SilverStone SX500-LG Power Supply Review

Reviews
By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

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.

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Cross-Load Tests And Infrared Images

Our cross-load tests are described in detail here.

To generate the following charts, we set our loaders to auto-mode through our custom-made software before trying more than a thousand possible load combinations with the +12V, 5V and 3.3V rails. The load regulation deviations in each of the charts below were calculated by taking the nominal values of the rails (12V, 5V and 3.3V) as point zero.

Load Regulation Charts

Image 1 of 3

Efficiency Chart

Ripple Charts

Image 1 of 4

Infrared Images

During the end of the cross-load tests, we took photos of the PSU as it was being tested with our modified FLIR E4 camera, which delivers 320x240 IR resolution (76,800 pixels).

Image 1 of 7
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

See more Power Supplies Reviews
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