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SilverStone SX600-G SFX Power Supply Review

SilverStone's SX600-G is one of the most capable SFX PSUs you can buy. Six-hundred watts is a lot for this form factor, and today we are going find out if the company's offering is able to deliver its advertised power even in extreme conditions.

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Performance, Performance Per Dollar And Noise Ratings

Performance Rating

The following graph shows the SX600-G's total performance compared with units we've tested in the past. The unit on our bench is shown as 100 percent, with every other product's performance relative to it.

The ripple spikes recorded in our testing are the main reason SilverStone scores so low in the above graph. This is a shame, since at lower temperatures the performance is way better. We simply can't break protocol on this one. 

Performance Per Dollar

The following graph may be the most interesting to many of you because it depicts the unit's performance-per-dollar score. We looked up the current USD price of each PSU on popular online shops and used those prices and all relative performance numbers to calculate the index. If the specific unit isn't available in the United States, we searched for it in popular EU shops, converting the listed price to USD (without VAT). Note that all the numbers in the following graph are normalized by the rated power of each PSU.

A high retail price combined with lower overall performance rating doesn't allow the SX600-G to score any higher.

Noise Rating

The graph below depicts the cooling fan's average noise over the entire operating range of the PSU, with an ambient temperature between 28 and 30 °C.

We wouldn't call this a silent PSU, especially since it is equipped with a high-speed 80mm fan. But compared with the other units in our chart, it fares pretty well. If you're highly sensitive to noise, you can try looking elsewhere, though you won't find an alternative SFX-based offering with similar features and high capacity.

14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Dark Lord of Tech 13 February 2015 03:07
    Price is a little high.
    Reply
  • Onus 13 February 2015 03:30
    The price is a little high.
    I'm not sure I agree with such high ratings of some of the Corsair units, with as many failures as they apparently experience within the first year. It also doesn't bode well for the poor capacitors in this Silverstone either. So far though, at this level, there is no other choice.
    Reply
  • damric 13 February 2015 03:30
    The review was perfect this time, Aris. My only nitpick is the graphs are hard to read.

    Well done.

    As far as the PSU itself, I was turned off by the 40C max operating temp fan kicks up at 45... bah... If they would have used better caps then temp could easily been rated for 50C.
    Reply
  • David Dewis 13 February 2015 04:10
    I wanna use this to run a GTX 980 in the Silverstone RVZ02 with a i5-4670 (non K) That is all.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111 13 February 2015 05:10
    Nice to see that manufacturers are starting to take small form factor builds seriously. I especially like the direction that Silverstone is going in. First the RVZ02B now high quality SFF power supplies. Wave of the future?
    Reply
  • DarkSable 13 February 2015 05:15
    This is a wonderful power supply, if you aren't pushing it altogether too hard.

    @David Dewis, go look at the Sandia Cooler. When you're done lusting after that, look at the Id-cooling Is-vc45 Vapor Chamber CPU Cooler... which you can buy right now and use to overclock an i5 in the new Raven just fine. I've got my media PC in an RVZ01 with a Pentium anniversary edition overclocked to heck, and it does just fine. (I can't wait for the RVZ02 to put my gaming rig in and run watercooling out the back.)
    Reply
  • DarkSable 13 February 2015 05:16
    That being said. Tom's. What are you doing.

    Silverstone just released the SX500-LG, which is a very slightly longer (130mm) SFX-profile power supply that fits a 120mm fan on top, instead of a dinky, noisy 80mm fan. That's the power supply that I want to see a review of!
    Reply
  • g-unit1111 13 February 2015 05:39
    15283400 said:
    (I can't wait for the RVZ02 to put my gaming rig in and run watercooling out the back.)

    I very badly want a RVZ02, it will make a nice home for my old i5-3570K. :lol:
    Reply
  • Grognak 13 February 2015 07:35
    52dB and more than 25 idle... "Tiny box that makes a lot of noise" isn't my definition of SFF.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp 13 February 2015 08:29
    I will ask for the SX-500LG, however I have many samples to process till its turn comes to hit the test bench. Unfortunately a full PSU review needs lots of time and I won't do rushed reviews.
    Reply