Seasonic PRIME Ultra 1000W Power Supply Review @ [H]

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FrgMstr

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Seasonic PRIME Ultra 1000W Power Supply Review

The Seasonic PRIME Ultra 1000W is angling to be the "best" 1 kilowatt computer power supply ever built. It boasts having some of the best power efficiency and delivery on the market, all while delivering features like being fully modular, a fully silent mode, and Seasonic's 12 year warranty.

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I just recently completed a build using this PSU. Awesome hardware! Happy to see the kick ass review as well.
 
Been running the Platinum version for about 8 months now. My only complaint is sometimes, when the unit is fluctuating between silent and needing a fan it'll tick. Like it wants to kick the fan on, but then quickly changes it's mind.
 
Riccochet said:
Been running the Platinum version for about 8 months now. My only complaint is sometimes, when the unit is fluctuating between silent and needing a fan it'll tick. Like it wants to kick the fan on, but then quickly changes it's mind.
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I have two of those here that I use on the test bench. I do here them spin up, but no ticks. Maybe see if they will warranty it?
 
Now that's a power supply!

Next time I upgrade this will certainly be in my short list.
 
I have one of these being delivered today.

I ordered one and received it last week, but when I took it out of the box, I heard a loose piece rattling inside the PSU, shook it till it came to the grill, looked like a small screw or something so wasn't about to plug it in.

Replacement will be here today. I'm chalking it up to possible shipping damage.
 
Very nice review. Just seems hard to justify when you can already pickup the bigger 1200w Prime Platinum for ~$35 cheaper. I guess you can never be too efficient.
 
GotNoRice said:
Very nice review. Just seems hard to justify when you can already pickup the bigger 1200w Prime Platinum for ~$35 cheaper. I guess you can never be too efficient.
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Well, the way I see it is, while there are many components where it makes sense to buy yourself some extra headroom just in case, PSU's are not one of them. With PSU's it makes sense to rightsize them as much as possible, as they tend to be more efficient closer to their peak loads, so if you have a system that draws only 50 or 60% of the load, you can find yourself in a horribly inefficient load range. (There is probably a better way of expressing this, but I am not and expert)

This is why I really like PicoPSU's for my small builds. Their 60w kit can happily support a Haswell Celeron on low power i3 or i5 coupled with a small GPU like a Gt720, GT630 and maybe even a 1030 all while pulling 6w from the wall at idle. I don't even know what their efficiency ratings are, but the fact that you are that much closer to their peak load, even at idle, makes a huge difference
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
With PSU's it makes sense to rightsize them as much as possible, as they tend to be more efficient closer to their peak loads, so if you have a system that draws only 50 or 60% of the load, you can find yourself in a horribly inefficient load range. (There is probably a better way of expressing this, but I am not and expert)
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Typically/historically this is not accurate. Typically/historically they are most efficient around 50-60% load. Over the last few years the efficiency curves have flattened out considerably though.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
Typically/historically this is not accurate. Typically/historically they are most efficient around 50-60% load. Over the last few years the efficiency curves have flattened out considerably though.
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Ahh. Ok. Though considering most computers spend the vast majority of their lives idling, the rightsizing argument still holds, as if you are closer to that sweet spot at idle, you'll probably do much better efficiency wise over time.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Ahh. Ok. Though considering most computers spend the vast majority of their lives idling, the rightsizing argument still holds, as if you are closer to that sweet spot at idle, you'll probably do much better efficiency wise over time.
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We in no way suggest that our reader do this in any way, shape, or form. In fact I would suggest it is "wrongsizing." If you are going to do this, make SURE you have a stellar high end PSU, if you are going to run it at 100% load for long periods of time.

Now let's get back on topic please.
 
I have the 650w variant in my new server. The first one I got from newegg died in less than 24 hours. Replacement has been going strong 24/7 for about two months.

Comparing this to the PSU from my old server which I used while waiting for the replacement: this new PSU is WAY more efficient. My UPS reports 15w less draw with it compared to the much older unit. Which is pretty cool considering this thing is on 24/7.
 
ianken said:
I have the 650w variant in my new server. The first one I got from newegg died in less than 24 hours. Replacement has been going strong 24/7 for about two months.

Comparing this to the PSU from my old server which I used while waiting for the replacement: this new PSU is WAY more efficient. My UPS reports 15w less draw with it compared to the much older unit. Which is pretty cool considering this thing is on 24/7.
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That's a one or two bucks a month (depending on where you live.) It's not going to make a major difference in your standard of living, but I'd still take it.
 
Nice review. Exactly what I expected. I'm enjoying mine that has been in service for ~2 months so far.
 
Meeho said:
At what point can you skip the Seasonic reviews and go straight to giving the gold award? :)
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Never.

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Meeho said:
At what point can you skip the Seasonic reviews and go straight to giving the gold award? :)
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I rely on [H]ardOCP to keep checking on Seasonic, to make sure some marketing asshat doesn't decide to leverage the brand's reputation to maximize this quarter's profits at the expense of product quality. I've seen that happen far too often, good to know it hasn't to Seasonic yet.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
That's a one or two bucks a month (depending on where you live.) It's not going to make a major difference in your standard of living, but I'd still take it.
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Right? I just like the idea that PSUs are getting this efficient. For a long time I got the "you suck" memo from the power company every month. "You use way more power than your neighbors, you polar bear killing monster." So I moved the entire house to LED lighting. Problem solved. Having always-on PCs runs as efficient as I can is nice as well. No more shaming memos from the power folks. LOL.
 
There is no PRIME ULTRA in Seasonic's line up. You need to also state whether it's Gold, Platinum, or Titanium.. Just to let people know, this review was for the Titanium.

My question: How much of a step down is the PRIME ULTRA Gold from the PRIME ULTRA Titanium?
 
Peat Moss said:
There is no PRIME ULTRA in Seasonic's line up. You need to also state whether it's Gold, Platinum, or Titanium.. Just to let people know, this review was for the Titanium.

My question: How much of a step down is the PRIME ULTRA Gold from the PRIME ULTRA Titanium?
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Yeah, actually there are. That is why you should use the model number provided in the review.
 
Peat Moss said:
There is no PRIME ULTRA in Seasonic's line up. You need to also state whether it's Gold, Platinum, or Titanium.. Just to let people know, this review was for the Titanium.

My question: How much of a step down is the PRIME ULTRA Gold from the PRIME ULTRA Titanium?
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Reading is fundamental. And we even supplied pretty pictures and videos.

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80 Plus Load Testing
The 80 Plus Compliance portion of this review marks the second revision to our living testing methodology. Readers can read more about this inclusion in our testing here in our methodology section, but briefly we will be examining the compliance of units advertised as being 80 Plus certified with their 80 Plus Test Report. While 80 Plus compliance is NOT part of any official specification for power supplies similar to what is seen with the ATX12v and EPS specifications, it is a widely used advertising talking point that many users seem to use to guide their buying decisions. As such, we will be examining whether units claiming certain 80 Plus specifications really meet these advertised levels. You can also read our editorial about 80 Plus in this article entitled, "Why 80 PLUS is Irrelevant to You When Buying a PSU."

Since the PRIME Ultra 1000W is advertised by Seasonic as being certified for 80 Plus Titanium, meaning that it is supposed to be 92%-94%-90% efficient at 20%-50%-100% load, we went ahead and ran the 80 Plus Load Tests as shown here with 80 Plus' lower ambient temperature and the AC input voltage of 115v.
 
Like I said, there is no model by Seasonic simply called PRIME ULTRA. You reviewed a model called the PRIME ULTRA Titanium. It even showed the name Titanium in the photo. Yet you referred to it only as the PRIME ULTRA 1000. PRIME ULTRA is the name of the series, comprising the Gold, Platinum, and Titanium lines. They all come in 1000 Watts. So it's important to distinguish which line you are referring to in the title.

The title of your review should be called the PRIME ULTRA Titanium 1000 W Power Supply Review.
 
Peat Moss said:
Like I said, there is no model by Seasonic simply called PRIME ULTRA. You reviewed a model called the PRIME ULTRA Titanium. It even showed the name Titanium in the photo. Yet you referred to it only as the PRIME ULTRA 1000. PRIME ULTRA is the name of the series, comprising the Gold, Platinum, and Titanium lines. They all come in 1000 Watts. So it's important to distinguish which line you are referring to in the title.

The title of your review should be called the PRIME ULTRA Titanium 1000 W Power Supply Review.
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Won't all fit in one title line. Reading required. Sorry to put you out.
 
Was wondering if you guys noticed any issues with the PSU handling sudden spikes in voltage increases because JonnyGuru reviews said it failed 'Power on spike testing'...

Thanks
 
davidm71 said:
Was wondering if you guys noticed any issues with the PSU handling sudden spikes in voltage increases because JonnyGuru reviews said it failed 'Power on spike testing'...

Thanks
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Interesting you are asking this. We did not see this in testing, but our Transient testing we do is only up to 50% load. I have two of these on the test bench here for motherboard testing. Working with the MSI MEG X399 Creation, I started running into issue running the 2990WX overclocked and loading it up. I have been working through whether we had compatibility issues, or PSU issues. As of writing this, I have still not talked to Seasonic about this...just have not had time as I needed to move forward with CPU/mobo testing. We were however pulling loads that were spiking above 1000w. While I do not have proof, I am going to have to suggest that JonnyGuru might be very right about this. I am going to tag Paul_Johnson in here as well, as I needed to discuss this with him as well.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for the message and to point out this, we will look into all this to make sure everything is Ok.

Best Regards,
 
Seasonic Rep said:
Hi guys,

Thanks for the message and to point out this, we will look into all this to make sure everything is Ok.

Best Regards,
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I would like to know how this plays out as I want to buy this PSU as soon as this issue is ironed out! Thanks!
 
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