Page 4 - Minor Tests and Conclusion
Power supplies are interesting products -- because often, reviews of products in this category are conducted and tested in methods that make it difficult to distinguish one power supply from another. Many aspects have to be taken into consideration -- of which certain criteria consists of efficiency, noise, power ripples, and of course the ability to pull out the rated specifications. Because many cannot afford such equipment to obtain results regarding those aspects, articles covering power supplies often come out with less than adequate and acceptable information. As this is a product report -- not a review -- what we are doing is a close examination of the power supply, and the internal hardware and build. But what we can do for you is do some minor testing with the results we can present to you with, and let other review sites with professional equipment show you the actual test results. We're not going to try to BS you by installing the power supply into the latest gaming rig and try to take readings from that, as this is not even remotely the correct way to test power supply units. We understand that many websites do that as a means of load testing, but the results, even if you use an oscilloscope and multimeter at each output location, it is not sufficient, nor does it accurately reflect the performance of the power supply.
Using our power supply tester which exerts minimum load on the power supply, the initial power consumption was 12W. This is very similar in comparison to our recently reported power supplies, such as the NZXT HALE82 750W and Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W power supplies, tested at 13W and 10w respectively. It is also better in comparison to the previous generation SilverStone Strider Gold ST75F-G 750W, which ran at 16W.
The voltages with minimal load are generally accurate and within range. A basic requirement of all good PSUs is to deliver the right voltages through the rails at minimal load, or there could be problems when using it in the first place. All of the values are consistent with the rated ones; everything is just as advertised. Independent reviews from websites with professional load testing equipment showed the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W delivered excellent efficiency across the board -- right up to its rated wattage. This includes its 80 Plus Gold certification.
Active power correction is important to correct AC load line loss. In AC power, there are three components to it; as there is a phase difference between current and voltage. This makes up the power triangle, which consists of the following: Average usable power (P, measured in watts), reactive power (Q, denoted as VA-R), and total power (S, written as VA). While they all have the same physical units, it is not the same thing as aforementioned. What we want is the average usable power -- with as little wasted reactive power as possible. The total power provided over the AC line is the magnitude of the two combined (sqrt(P^2+Q^2)). Power factor can then be easily calculated by P/S. The ideal value is 1.00, and this is where active PFC comes in. A nominal load of 185W on the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W had the power factor alternate between 0.94 and 0.95. As the load increases to around 200W, the power factor stabilizes to 0.95, as shown in our photo above. It should get closer to 0.99 as the load continues to increase.
When we get down to the topic of noise, the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W ran quieter than I expected; if anything it is even quieter than the SilverStone Strider Gold ST75F-G 750 before it. Using the Honghua HA1425L fan, it pushed out a good amount of air, while being almost completely silent in terms of the motor and turbulence noise. I still faintly hear the hum of the Honghua HA1425L fan when it runs, but it is very close to being inaudible; just about every standard component in any PC will probably run louder than this fan here -- unless, of course, you happen to be as enthusiastic about having a silent computer as our Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Kwan is used to doing so. On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is silent and 10 is the loudest, I would rate the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W to be at 1.5/10 under nominal loads. As the fan spins up, the fan gets increasingly louder, as expected. This is mainly due to the usage of the 139mm fan, which can run at lower RPM for increased airflow compared to smaller fans, which will need to ramp up the fan speed to even match the airflow of the fan included with the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W.
SilverStone provided this product to APH Networks to facilitate this report.
SilverStone managed to 'Evolve' their SilverStone Strider Gold line with their latest entry. Using full Japanese brand capacitors down to the secondary caps, component improvements, and various other improvements, SilverStone took their product line up another notch. From our affiliates with professional load testing equipment, SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W is definitely an excellent choice if you crave for performance.
Do you have any comments or questions about the SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W? Drop by our Forums. Registration is free, and it only takes a minute!
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
