SilverStone Strider Gold S 1500W PSU Review

Reviews
By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

SilverStone has a long tradition of offering small PSUs, and the new ST1500-GS is an excellent example of this, achieving an impressive 646 watt per liter power density score.

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Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time And Inrush Current

To learn more about our PSU tests and methodology, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units. 
Silverstone ST1500-GS
EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 G2
EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 P2

Primary Rails And 5VSB Load Regulation

Load Regulation testing is detailed here.

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Hold-Up Time

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

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The PSU's hold-up time did not meet the ATX spec's requirements and the ST1500-GS failed this test. SilverStone should have used larger bulk caps, but these cost more and have a negative effect on efficiency. In any case, a PSU must have at least 16ms hold-up time (AC loss to PWR_OK) or 17ms minimum, including the "PWR_OK inactive to DC loss" delay time.

Inrush Current

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

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The registered inrush current wasn't as low as we expected, given the pair of large NTC thermistors that this PSU uses. However, the levels were low enough for such a high-capacity unit.

Load Regulation And Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the PSU's efficiency. The applied load equals (approximately) 10 to 110 percent of the maximum load the supply can handle, 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 0.10A. This test reveals whether a PSU is Haswell-ready or not. In the second test, we determined the maximum load the +12V rail could handle with minimal load on the minor rails. 

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Test12V(A/V)5V(A/V)3.3V(A/V)5VSB(A/V)PowerDC/AC(W)Efficiency(%)Fan Speed(RPM)Fan NoisedB(A)TempIn/Out(°C)PF/AC (V)
10% Load10.467A1.995A1.988A0.985A149.8080.35123040.140.790.957
12.248V5.018V3.316V5.073V186.4443.10115.1V
20% Load21.987A2.990A2.993A1.186A299.7486.66150047.341.200.973
12.229V5.009V3.305V5.055V345.9043.65115.1V
30% Load33.847A3.503A3.519A1.384A449.7289.20150047.341.540.981
12.221V4.999V3.294V5.038V504.1544.22115.1V
40% Load45.759A4.006A4.019A1.590A599.5689.76168547.842.310.985
12.203V4.989V3.283V5.020V667.9945.18115.1V
50% Load57.371A5.014A5.043A1.799A749.4689.72190049.543.350.988
12.184V4.980V3.270V5.000V835.3246.71115.1V
60% Load69.016A6.034A6.076A2.005A899.3589.23208552.944.290.989
12.165V4.970V3.258V4.981V1007.8947.96115.1V
70% Load80.700A7.048A7.116A2.214A1049.1588.60224054.945.210.990
12.145V4.962V3.245V4.963V1184.1549.33115.1V
80% Load92.443A8.077A8.164A2.425A1199.2587.79234559.045.900.991
12.125V4.952V3.233V4.942V1366.0150.38115.1V
90% Load104.648A8.599A8.723A2.431A1349.2487.16239059.146.200.992
12.104V4.941V3.222V4.930V1547.9751.21115.1V
100% Load116.430A9.124A9.256A3.585A1499.1286.21243559.246.930.992
12.084V4.932V3.208V4.879V1738.9452.65115.1V
110% Load129.067A9.138A9.284A3.594A1649.1085.39243559.246.950.992
12.063V4.923V3.198V4.867V1931.3052.74115.1V
Cross-Load 10.098A18.021A18.002A0.002A150.8876.80176548.044.710.958
12.244V5.021V3.288V5.089V196.4747.64115.1V
Cross-Load 2119.957A1.002A1.003A1.002A1463.4686.82243559.247.120.992
12.090V4.938V3.229V4.981V1685.6553.07115.1V

Load regulation definitely wasn't among the best we've seen, and at 3.3V and 5VSB, it was mediocre to bad. As for efficiency, this was rather low for a modern, high-end Gold PSU. Because of its high price tag, the ST1500-GS will have a hard time competing in this category. Although it uses modern technology, it seems this platform cannot offer the same level of performance as Super Flower's high-capacity designs. It is possible that the small dimensions of the PCB have set many restrictions on the design of this PSU. Whatever the case may be, we expected better performance in these tests, especially in terms of load regulation and efficiency.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

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8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Eggz
    Too bad for this model, but I can't wait to see what this watt-per-litre ratio does for SFX!
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    I would not be that bothered by the lack of a physical switch: most people plug their PC in a power strip, surge protector or UPS and these usually have their own switch.

    Someone bothered enough by the 5VSB power draw to bend under their desk or reach over wherever the switch ends up being in their setup to switch the PSU off should be similarly bothered by the standby power draw of their displays, USB hub, external HDDs and other devices enough to want to turn them all off as well. The simplest way to achieve that is plugging everything into one power strip and turning everything on/off at once from there.

    Also, leaving the 5VSB supply on 24/7 costs less than $0.20/year in power. How much does a replacement CR2032 battery cost and how many power-off hours does it last? It might be cheaper to leave the 5VSB power on.

    The only time where I cut power completely off is during power outages to spare my components all the surges and sags over the first few seconds after power comes back on.
    Reply
  • Blueberries
    I don't think I'll ever have a use personally for a 1500w PC, but if I need that kind of juice this is exactly what I'd be looking at.

    Not the best option, clearly, but what you'd expect from a Gold rated PSU and solid build integrity that should last a long time. I would test this PSU without a fan or with a low noise Noctua fan.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    I would not be that bothered by the lack of a physical switch: most people plug their PC in a power strip, surge protector or UPS and these usually have their own switch.

    Someone bothered enough by the 5VSB power draw to bend under their desk or reach over wherever the switch ends up being in their setup to switch the PSU off should be similarly bothered by the standby power draw of their displays, USB hub, external HDDs and other devices enough to want to turn them all off as well. The simplest way to achieve that is plugging everything into one power strip and turning everything on/off at once from there.

    Also, leaving the 5VSB supply on 24/7 costs less than $0.20/year in power. How much does a replacement CR2032 battery cost and how many power-off hours does it last? It might be cheaper to leave the 5VSB power on.

    The only time where I cut power completely off is during power outages to spare my components all the surges and sags over the first few seconds after power comes back on.

    While I agree with you for the most part, I have had a set of Creative Labs speakers for 10 years that have a remote that use a CR2032 and it is still good with plenty of use and standby time.

    I do agree though that it is annoying not to have the switch on the PSU. Of course I look at it from a repair point of view where having that option is faster than pulling the plug every time I would need to test something.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    16447176 said:
    While I agree with you for the most part, I have had a set of Creative Labs speakers for 10 years that have a remote that use a CR2032 and it is still good with plenty of use and standby time.
    A good battery-operated remote tries very hard to minimize leakage and standby current while a computer RTC which may expect to have 5VSB power available all the time except during power outages has little reason to go to extremes to minimize battery power draw.

    My old Sears TV's remote drains 4xAA in less than a year.
    Reply
  • mctylr
    I would not be that bothered by the lack of a physical switch: most people plug their PC in a power strip, surge protector or UPS and these usually have their own switch.

    In my experience the power supply switch is primarily a convenience, used to ensure a power supply and connected system is de-energized when servicing the computer; inserting or removing components, such as swapping video cards, installing storage drives, etc. This is because the 5VSB (5 volt stand-by) is supplied by the motherboard to PCI and PCI express slots, as well as obviously flowing across a few of the PCB traces, so it is recommended to disconnect power, including stand-by voltage to prevent accidents.
    Reply
  • Frozen Fractal
    Errrm, there's a typo in the article. Look at page 3, the same paragraph has been repeated :)
    Reply
  • Frozen Fractal
    While I don't bother about in-build power switches so much since I always switch off/on via the main wall socket anyway, but it's a nice addition to cater to everyone's need, which is especially expected in these kind of high-wattage PSUs. When we talk about 1.5kW, compromise is what people would reluctantly want.

    Judging by the actual results of the PSU, I think "80+ Silver" should've fitted nicely with it. That way, it wouldn't defame "80+ Gold" Standard :P What I mean actually is, it's barely holding on to the 80+ gold standard. While it doesn't actually translate to significant deal breaker, it's somewhat disappointing to see 550W-approved things in this 1.5kW unit.

    However, the PCB neatness certainly gets my thumbs up. Among the most units I've seen from different distributors and OEMs, this one looks very neat (apart from the gooey use of solder there, Ewwww!), components are arranged very nicely, and there aren't any glue (or whatever you wanna say them) oozing out from or underneath heatsinks and FETs.
    Reply