We spent an hour at SilverStone's suite in Westgate Hotel at CES, and besides some new cases and CPU coolers, we also had the chance to take a close look at several new PSU offerings, which will hit the market in the near future.
The first unit that caught our attention is the SFX-L form factor SX800-LTI model, which is currently the strongest PSU in this category, achieving an impressive 775W per liter power density score. Its OEM is Enhance, and the PSU will be available during the end of this month, with an MSRP of $190. It's equipped with four PCIe connectors, but unfortunately it has only a single EPS connector. The unit is 80 PLUS Titanium certified, and its 120mm fan is supported by a semi-passive mode, in order to be totally silent under light and moderate loads.
Besides high-end models, SilverStone also has a significant number of affordable options in its portfolio that will be further enriched by the two new models belonging to the Essential line, the ET550-B and ET650-B. Both are 80 PLUS Bronze certified and have only fixed cables, in an effort to keep the production cost as low as possible. They use a 120mm fan, because of the restricted (140mm) depth, while the max operating temperature for continuous full power delivery is 40℃. The OEM for both of those units is High Power. The ET550-B is equipped with a couple of PCIe connectors, whereas the ET650-B has four. Finally, both units come with a single EPS connector, something typical for this price category.
Two new models will be added soon in SilverStone's SFX product line, the SX500-G and SX650-G. Both are 80 PLUS Gold certified, fully modular, and feature a single +12V rail.
An interesting addition to those SFX units is that they will have a power switch, something missing from the existing fully-modular SilverStone SFX models. SilverStone managed to find a tiny power switch that's a perfect fit for those compact PSUs; normally, the internal space is so restrictive that a regular-sized power switch is a no go.
The TFX form factor isn't so popular, however, so SilverStone offers a new model in this category. The TX300 has 300W capacity, as its model number implies, and it's 80 PLUS Bronze certified. There are two +12V rails which, combined, can deliver up to 276W of power. All cables of this PSU are fixed, and we expect its price to be highly affordable.
The last new PSU offering from SilverStone, for this period at least, will be the flagship model of the Strider Titanium line, with 1.5kW capacity. This unit's OEM is Enhance Electronics, and although it isn't of high interest to the majority of users who don't need such high wattage PSUs, we're still looking forward to evaluating it and comparing it with the rest of the competition.
