Power supply specialist Seasonic and air cooling expertNoctuaexhibited the latest product of their collaborative efforts atComputex2024. The Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition is an enhanced version of the vanillaPrime TX-1600with Noctua’s cooling optimization.
The Prime TX-1600 belongs to Seasonic’s flagship Prime series that flaunts exceptional performance and quality. The 1,600W power supply has obtained certifications, including 80 Plus Titanium, Cybenetics Titanium in the efficiency area, and Cybenetics Lambda A in terms of noise level. The Noctua Edition should retain the same certifications since Noctua only provided its expertise in cooling, and it’s unlikely that Seasonic has messed with anything else inside the unit. Assuming that’s true, the power supply should have the exact dimensions as the original, 8.3 x 5.9 x 3.4 inches (210 x 150 x 86 mm).
Noctua has tailored an optimized fan grill for the Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition, proudly sporting the brand’s characteristic brown color. There are divided opinions on Noctua’s color themes. But given the power supply’s normal orientation, it’s unlikely to be visible in your case. The plus is that the redesign will help with airflow, which is more important than the visual makeover.
The Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition has a capacity of 1,600W. That equals 133.3A on the +12V rail, enough to power a multi-GPU setup. Although Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFire are pointless nowadays, the power supply will be helpful to professionals or users who want to assemble several graphics cards for AI workloads.
The regular Prime TX-1600 employs a 135mm HA13525H12SF-Z fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) cooling fan from Hong Hua. The fan, which features a seven-blade design, has a rotational speed of 2,300 RPM. In contrast, the Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition leverages Noctua’s NF-A12x25, a more petite 120m fan than the Hong Hua. It also spins a tad slower, achieving a maximum speed of 2,000 RPM. Noctua claims that the NF-A12x25 lowers the power supply’s noise level by up to 10 dB(A). Depending on how fast the fan is spinning, the fan contributes six to eight decibels, and the fan grills around two decibels towards improvement. The Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition retains the semi-passive fan control system where the NF-A12x25 will stay off until 50% load at up to an ambient temperature of 25 degrees Celsius.
The Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition complies with the ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 standards and provides users with the new12V-2x6connectors so they don’t have to worry about16-pin meltdownson Nvidia’sGeForce RTX 40-seriesgraphics cards, such as the flagshipGeForce RTX 4090. The power supply is fully modular, meaning you only connect the cables you need to reduce cable clutter. Being a Noctua Edition product, the braided cables carry the Noctua theme (black and brown), which may be a letdown for non-hardcore Noctua fans.
Seasonic will launch the Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition in the fourth quarter of this year. Pricing-wise, the new model likely carries a $30 premium. The regular Primx TX-1600 retails for$599.99; therefore, the Noctua Edition should cost around $629.99. Since it’s just an offshoot of the Prime TX-1600, we expect the Noctua Edition to have the same limited 12-year warranty.
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Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
