SilverStone SX500-LG Power Supply Review

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SilverStone's SX500-LG fits into the new SFX-L form factor. It's longer than normal SFX units, allowing for a larger fan that reduces output noise.

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Packaging, Contents, Exterior And Cabling

Packaging

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The box the SX500-LG comes in is very small, since the PSU itself is small. Graphics on the box are vivid and include lots of information, including a description of the available connectors, the power specifications and a short features list.

Contents

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The PSU is wrapped in bubble wrap for enhanced protection against rough shipping. We would prefer to see the use of packing foam instead, which offers even higher protection.

As is typical in SilverStone PSUs, we find two manuals in the bundle that offer lots of information for interested users. The rest of the bundle includes an AC power cord and two sets of fixing bolts, one for mounting the PSU into the chassis and a second one for attaching the provided ATX bracket, which makes this unit compatible with cases that don't have SFX mounting holes.

Exterior

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Although the PSU has an increased depth of 3cm compared to SFX units, it still has compact dimensions thanks to its limited width and height, which are kept at the same size. There is a handy on/off switch at the front of the PSU. Incidentally, this is the one thing missing from most of SilverStone's SFX implementations. The power-specifications label resides on one side of the PSU, while SilverStone's name and company logo are stamped into the casing on the bottom.

On the back, the modular panel has only five sockets. One of them is for the ATX cable and the rest correspond to the EPS, PCIe, SATA and peripheral cables and connectors. In general, the PSU's finish is good, and the logo at the center of the fan grill looks nice.

Cabling

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All cables are stealth and flat, meaning that, thanks to their black wires, they're easy to hide inside of a case with a black-painted interior. We prefer flat cables over the typical, round-shaped cables since the flat versions block less airflow and make cable management easier.

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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Giannis Karagiannis
    Nice review! Indeed, the price is high but this is common with non standard ATX size PSUs. Apart from the high price it looks like a very good unit however.
    Reply
  • PaulBags
    I'm waiting to see the 700w platinum version of this in review. If we can get a 700w platinum sfx-l, how long until we can get shorter and/or higher wattage fanless atx?
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    I will ask for their 700 W model as well.

    As for higher wattage fanless ATX units, only with Titanium efficiency (for less energy dissipation)
    Reply
  • jtd871
    YMMV, but there are people who have reported a galloping or chirping noise associated with this model. It's not clear if it's the fan, the thermistor that turns the fan on and off or a combination of both. Based on the ambient testing temps for this review, it might not have been noticed or noticeable. Discussion on for those wanting more info.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    Haven't noticed anything weird in my sample, else I would have mentioned it in the review.
    Reply
  • Vlad Rose
    Still not compatible with their first generation Raven RVZ01 models. Be careful if you buy one through an online retailer as you might get back stock as Silverstone never bothered to call it a revision change..
    Reply
  • mikelim2000
    Got the same PSU, no weird sound, almost dead silent. My PC is dead silent, no case fans, only other fan is the Be Quiet! Shadow Rock LP for my cpu and that's literally dead silent.

    Reply
  • ThePSU
    Honestly....Aris no mean to offend you but you barely explain how you test these, what equipment you use, or anything. Just a bunch of oscillating graphs is not making you a confident reviewer to me. One must reveal how they come up with these numbers in detail and equipment used. Otherwise until I can myself replicate these things, your reviews are utterly useless to me.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    I am not easily offended no worries. There is a whole article about this. And also there are links to this article right before each new test, in all of my reviews. For me as well a reviewer that doesn't share is methodology and equipment isn't a trust worthy one.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-we-test-psu,4042.html
    Reply