Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
The design of the SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W is quite standard for a power supply unit, utilizing an all-black exterior. At 14cm deep, the Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W is compact for the performance grade and wattage it is designed for. Modular power supplies are longer than non-modular units by a centimeter or two in order to accommodate its connector board at the back that contains the electrical connections for the outputs. Length is generally not an issue for larger cases, but if you have a small case, the short size will definitely be beneficial.
Taking a look at the photo above, you can see the full branding is implemented on the sides, where SilverStone's logo and the product name are seen prominently displayed. The 80 Plus Gold badge is also shown on both sides along with the brand and product logo. To ensure you will always see the text right side up, the orientation of it is different on both sides, so whatever side facing the user after installation will always be correct. The fan grille is uniquely designed with a triangular mesh and guards the primary and only cooling fan installed. The 120mm fan generates airflow by drawing air from the bottom of the power supply over its internal components to keep the temperatures at a reasonable level. Exhaust heat is able to leave at the back of the power supply through the secondary honeycomb mesh opening. Meanwhile, four screws secure the power supply case together. A warranty seal extends over one edge of the power supply, so you cannot open the Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W without voiding its three-year warranty.
Taking a look at the exposed side of the power supply, we can see the power input and switch. Both the receptacle input and switch are standard, so a power cord can be reused from another device if necessary. It is important to keep in mind the thickness of the power cord you decide to use, although the recommended thickness for the Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W is not specified, since this is not a very high wattage unit. The low resistance honeycomb mesh design is implemented to maximize airflow and minimize air resistance. Cool air is fed into the power supply from the grille at the bottom. Hot air can be discharged through the back grille after cooling down the internal components. As with most fans, four screws are used to keep the fan attached to the PSU. The Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W has automatic full range 100V to 240V AC line voltage selection like with all active power factor correction or APFC power supplies, so the user does not have to worry about manually input voltage.
The SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W is a fully modular power supply unit. This means the inside of the case will look cleaner because only the necessary cables will be attached to the PSU, although this is usually the case for semi-modular PSUs as well. The one downside here is users will need to manually attach each cable, although this is not very hard to do. It is worth noting the ATX-24 pin and CPU-8 pin connectors need to be used for almost all desktop computers. Ultimately though, I think a fully modular PSU has more benefits than a non-modular power supply, as you can buy a different set of cables from SilverStone. Furthermore, you can RMA a fully modular SilverStone PSU without sending back the cables, simplifying the process.
The back of the power supply contains the connection panel. The sockets are easy to identify thanks to the labels indicating which cord goes where. Starting at the top and going from left to right, we have a partial connector for the 24-pin ATX connector, three 8-pin CPU/PCIe, and two SATA/Molex sockets. At the bottom, we can see the rest of the pins for the 24-pin ATX cable. Moving to the right, we have two more 8-pin CPU/PCIe and 6-pin SATA/Molex cable headers. As with most power supplies, the design of these connectors is great with different pin configurations. This makes it so you do not have to risk plugging in a cable to the wrong port.
The SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W has solid external build quality. The surface of the PSU is smooth and feels nice on the fingers. Fingerprints are unlikely to be left on the surface due to the matte finish. The gaps between the connection ports are small and even as well.
The voltage specification label for the SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W is located on the top of the power supply unit. Two virtual rails are visible here. Up to 20A can be delivered on both the +3.3V and +5V rails, making for a power rating of 66W and 100W, respectively. The combined output for the +3.3V and +5V rail is 110W. This means the total power allocation combination must fall within the limits of the listed specifications. The +12V rail is rated to deliver up to 70.5A, making for a power output of 846W. This is done to maximize power delivery flexibility compared to multiple +12V rails. The combined power output for the SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W is 850W, as the name implies. As a reminder, the power distribution on your system must not exceed the rated limits -- that being 66W on the +3.3V rail, 100W on the +5V rail, 846W on the +12V rail, and 850W combined between all the positive rails. The power distribution of the SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W is reasonable for an 850W power supply unit, although I have seen higher +3.3V and 5V rails for lower output rated units.
The SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W is 80 Plus Gold certified, which means it is certified to be 87%, 91%, and 87% efficient at 20%, 50%, and 100% loads, respectively.
Out of the box, we get ten modular power cables and one AC power cable with the SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W. As expected, the modular cables are quite easy to bend. The flat cables are flexible enough to allow easy cable management in a desktop computer. 18 AWG wires are found on all the cables, which is common in modern supplies. The company opted out of fattening the high current motherboard and PCIe cables to 16 AWG.
The following modular cables are included out of the box:
- 1x ATX 20+4 pin, 60.0cm
- 2x ATX 4+4 pin, 75.0cm
- 1x EPS 8-pin, 65.0cm
- 3x PCIe 6+2 pin, 2 connectors each, 65.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
- 2x SATA/Molex/Floppy, 5 connectors each, 60.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA, 4 connectors, 60.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
These are specified measurements from the manufacturer. These cable lengths are actually quite long since 50cm is the general standard. Therefore, most users should have no problems with the SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W's reach in modern cases.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
