The SilverStone Strider Platinum 550W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on April 8, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- PSUs
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- 550W
- SilverStone
- 80Plus Platinum
Final Words
In designing the Strider Platinum series, SilverStone has put together a PSU that can deliver high overall performance and quality while maintaining compact proportions. In fact this is almost to the exclusion of everything else - the company does not seem interested in competing in terms of raw performance, aesthetics, or even value - with an end goal of enticing those builders who require a high performance product but are facing spatial restrictions that rule out some (or most) of the competitive products. For this reason, there are not many 80Plus Platinum certified and modular PSUs with that kind of output, performance and warranty with a chassis that is just 140 mm long.
Despite the relatively small chassis, the Strider Platinum 550W PSU that we have tested exhibited a good balance between thermal performance and acoustics. It remains silent when lightly loaded and operating within typical ambient temperatures, and the cooling system does react well and keeps the unit from overheating when the operating conditions are adverse. Despite the fact that this unit has been rated for operation at 40 °C ambient temperature, it had no problem delivering its maximum power output and maintaining good internal temperature readings under worse conditions.
However unlike the excellent thermal and acoustics performance, the electrical performance of the Strider Platinum is only mediocre for a product of this class. This cannot be attributed to the small size of the chassis, but it may be partially attributed to use of a modified platform that was originally designed for lower class units. That does not mean that the Strider Platinum has poor electrical performance: the power quality is very good and far from the ATX design guide limit, while the efficiency is high. Although the Strider Platinum failed to meet the 80Plus Platinum efficiency under 20% load during our testing, it also showed some of the better <10% load efficiency figures that we have seen over the years. We are simply saying that, considering the class and cost of the PSU, the electrical performance could have been significantly better.
Ultimately what makes in particular the 550W version of the Strider Platinum competitive is not only its small physical proportions, but the lack of severe competition. There are very few 80Plus Platinum certified PSUs with an output lower than 700 Watts, as most manufacturers are focused on improving the efficiency of their >700 Watt models. Some may argue that the benefits of an 80Plus Platinum certified PSU over an 80Plus PSU are indiscernible when comparing PSUs with a maximum output below 700 Watts, and they are limited to just a few Watts, but there is a difference and can have a measurable impact on the thermal performance and longevity of the PSU. This is of particular importance for the kind of applications that SilverStone intends the Strider Platinum for, which will most likely involve small, cramped spaces with limited cooling.
We found the Strider Platinum 550W retailing for $110 and other 80Plus Platinum certified 550W PSU are sharing similar price tags, with the sole exception of the Enhance-made Rosewill Quark 550W that currently retails for $20 less. As such, if a very high efficiency 550W PSU is needed, then SilverStone’s Strider Platinum sits in an interesting niche and will certainly not disappoint.
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tarqsharq - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
First sentence of the Final Words section broke.revanchrist - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
SilverStone ST60F-TI is even more mind blowing. 600W Titanium and very compact in size. Also fully modular.JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Titanium rated power supplies would be a lot more appealing if you lived in a region that used 230V for the main electric line. North America uses 115V and any Titanium rated PSU would function (at best) at Platinum level efficiency there.Daniel Egger - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Not sure where you got your information from but this seems to be incorrect according to a quick check with Wikipedia.JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/super-fl..."80 Plus Titanium is where it's at. Applicable only in regions with 220~230VAC domestic power, 80 Plus Titanium requires a PSU to offer at least 94 percent efficiency at 20 percent load, at least 96 percent efficiency at 50 percent load, and at least 91 percent efficiency at 100 percent load."
The way I read it is that 80+ Titanium efficiency only worked in households supporting 230V lines, however, if you're at 115V, you wouldn't get the full 80+ Titanium efficiency you'd probably be at around 80+ Platinum efficiency rating.
Also note that the efficiency requirements are different for regions with different main electric supplies. North America, Brazil, Japan, etc has lower requirements to hit the same efficiency benchmarks (Bronze, Silver, etc) than 230V countries.
Daniel Egger - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
How about you check with some authoritative source? I get you don't trust Wikipedia, how about the official homepage? http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80PlusPowerSuppli...The only case where 80 Plus Titanium isn't defined is 115V industrial, which doesn't apply here. For any other case it is defined and a lot stricter than Platinum.
nevcairiel - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Fact remains that PSUs are generally more efficient when running at 230V, and the 80 Plus specification reflects that by lowering the limits on 115V.The comment about Titanium JoeyJoJo123 quoted probably applied to one particular PSU which was 230V Titanium but didn't quite reach it for 115V, which may be a bit harder to hit?
Daniel Egger - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
> Fact remains that PSUs are generally more efficient when running at 230V, and the 80 Plus specification reflects that by lowering the limits on 115V.True but besides the point. If a product is rated for "80 Plus Titanium" compliance it actually needs to comply with the requirements in each category and in each category Titanium has stricter demands than the Platinum tier. In other words: If you take a Titanium unit and operate it at 230V it needs to match the Titanium requirements for 230V, if you take the same unit to NA and operate it at 110V it still needs to comply with the Titanium requirements but the ones for 110V (which are a bit less strict than the 230V ones but still stricter than the Platinum tier at the same voltage).
Daniel Egger - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
This is one very sexy PSU indeed. Thanks for bringing it to my attention...dreamcat4 - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
Hey Anandtech! The Silverstone SX700-LPT 700W Platinum SFX-L is finally due to become avavailable and start shipping this month / very soon. After unspecified teething / production issues has delayed production. Therefore now would be a very good time to review it.