking the best. To add a little more icing to the cake, the 5 year warranty that Seasonic backs the X-760 with gives you some added confidence and peace of mind that your investment will last.

Taking a look at the price point of the X-760 shows that power supply is even more enticing. At $170, it is cheaper than both the recently reviewed ToughPower Grand 750W and Enermax Modu87+ 800W power supplies. It just goes to show that sometimes you can have your cake and eat it, too.