Published: March 21, 2009 | Source: Seasonic | Author: James Napier

Seasonic M12D 750w ATX PSU

Packaging & Appearance

While most manufacturers tend to go for the loud and lary approach to packaging their products just so that they stand out on retailers shelves, Seasonic have defiantly swung in the opposite direction by opting for a very professional ‘pipe and slippers’ look based on a black and orange theme. At the front of the box clutter has been kept to a minimum with only a picture of the unit, the model number and a few other non-intrusive specification stickers dotted around. While at the back we have the same full feature list as seen on the previous page along with a power distribution diagram.

Protection for the M12D is quite minimal with only a bubblewrap bag and a single walled layer of card keeping it safe from the outside world. This is in stark contrast to the the likes of Corsair and Cooler Master who tend to encase their PSU’s in large lumps of moulded styrofoam that act almost like kevlar jackets. In fact, even the modular cables seem to have cut a better deal than the PSU in packaging department; getting their own separate compartment and a drawstring bag.

The unit its self measures in at a pretty standard 150x160x86mm and is finished in a black powdercoat. This ensures that it fits a wide range of smaller PC cases including some HTPC’s and doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb in a standard ‘non-blinged out’ PC build.

At the rear you will find the usual kettle lead socket and power switch along with a honeycomb grill common to 120mm+ fan cooled PSU’s. Thankfully the switch and socket are mounted upon a solid area of metal rather than the mesh, meaning that the casing is less likely to flex or bend if you happen to be a bit heavy handed when plugging in the power cord.

Rather than attempting to shoe horn in a 135/140mm fan, Seasonic have stuck with a tried and tested 120mm model. I’ll get on to the finer details of this fan over the next page, but providing Seasonic have chosen wisely; it should still be able to compete with the Noise/CFM ratio of a larger model.

Finishing up with the modular connector panel, Seasonic have fitted the M12D 750w with a total of 6 sockets for plugging in cables. Two of these are reserved for PCI-E connectors while the other four can be used for any combination of IDE or SATA connectors. From left to right the rail layout used on the connectors is +12v2, +12v1, +12v2, +12v2, +12v1, +12v1.