Introduction

We really do hope that our readers are familiar with Seasonic by now. Over the last 35 years, they have become synonymous for high quality and efficient power supplies. Seasonic not only produces power supplies under their own name, but also acts as an OEM for a very large number of different manufacturers. Chances are that if you've had five or more power supplies throughout the years, one of them was built by Seasonic.

On top of all this, we've covered several of their units and they really are top notch. Our last review of a Seasonic unit was the Platinum 1000W and it was superb. It did leave us wanting more though and Seasonic has expanded their Platinum lineup with more units. Not only that, but their sub-600W units are available as fanless units.

We have one such unit on the bench today and it is the 520W model. Keep reading as we go over the new Platinum Fanless 520W and see what it has to offer.

Specifications, Availability and Pricing

As you would expect from a lower wattage power supply, 12V power is delivered via a single 12V rail. In the case of the Platinum 520 Fanless, it is a 43A rail capable of 516W of power. Both the 3.3V and 5V rails are rated for 20A each with a combined maximum output of 100W. The 5VSB rail is rated for 2.5A or 12.5W. Maximum combined output for the power supply is 520W.

I'll be the first to admit that I was surprised when we weren't able to fill our feature summary full of green checks since this is a Seasonic unit. It is understandable though, since the power supply is fanless and it isn't intended to be in very hot environments. All protections are present including Over Temperature Protection. All cables for the Platinum 520 Fanless are both modular and fully sleeved. The power supply is 80 PLUS Platinum rated for efficiency and while it is not rated for 100% continuous output at 50C, it is rated for it at 40C.

Seasonic has an MSRP of $149.99 on the Platinum 520 Fanless power supply. A quick search will yield a much lower price of $134.56 from Provantage. This may seem like quite a bit for a 520W power supply, but let's not forget that it is fanless... and actually comes in cheaper than the competition by at least $10. Seasonic backs the Platinum 520 Fanless by a seven year warranty.