Seasonic Connect 750 W PSU review - Introduction

Seasonic Connect 750 W PSU review

We’re putting the new Seasonic Connect power supply on our test bench today. It was introduced to the market on the 4th of March, after a long wait (they first presented it two years ago, at Computex 2018). It’s a brand new approach to the desktop PSU idea. Why’s that? Because this time you don’t receive everything integrated into a single unit, but two “modules” instead. One is a Seasonic PRIME 750 W 80 PLUS Gold certified power supply, and the other is the CONNECT device, which is essentially a backplane that is mounted to the PC case with magnets to provide connections for all the components. You need only two cables to link these segments together. The Seasonic Connect is an 80 Plus Gold power supply, which means that it’s 90% efficient at 50% load @ 115 V, and even 92% efficient @ 230 V. This is important because the energy consumed does not go to waste (at least not in a significant amount), and that affects your energy bill. The Seasonic Connect is an ATX power supply (but not a typical one, as I’m sure you’ve realized by now).

It’s a fully modular PSU but in a far different way than what you might be used to from other products. Even the motherboard connectors are not attached permanently to the housing, but you still have to use most of them anyway. Nearly all cases have a power supply shroud now (at least ATX-sized ones do), but that’s not really needed in this case, as the whole cable management process takes place behind the motherboard tray. This time, the most important aspect is the amount of space on the “dark side”. So far, there are no other variants than the 750W (SSR-750FA). This one should be enough for most users, but we still hope that this series will be expanded.  The fan is a 135 mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing one (it should be long-life). The unit can work in fanless (hybrid) mode until 40% load, so it should stay totally passive even with loads up to 300 W (and that is the power consumption of something like a Ryzen 5/Core i5 + RTX 2060/RX 5700), but there’s also a mode in which the fan spins continuously.

  

The Connect is built with Nippon 105℃ capacitors that provide enhanced reliability and durability. The main unit itself is quite small, measuring 150 mm x 85 mm x 140 mm. On the other hand, the Connect module is 328 mm x 20 mm x 63 mm, which might create some compatibility issues for a big percentage of PC cases available on the market because you need to have 28 mm clearance behind the motherboard tray. Seasonic’s Connect is backed by a 10-year warranty. This is a great offer, even though this brand provides as many twelve years of warranty for their Prime series. The best part is that, at 169.99 USD, the reviewed product is not much more expensive than a regular Prime Gold PSU (the difference is only about 20 USD).

But sure, let’s check out this innovative PSU from Seasonic, shall we?