PSU Roundup: Performance, Price, Efficiency

By Daniel Schuhmann
published

Efficiency

Silverstone, the winner in many of our previous efficiency tests, seems to be resting on its laurels. This time around, it lands in last place. Let’s look at the numbers:

Under full load, the Strider’s efficiency is 82.2 percent. At half-load it’s a bit better—Silverstone ends up in the midfield with 86.5 percent. The SST-ST70F truly looks good only at low load, where the power supply outperforms its competitors with 86.7 percent.

This trend continues as the load falls. In our low-power comparison at 35 watts, the Silverstone power supply performs best in the test field with more than 78 percent. But if you’re a low-power user, you’re probably not in the market for a 700 watt power supply, so it’s a bit of a catch 22.

The result for standby is average. At zero load the Strider consumes 1.17 watts; at a load of 2.5 watts it needs 4.57 watts.

Silverstone SST-ST70F

The power supply from Silverstone combines high performance with good cable management, long cables, and many plugs.

  • Positives
  • Negatives
  • Many peripheral plugsLong cablesGood efficiency at low load
  • Low efficiency at full load
Daniel Schuhmann
44 Comments Comment from the forums
  • falchard
    That coolermaster PSU is nice that its cables are thin since its really annoying to have those stiff cables fill a small case. However, I wonder about its interference. That insulation and mesh is there for a reason, to prevent discharge and electrical interference of other parts.

    Also I can see the reason why a person wouldn't want a CPU/ATX connector on a 700w power supply. If they had an excessively power draining system like a Quad/Tri GPU with modern high end cards it will waste alot of power and using 2 lower watt power supplies is cheaper then getting 1 high watt one.
    Reply
  • dirtmountain
    Nice fluff piece. I sure wouldn't use any of these recommendations over jonnygurus or hardwaresecrets sites though.
    Reply
  • optik
    Just bought myself Zalman's ZM-750HP with cable management and heatpipe cooling.. Cost only 131 euros.. When I saw the article's header I hoped to see it being reviewed, but no such luck. Would've been nice to see how the Zalman's offerings would've fared against others.. The productline ranges from 360Watts to full 1000Watt PSU's so plenty to choose from..
    Reply
  • Proximon
    Without voltage ripple and heat tests you can't properly evaluate a power supply. At least readers can use this as a starting point for further research.
    Reply
  • http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/410
    Reply
  • dirtmountain
    +1 to doctorpink
    Reply
  • chookman
    Heat is generally relative to efficiency , due the fact that the more energy lost the more heat generated.

    Ill agree with the ripple tests too, yeh great we might have a power supply that is efficient at 100% but what if the 12v rails are hovering outside of spec...? Its a nothing review really.
    Reply
  • Please add the "S" onto the word VOLT
    Thanks
    Reply
  • jt1
    falchardThat coolermaster PSU is nice that its cables are thin since its really annoying to have those stiff cables fill a small case. However, I wonder about its interference. That insulation and mesh is there for a reason, to prevent discharge and electrical interference of other parts.
    What manufacturers use insulation and mesh that block interference? The insulation on the wires of my PSUs is standard insulation, the mesh is plastic and there strictly to hold the wires in place and prevent the inside of a computer case from becoming a birds nest of wires.

    If there are manufacturers that use materials to block interferences, I'd like like to look into their products as it sounds interesting but I'd like to hear from someone actually in the know as to if it would make any difference or not.
    Reply
  • pcfxer
    Interference on a power supply is negligible. The power runs, voltages and current are of little concern for interference. IF you want to be truly theoretical it would make a "difference".

    When I studied power engineering one would need a ton of voltage or current to be 'eligible' for most electrical phenomena to occur - theoretically.
    Reply