Seasonic M12II 500W Power Supply Review

Cables and Connectors

- Molex: 8 Connectors (modular)
o 2x 30” length (3 Connector)
o 1x 28” length (2 Connector)

- SATA: 6 Connectors (modular)
o 2x 30” length (3 connectors each)

- PCI-E 6+2 pin: 1 Connector (modular)
o 1x 22” length

- PCI-E 6-Pin: 1 Connector (modular)
o 1x 22” length

- Floppy: 2 Connectors (on detachable cable)
o 2x 5” length

- 24-pin ATX Connector: 21” length

- 4-Pin CPU Connector: 21” length

- 8-Pin CPU Connector: 21” length



For a sub-$130 power supply, the cables on the M12II are of an extremely good length and they should be able to reach literally any part of an ATX-sized case. However, if you have a larger E-ATX case or an enclosure with a bottom-mounted power supply, some of these cables (particularly those with the CPU connectors) will be a bit on the short side. That being said, having completely sleeved modular cables on a 500W power supply is a dream come true for many people who don’t have a budget to spend $150 on a higher-end unit.

As we have already mentioned, not all of the cables on the M12II 500W are modular since Seasonic has decided to leave the ATX and both CPU power cables attached to the main housing. This doesn’t bother us at all since it is these cables that we will always use, no matter the situation but we would have liked to have seen a 4+4 pin CPU connector instead of separate 4 and 8-pin connectors.


Seasonic has equipped this power supply with a pair of 6-pin PCI-E connectors which means you can use this unit for a low or mid-end SLI or Crossfire setup. One of these can be converted into an 8-pin connector which means you can use it in conjunction with the other 6-pin connector to power a single higher-end graphics card as well.


All of the Molex connectors (and there are a lot of them) are of the handy quick-release variety. Once the connector is installed, all you have to do is press down on the two tabs and it can be easily removed from wherever you installed it.
Since they are not used all that much, Seasonic has fabricated a dedicated removable cable for the pair of floppy connectors. This cable can be attached to any Molex connector in order to use any floppy drives you may still have hanging around.


All of the cables connect into the modular interface in the same manner: you push in the connector until it locks in place and depress the tab to remove it. The modular interface is separated into two different types of connectors: there is a flat, narrow one for the SATA and Molex cables while the PCI-E cables get their own dedicated connectors which resemble PCI-E connectors.