SilverStone Strider Platinum ST85F-PT PSU Review

SilverStone's Strider Platinum series offers compact dimensions along with Platinum efficiency and a fully modular cable design. The 850W member of this line will be evaluated today. Its strong card against the competition is the 471W power density score.

By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

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Protection Features, Evaluated

Check out our PSUs 101 article to learn more about PSU protection features.  

Our protection features evaluation methodology is described in detail here.

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Protection Features
OCP12V: - 5V: 28.7 A (130.5%) 3.3V: 29.1 A (132.3%) 5VSB: 5.7 A (190%)
OPP1145.01 W (134.7%)
OTPYes (47 °C ambient)
SCP12V: Yes 5V: Yes 3.3V: Yes 5VSB: Yes -12V: Yes
PWR_OKDoes not function correctly
NLOYes
SIPSurge: MOV Inrush: -

OCP on the minor rails is set at normal levels, while at 5VSB it's set quite high, as is usually the case. OPP is also set very high, though the PSU's performance is quite good with load regulation and ripple suppression being within the ATX spec's defined ranges.

Over-temperature protection kicks in at around 47 °C ambient with the PSU delivering its full power. This is a normal OTP triggering point for a PSU that only has a 40 °C rating. However, the problem we discovered involves the semi-passive mode, which is improperly set and in some cases can lead to OTP's triggering. The semi-passive feature's operation is normally dependent on the temperature inside the PSU. But here, the applied load plays a more significant role. That means if you push the PSU hard and then apply a light load, the fan's speed will instantly drop to zero. As a result, over-temperature production triggers due to the sudden lack of airflow.

The power-good signal is inaccurate; it drops while the rails are out of spec. Also, there is no inrush current protection, which seems weird coming from a high-end unit.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • panathas
    I don't understand, first you said: "On the other hand, it doesn't have an issue with inaccurate power-good signals that last longer than the corresponding hold-up time" and your last words were: "It is a great shame though that it is affected by the inaccurate power good signal disease". Which one is true? Also in the CONS section you only mentioned the Hold-up time and not the power good signal.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    18699506 said:
    I don't understand, first you said: "On the other hand, it doesn't have an issue with inaccurate power-good signals that last longer than the corresponding hold-up time" and your last words were: "It is a great shame though that it is affected by the inaccurate power good signal disease". Which one is true? Also in the CONS section you only mentioned the Hold-up time and not the power good signal.

    First one must have been an mistake since it does drop the PWR_OK after the voltages are already out of spec.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    Yes something was way out in this phrase. It is fixed now.

    This PSU is affected by a fake power good signal, which usually is the case in Sirfa's platform.

    In the cons section. Sometimes I don't mention the fake power good signal, when the hold-up time is already too low. But I will make sure that I do from now on.
    Reply
  • Virtual_Singularity
    ty for the review. So, I know it's kind of not really adequate for comparison considering the watt difference. But, looking at the performance of that last Lian Li sfx reviewed, and this thing, still must say that LL didn't do so badly, though they could really help things if they extended that warranty by at least a year or more.
    Reply
  • DotNetMaster777
    SilverStone looks nice taking into account that this is compact dimensions ?!
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    I think the exterior photos need something for scale. Full-size black boxes and tiny high efficiency black boxes look the same size on a screen without something for scale.

    No comment on vacant modular socket plugs. First time I've seen that. Also the copper bars aren't a feature I've seen commented on before.
    Reply