PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 400W
by Martin Kaffei on May 19, 2012 2:05 PM ESTPC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 400W
The Silencer series is well known in the enthusiast community, but you rarely see reviews of the small models. The Mk III version we review today doesn't look anything like many other PSUs we know from PC Power & Cooling. It comes in a white case with some black elements as well and provides removable cables. 400W is still plenty even for a midrange system, and with optimal efficiency generally coming at 50% load this is a power supply that should run closer to its "sweet spot" when idle as well as under load. There's still enough power on top to run a Core i7 or Phenom X6 processor and a discrete GPU.
Like any decent modern power supply the Silencer Mk III 400W also carries an 80 Plus certification, this time for the Bronze level. That means the PSU should run at 82% efficiency with a load of 20%, reaching 85% efficiency or more at a load of 50%, and still maintain 82% efficiency at the maximum 400W rated load. This is nothing ground-breaking in 2012, but it does fit perfectly with moderate systems.
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Samus - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
I've mailed two of my PCP&C PSU's to Carlsbad, CA for custom recabling (connectors, lengths, sheathing) in the past few years, a service no other manufacture offers. I consider them to be quite alive and well, regardless of their OCZ inheritence.just4U - Friday, May 25, 2012 - link
I found that OCZ bringing PCP&C into their stable helped them a fair amount as they now had that companies expertise for the PSU's. Overall it didn't hurt PCP &C either as their quality didn't really go down..Ofcourse that can be argued here but this is a budget psu. OCZ should make their high end stuff under this brand. That's what we've come to expect from PCP&C
ImSpartacus - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link
"The Silener Mk III provides one"http://www.anandtech.com/show/5844/pc-power-coolin...
Zaathras - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link
Bought the Antec HCG-440M referenced in the article (as "same design") at Fry's, yesterday.$20.00 ($45 - $25 MIR).
Advert says the sale price is good through 5/24; but I don't know if they still have any left.
MrMilli - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link
An excellent (not Seasonic based) PSU that I use a lot is the Chieftec A-80 & A-85 serie. Great power distribution, high efficiency, very silent and most of all, pretty cheap. If you live in Europe, I can highly recommend these PSU's.Pappnaas - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link
I feel that a "seriuos" review cannot afford to omit physical dimensions of the tested psu.Because in that wattage size does matter, pointing at various itx and htpc cases.
buzznut - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
But how many PSU's in this range offer a 5 year warranty? Actually, hardly anyone offers 5 years anymore. Not Corsair, not Antec. This company does, and it was mentioned briefly at the end of the article. But I would be willing to pay a bit more for another two years over what most power supplies offer. Believe me, I've had enough fail just after the 3 year mark to really pay attention to this.