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Seasonic Super Tornado 300watt PSU |
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Written by Jason Owens
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Monday, 18 June 2007 |
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Page 2 of 3
Continuing the focus on airflow, the discussion moves to the fan being used to force that air through the PSU. Rather than using the traditional single or dual 80mm fan design, Seasonic chose to go with a single 120mm design that should in theory provide better airflow at a much lower sound level. Another Seasonic diagram illustrates this point. As you can see, when the 80mm fan reaches its maximum airflow, the 120mm fan has yet to break a sweat at just over half of its rated speed. This has two consequences, and neither is bad. The first is that the low RPMs contribute to a much quieter power supply, while the increased airflow leads to cooler temperatures.
This diagram compares the single and dual 80mm fan setups with the 120mm fan that is found on the Super Tornado. The single 120mm fan, coupled with the open honeycomb structure of the rear of the power supply increases airflow through the PSU by lowering the amount of resistance and providing a better path for the air to flow through. As you can see it offers a large increase in airflow over both single and dual 80mm fan setups.
The fan itself is a black 120mm. I would have liked to have seen a clear or LED 120mm fan in a PSU targeted at the enthusiast crowd, but that's just personal preference. After some searching, the specs of the fan were found on the website of the manufacturer, Cheng Home Electronic. You can see them here. The fan included in the Super Tornado appears to be closest to the A model. It has a rated current of .17A and a rated airflow of 61.8cfm. This means that the fan in the Super Tornado should push close to 70cfm, but that's not quite the advertised number of greater than 70cfm.
Here's a good shot of the honeycomb structure of the rear grill that is one of the features of the Super Tornado. As you can see it provides for excellent airflow with its less restrictive than normal grill design. The only issue with this design is that it seems to be slightly weaker than the traditional rear of the power supply, and bent when I was removing the cover. This is not an issue for most users however, as most people do not disassemble the unit because it voids the warranty.
Seasonic’s packing of their power supplies has come a long way in the year since I last reviewed one of their PSUs. Here you see the retail box of the Super Tornado. The packaging was roughed up a bit during shipping and that's the reason for the split corners. To the left of the top are the icons representing all of the features present.
Inside the box the power supply is beneath the user manual provided by Seasonic. To the right of the PSU in its bubble wrap is the bag containing four mounting screws, the Dr. Cable wire management kit and the power cord. While not as great as seeing all of the wires sleeved at the factory, the Dr. Cable kit does an effective, if unsightly job of keeping the wires bundled together. The zip ties and snap together wire holder are also a nice addition.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 June 2007 )
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