System Builder Marathon: Day Three

Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad

Another part chosen for unsurpassed quality, the Silencer 750 Quad comes from the industry's most respected name in power: PC Power & Cooling.

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad

PC Power & Cooling bucks a couple of trends by not providing removable-cable "modular" design, nor multiple 12V rails. Stability and efficiency are the major reasons behind these decisions, as modular cables lose some power through the added connectors, while multiple rails may experience "load balance" issues. Its single rail design allows as much power as necessary to be delivered to any single component, rather than the lower limits of multi-rail designs.

The "Quad" moniker comes not from the number of rails, but the number of PCI Express Graphics power connections. The Silencer 750 Quad features one massive 60 A 12 V rail and peak power output capacity of 825 W, far exceeding its 750 W nominal rating. It is capable of powering two 8800GTX graphics cards with room to spare. An efficiency level of 83% reduces power wasted during conversion, and thereby also lowers heat and fan noise.

The web price starting at $200 appears high only when compared to significantly less capable parts, and is a bargain for assuring stability in a high-end system.