SilverStone Strider Titanium ST1500-TI PSU Review

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Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time & Inrush Current

To learn more about our PSU tests and methodology, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units. 

Primary Rails And 5VSB Load Regulation

Load Regulation testing is detailed here.

Hold-Up Time

Our hold-up time tests are described in detail here.

The hold-up time we measured falls under 17ms. To make matters worse, the power-good signal is inaccurate, since it drops after the rails go out of spec.

Inrush Current

For details on our inrush current testing, please click here.

Inrush current is normal with 115V input and quite high with 230V.

Load Regulation And Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the ST1500-TI's efficiency. The applied load equals (approximately) 10 to 110 percent of the PSU's maximum load in increments of 10 percentage points.

We conducted two additional tests. During the first, we stressed the two minor rails (5V and 3.3V) with a high load, while the load at +12V was only 0.1A. This test reveals whether a PSU is compatible with Intel's C6/C7 sleep states or not. In the second test, we determined the maximum load the +12V rail could handle with minimal load on the minor rails.

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Test #12V5V3.3V5VSBDC/AC (Watts)EfficiencyFan SpeedPSU NoiseTemps (In/Out)PF/AC Volts
110.602A1.964A1.965A0.986A149.78291.933%0 RPM<6.0 dB(A)43.53°C0.956
12.092V5.097V3.352V5.057V162.92638.63°C115.08V
222.278A2.944A2.961A1.191A299.74893.476%1095 RPM30.7 dB(A)38.44°C0.974
12.070V5.083V3.339V5.039V320.66743.53°C115.07V
334.334A3.453A3.481A1.390A449.73193.595%1204 RPM34.1 dB(A)38.93°C0.982
12.048V5.071V3.329V5.020V480.50844.19°C115.06V
446.428A3.951A3.976A1.598A599.56493.181%1630 RPM40.9 dB(A)39.39°C0.984
12.027V5.062V3.316V5.000V643.43745.52°C115.06V
558.226A4.956A4.991A1.806A749.46292.600%2025 RPM45.7 dB(A)39.98°C0.987
12.004V5.050V3.304V4.983V809.35246.27°C115.04V
670.049A5.954A6.014A2.011A899.23492.011%2258 RPM48.9 dB(A)41.04°C0.988
11.984V5.037V3.291V4.965V977.30747.53°C115.05V
781.873A6.971A7.046A2.221A1048.95891.320%2275 RPM49.0 dB(A)42.27°C0.990
11.968V5.024V3.278V4.945V1148.65649.42°C115.07V
893.623A7.983A8.083A2.435A1199.16890.223%2275 RPM49.0 dB(A)43.95°C0.992
11.971V5.013V3.265V4.927V1329.11951.67°C115.07V
9105.679A8.495A8.639A2.440A1349.24489.473%2283 RPM49.1 dB(A)46.06°C0.993
11.986V5.002V3.252V4.914V1507.99454.15°C115.07V
10117.369A9.028A9.162A3.075A1499.10588.708%2283 RPM49.1 dB(A)46.91°C0.993
12.008V4.990V3.241V4.876V1689.93355.82°C115.08V
11129.589A9.042A9.187A3.080A1649.07287.932%2283 RPM49.1 dB(A)48.29°C0.994
12.033V4.981V3.233V4.866V1875.38857.32°C115.13V
CL10.099A14.025A14.005A0.004A118.37483.095%2275 RPM49.0 dB(A)45.92°C0.936
12.098V5.054V3.304V5.099V142.45750.21°C115.13V
CL2124.921A1.003A1.002A0.004A1511.51788.907%2283 RPM49.1 dB(A)47.59°C0.993
12.033V5.022V3.280V5.025V1700.10756.53°C115.08V

Load regulation at +12V is satisfactory for a 1.5kW PSU. On the contrary, the minor rails demonstrate loose load regulation. The 3.3V and 5VSB rails even exceed 4%.

Given the noise column's contents, it's easy to see that SilverStone's fan curve is aggressive. Subjected to high ambient temperatures, the PSU rarely operates in semi-passive mode. Under a 20% load in a 38.5°C ambient environment, the noise already exceeds 30 dB(A). This is definitely a loud PSU when it's pushed hard, so if you really want high capacity along with compact dimensions, don't forget to consider the ST1500-TI's acoustic profile, too.

When it comes to efficiency, the ST1500-TI easily clears the 80 PLUS Titanium requirements with 10% and 20% load. But it falls short in our 50% and 100% measurements. The high operating temperatures that we apply are to blame, of course, since the 80 PLUS organization certifies products at unrealistically low temperatures (23°C, +/-5°C).


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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.

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  • wesley_agina
    I had not noticed the absence of a power switch, someone could have sent an uncompleted one, otherwise looks great.
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    No power switch? Who will buy this?
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