Seasonic Focus GX - An Overview/Review

[LukeSavenije]

Thanks to @Seasonic Rep for the sample

 

Some brief information

The Seasonic Focus and Focus Plus will be replaced by 4 new focus models: The GM, GX, PX and SGX. The GM will replace the Focus, having 7 years of warranty, an 80+ gold rating and semi-modular cables. The GX will replace the Focus Plus Gold, having 10 years of warranty, an 80+ gold rating and fully modular cables. The PX will replace the Focus Plus Platinum, having 10 years of warranty, 80+ platinum rating and fully modular cables. The SGX will not replace any current focus units, but rather starting a new line as an SFX-L, having 10 years of warranty, 80+ gold rating and fully modular cables.

The new units are still all single rail, which I'm personally less of a fan of, especially after 650w (which makes it less of a case here, but is applicable for other focus GX units) . This is because of the rare case that undervoltage protection would be ruled out or fail and a rail would drop down in voltage. after this wattage it's likely to burn the cables when this would happen. this is a rare, but not impossible case.

 

External shots

 

Bottom/label

 

Side

 

Back

 

Side

 

included cables

 

Connectors

 

Box

 

Top/fan

 

Internal shots

 

Total view

 

backside

 

DC-DC section

 

Full internal

 

APFC side

 

Fan

 

close-up for fan model

 

Performance data

as we currently don't own any equipment to test PSUs on efficiency, noise and other things, I'll leave some data here from reputable reviewers about a GX based model in form of the Phanteks AMP.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phanteks-amp-series-550w-power-supply-review

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phanteks-amp-series-650w-power-supply-review

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phanteks-amp-series-750w-power-supply

 

Other things in the box

- Zipties

- PSU tester (shorts 2 pins on 24-pin to turn it on)

- Manual

- Quick start guide

- Power cable

- 4 screws

 

Cables

24 pin (Motherboard)	EPS12V (CPU)	PCIe power (GPU)	SATA	Molex
1x20+4	2x2 6+2 pin	2x 4+4 pin	10	4 (3+1 on sata cable)

 

 

 

Power distribution

+3.3v	+5v	+12v	-12v	+5vsb
20a	20a	62a	0.3a	3a
100w	100w	648w	3.6w	15w

 

The fan

The fan can be set in 2 different modes, a normal and a "hybrid" mode. This can be toggled with a button on the back, unpressed being in this hybrid mode, and pressed in a normal mode. hybrid mode keeps the fan off up to a certain load, with measurements from Seasonic having it start spinning after 30% load with 25 degrees ambient. the normal mode keeps the fan spinning at a lower rpm at this load, but not passively like the hybrid mode. I personally prefer the normal mode, as it's not noticeable over the fans in my case. The fan used here is a FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing). This is is a Hong Hua HA1225H12F-Z, rated for 2200 rpm at 12v 0.58a. 

 

Personal notes

- When installing the PSU in my masterbox 5 lite rgb, i found the 8 pin EPS a bit on the short side, as i could barely reach it on my motherboard. I had to take my cooler out to properly install it.

- Most of the cables aren't sleeved, which some might prefer

- A 3x SATA cable would've been easier to manage in my case, from experience with the CX550m

- The tester is a nice touch

- you can't easily dust out the PSU, since the top has to be fully taken off to remove the fan

 

Final Verdict

+ silent at lower loads (meets blue color requirements as of revision 13.0)

+ pretty looking

+ fully modular

+ choice between semi-passive or always-spinning fan

+ wide range of cables for a 650w unit

+ stays well within ATX specification 2.52 (as per measurements by Aris)

- doesn't meet 2% low-load requirements (as per measurements by Aris)

- doesn't meet gilding requirements (as of revision 13.0)

- 8 pin EPS could've been a little longer

? 2x8 pin EPS

? protections set ~140%, but regulation stays fine within it (as per measurements by Aris)

? single rail without options to set multi-rail

 

link to mentioned products:

https://seasonic.com/focus-gx

https://seasonic.com/focus-px

https://seasonic.com/focus-gm

https://seasonic.com/focus-plus-gold

https://seasonic.com/focus-gold

[Flying Sausages]

Do you recommend this psu?

[Fasauceome]

Promising, if the main goal was to solve the OCP problems and whatnot from the prior focus line, and if this was achieved without altering the platform overall or its price by much, I can see myself recommending this a lot. Seeing as the only real detriment barring me from recommending the old focus was the single crippling oversight, this will make for a good unit. Any projections on where this might fall on our tier list?

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, OlympicAssEater said:

Do you recommend this psu?

not yet, as i want official reviews to be out

 

but theoretically it should be close to the NZXT E, and what the focus honestly should've been in the first place, even if i have some likings regarding it which seasonic knew in advance 

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, Fasauceome said:

Any projections on where this might fall on our tier list?

if nothing weird comes out it'll stay in tier a

[Flying Sausages]

Just now, LukeSavenije said:

not yet, as i want official reviews to be out

 

but theoretically it should be close to the NZXT E, and what the focus honestly should've been in the first place, even if i have some likings regarding it which seasonic knew in advance 

In what rank or tier in your psu list? 

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, OlympicAssEater said:

In what rank or tier in your psu list? 

would be tier a

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

41 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

if nothing weird comes out it'll stay in tier a

 

39 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

would be tier a

HOW MUCH DID THEY PAY YOU!?!?!?!11?1

[LukeSavenije]

1 minute ago, Twilight said:

HOW MUCH DID THEY PAY YOU!?!?!?!11?1

a psu and gummybears

 

seriously though, nzxt e is a focus that is in tier a already, as they had to add a dedicated OCP for the monitoring, which pretty much never encountered the problems focus has had

 

so if gx comes out the same, it's a tier a

[givingtnt]

Sooo..
Other than a content dump from the info page and a few "it looks better / is silent"
Did you do any testing for safety / reliability ?

I don't really see what this brings to the table lol

[LukeSavenije]

37 minutes ago, givingtnt said:

Did you do any testing for safety / reliability ?

i don't have the tools for that, even if i tried to get my hands on something, that was rather unsuccesful

 

hence i marked it overview, not review

[trevb0t]

2 hours ago, givingtnt said:

Sooo..
Other than a content dump from the info page and a few "it looks better / is silent"
Did you do any testing for safety / reliability ?

I don't really see what this brings to the table lol

Seasonic valued it at ... What $89?

 

It's helpful, compiled information and speculation from a passionate and respected member of our community who has volunteered a ton of time in putting together solid info for those who understand less. 

 

He states right at the beginning what it is and isn't.

 

What exactly do you bring to this community?

[OrionFOTL]

12 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

There are no big changes for this model. The only thing is the inline capacitors have been removed from ATX 24 pins, CPU and PCIe cables and put inside.

12 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

Personal notices

- The in-cable caps look quite exposed

 

?

 

[LukeSavenije]

12 minutes ago, OrionFOTL said:

?

 

long story short, it's something i probably need to edit... i'll come back to it later

[RainingTacco]

Do you still have the PSU? Can you send it to jonnyGURU for test? 

[LukeSavenije]

11 minutes ago, RainingTacco said:

Do you still have the PSU? Can you send it to jonnyGURU for test? 

i do

 

if Tazz wanted it, he would've requested one already, if he didn't already

 

and aris has done a review on the platform based Phanteks AMP

[RainingTacco]

5 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

i do

 

if Tazz wanted it, he would've requested one already, if he didn't already

 

and aris has done a review on the platform based Phanteks AMP

Thanks.Ive just read the Phanteks AMP review, and looks like they've removed all issues. The 3,3V OCP works as expected, and the ripple at 110% load is excellent, given the lack of incable caps.