Page 2 - A Close Look - Outside
When it comes to design, the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W takes a very similar, if not exactly the same design, as the previous model. As with the SilverStone Strider Gold, they chose to use a rougher textured metal finish instead of the standard black matte finish. Although it isn't exactly the best material to feel necessarily, it does have a certain aspect to it that makes it appealing and fits the theme as well as the original Strider Gold did. From this side, we can see the 139mm fan, which has become the de-facto standard, so to speak. The eight ring fan grille that is placed on top of it has the SilverStone logo smack dab in the center, which adds to the overall design of the power supply. The four sides of the PSU have screws that hold the power supply together; removing these will void the warranty. However, for this report's sake, we will open up the power supply later on to take a look at the components used to build the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W.
Sizing in at 150 mm (W) x 86 mm (H) x 180 mm (D), which, unsurprisingly, is the exact same as the SilverStone Strider Gold ST75F-G 750W. This design will fit well in most standard ATX and eATX cases. As with the previous generation, all power supplies in this series are the same size, whether it is the 750W version or the 1200W version. Generally speaking, there will only be one size that needs to be checked before purchasing the power supply. This will most likely be true for mATX cases that have limited space in comparison to its bigger brothers.
The back of the PSU has quite a standard design as with all the generations of SilverStone Strider power supplies. There is honeycomb mesh all surrounding a power socket, which can be found on the left side. Similar to previous designs, the power switch is noticeably missing, although this does leave more room for more airflow. There may be times when using the power switch could be useful, but in my past experience, I can't say I have exactly missed the feature. On the other hand, pressing a switch is much easier than removing the power cable and inserting it again later. Like most modern power supplies, the Strider Gold features an automatic full range (100V-240V) AC line voltage selection, so that users do not have to adjust the input voltage for their current country, making it simple to just plug in the power supply, and start using it right away. The top of the power supply has the SilverStone logo engraved onto it, as with the previous generation as well.
Found on the left side of the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W is the standard power output/rail configuration information label. Information found here includes warnings, various certifications, and most importantly, wattage information. Combined together, the +3.3V rail and +5V rail gets 150W combined -- while independently, they can theoretically get up to 72.6W and 125W, respectively. In practice, we cannot go over the maximum combined output of 150W as mentioned. The above calculations were done using the formula P = IV. The +12 V rail has a sustained current of 62A, which means it can deliver up to 744W. That is 99.2% of the power supply's maximum combined rated output. In terms of the -12V rail, it is given 0.3A of current for 3.6W output overall. Finally, the +5Vsb gets 3.5A for a total of 17.5W. All of this together cannot be higher than the maximum combined wattage of 750W, except at peak with is rated at 850W; useful for starting up your computer when some components require significantly more power to start up than to run such as hard disks. Overall, the numbers are quite impressive and well distributed for a 750W power supply.
Similar to the previous generations of SilverStone Strider power supplies, none of the cables are perpetually attached to the PSU. Every single cable is modular, which has some pros and cons. The good thing about is would be the ease of use factor initially, but it could also cost some higher efficiency loss. Since energy loss can occur at the connector contacts, as opposed to things that are soldered down directly on the printed circuit board's output. Although I do for the most part enjoy having modular cables, I don't believe that every single one needs to be, such as the one for the motherboard -- I can't be sure about this but I hear most computer builders will have this attached anyways. SilverStone told us they were the first company to use a 100% modular design back in 2006, and that they designed this with smaller form factor cases in mind. Since SilverStone also sells a short cable kit with model number PP05, this actually makes a lot of sense in terms of wanting shorter cables for tight fitting cases and for better cabling jobs. In addition it can also save time in the future to just replace the PSU and leave all the cables intact. Either way, all of them are clearly sized and color coded to makes sure the cables are plugged into the right slots on this portion of the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution.
As state earlier, the power supply has a rough metal finish for a rugged feel to it. I find this quite appealing visually speaking, and the overall quality seems solid to the touch. The SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W is built well with all the corners sanded and feels study as well. There are no sharp edges or obvious imperfections carried down from the manufacturing process that can be found. Even though not everyone will find the rougher material as attractive as some matte finishes, this is the power supply unit in a computer and in most cases we won't necessarily be feeling it up each day. However, if you do have this urge, by all means get one with a matte finish and hope that this secret never sees the light of day.
The following modular cables, with the quantity of total connectors, are included out of the box:
- 1 x 24 / 20-Pin Motherboard connector (550mm)
- 1 x 8 / 4-Pin EPS / ATX 12V connector (750mm)
- 1 x 8 / 4-Pin EPS / ATX 12V connector (550mm)
- 2 x 8 / 6-Pin PCIE connector (550mm)
- 2 x 6-Pin PCIE connector (550mm/150mm)
- 8 x SATA connector (600mm/150mm/150mm/150mm)
- 6 x 4-Pin Peripheral connector (600mm/150mm/150mm)
- 2 x 4-Pin Floppy connector (600mm/150mm/150mm/150mm)
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
