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Packaging, Contents, Exterior, And Cabling
Packaging
This box is large and heavy, and as you can see, the glossy silver surface makes taking pictures difficult. Up front, there's a photo of the PSU with its fan grille and modular panel in clear view. The model number is right below, and next to that there's a large 80 PLUS Platinum badge. You'll find information about the available connectors on one side of the box, but nothing about cable length. On the other side is the power specifications table. Finally, around back, SilverStone makes mention of the magnetic fan filter and fully modular cabling. It also provides a reference efficiency graph, along with a graph showing fan speed throughout the PSU's operational range.
According to this information, SilverStone's passive mode ends once the load reaches 40% of the PSU's maximum-rated capacity, or 480W. This is under low-temperature conditions of course (below 25°C), since during our cross-load tests the fanless mode ended at around 220W with an ambient close to 28°C.
Contents
The PSU is protected by packing foam inside the box, so it should reach you safely, even if it gets roughed up during shipping.
To the best of our knowledge, SilverStone is the only company that provides such rich documentation with all of its PSU products. Even the mainstream models include two manuals. The rest of the bundle, provided in an accessory box, consists of an AC power cord, the modular cables, several Velcro straps, and two sets of screws.
Exterior
There is notification label on the PSU informing you that the fan doesn't spin under light loads and/or low temperatures. We think there should also be a way to verify the fan's proper operation, through a test button for instance.
Up front, a small power switch is installed below the AC receptacle, with the fan facing upwards.
The power specifications label is installed on one of the PSU's sides. There are three stickers on the other side, one of which depicts the unit's version (v1.0 for our sample).
The silicone caps that protect the modular socket pins are a nice touch.
The black matte finish looks nice, and on top of that it won't attract nasty fingerprints. It also looks fairly scratch-resistant. Lastly, the provided fan filter is really easy to use thanks to the magnets; it's a piece of cake to remove and clean periodically.
Cabling
All modular cables are flat and feature darkened wires; they should be easy to hide in a windowed case with a dark interior.
