By: Jonathan Kwan
March 1, 2024
What is a "third culture individual"? According to Wikipedia, a third culture individual is defined as "people who were raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of their country of nationality, and also live in a different environment during a significant part of their child development years." As someone who is ethnically Chinese and has lived in Canada basically all my life, I would say this is a pretty decent definition. Of course, being "third culture" is a sliding scale, and depending on your ethnicity and where you live, your precise definition and experience may vary as well. For example, I can read Chinese and speak Cantonese quite fluently, pretty aware of Hong Kong pop culture, and have a fairly strong preference for food from my country of origin. I have a friend who is also ethnically Chinese, but can neither read nor speak anything other than English. People often assume he understands Cantonese or Mandarin by looking at him, but I got Filipino and Brazilian friends who know way more Cantonese than him because they took the time to learn their significant other's native tongue. Heck, even my colleague Jadon's dog understands more Cantonese than my friend. As it can be seen, what one appears to be may not mean it actually is. Back in 2021, my colleague Jonah Chow reviewed the SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W. You would assume the DA850R Gold 850W we are reviewing today is a remastered version of the DA850 with ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 specifications just by looking at it. However, once you look beneath the surface, you will discover they are completely different designs from totally different OEMs. But is the DA850R still any good? Read on to find out!
Our SilverStone DA850R Gold 850W came in a large brown corrugated cardboard box from the company's American headquarters in Chino, California, USA using FedEx International Ground alongside the IceMyst 360 AIO cooler and some IMF70 ARGB upgrade fan kits to be reviewed by my colleague Aaron Lai. Everything arrived safely and in great condition to us here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for our review today.
The DA850R Gold 850W's retail box is designed to look quintessentially SilverStone, so those who are familiar with the company's products will immediately recognize the style. The box design uses a primarily blue and gold color scheme with white text, which seems appropriate, since this is a Gold-grade PSU. As I have mentioned in the HELA 1300R Platinum review, one interesting design choice is the wildly inconsistent and interesting font selection, which I can imagine all my friends in design will be screaming in horror right now with how there are at least four different fonts used in the front alone. That aside, across the center, a photo of the power supply in three-quarters angle can be seen on the right with a bunch of stuff on the left. These include the model name and the description, "80 Plus Gold 850W ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 fully modular power supply". The color, which in our case, the white edition, is also indicated. At the top left corner, we can see SilverStone's logo. At the bottom, an array of four badges following the wattage rating show off its ATX 3.0 support, PCIe 5.0 compatibility, 12V-2x6 connector, and 80 Plus Gold certification. Specifications, feature highlights, connectors, efficiency and performance ratings, and certifications expressed in tables, graphs, and images can be found on the remaining sides of the box.
Before we move on, let us take a look at the specifications of the SilverStone DA850R Gold 850W, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
Product No.: SST-DA850R-GMA-WWW
Model (safety certification): SST-AX0850MCGD-D
Color: White (lead-free paint)
Max. DC Output: 850W
Power density: 471W/L
Combined +3.3V & +5V: 100W
Combined +12V: 850W
Input Voltage: 90 ~ 264 Vrms
Input Frequency Range: 47Hz ~ 63Hz
PFC: Active PFC (PF>0.9 at full load)
Efficiency: ≥87% & <89%
MTBF: 100,000 hours
Operating temperature: 0°C ~ 50°C
Protection: Over Current Protection, Over Power Protection, Over Voltage Protection, Short Circuit Protection, Over Temperature Protection, Under Voltage Protection
Connectors:
- 1 x 24 / 20-Pin motherboard connector
- 2 x 8 / 4-Pin EPS / ATX 12V connector
- 4 x 8 / 6-Pin PCIe connectors
- 1 x 12V-2x6 connector
- 8 x SATA connectors
- 4 x 4-Pin Peripheral connector
※ DA850R-GMA/DA850R-GMA-WWW is not compatible with PP05-E and PP06 cables.
Cooling System: Silent 120mm fan
Noise Level: 0 dBA minimum
Certification: 80 PLUS Gold
Form factor: ATX (PS2)
Dimension: 150mm (W) × 86mm (H) × 140mm (D) / 5.91" (W) x 3.39" (H) x 5.51" (D)
Weight: 2.13 kg
The SilverStone DA850R Gold 850W's retail packaging can be opened by a flap attached at the bottom. Upon opening the box, you will find everything neatly organized. The power supply is located on the left sandwiched between two Styrofoam brackets, while cables are on the right. There is also an instruction manual as well as a specifications booklet out in the open. The instruction manual is highlighted with the letters "PY" in front, which is a generic booklet in multiple languages that comes with all SilverStone power supplies. Out of the box, you will receive the DA850R Gold power supply itself, two pieces of literature as aforementioned, modular cables, AC power cable, and four standard screws in a bag.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
