Page 2 - A Close Look - Outside
In terms of design, the SilverStone Strider Gold ST75F-G 750W takes a slightly different approach compared to the Strider Plus. Instead of using the de-facto black matte finish, they opted to use a rougher textured metal finish instead. This rougher metal gives it a more rugged look, so it looks kind of different in a good way. Even though it may not be as fresh as having a white paint job found on the NZXT HALE90, this does give the Strider Gold that little touch of uniqueness. That aside, the back of the power supply has what most people would expect to see. A vast expanse of honeycomb mesh can be found surrounding the power adapter located on the right side. Noticeably missing though, as with the SilverStone Strider Plus before it, is a power switch, which was left out 'for some reason'. 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.
Residing at the bottom of the power supply is a 135mm fan used for cooling. The fan is covered by an 8-ring fan grille that is partially blocked by a SilverStone logo at the center of it all. Fan grilles provide low airflow impedance and block out cables or other things from getting stuck into the power supply, which could possibly lead to permanent damage. The fan grille is attached to the casing using four screws, so it is possible to clean out the fan in case it gets dirty later on without voiding the warranty. Four Phillip head screws are located near the corners of this side of the power supply, and can be removed to unlatch its cover for access to its internal components. Be warned though, opening up the power supply voids the warranty. and should most likely not be done as there are no user serviceable parts inside. If you are interested in finding out what is going on under the hood, simply navigate to Page 3 of this report, and we have everything you need to know. With pictures. In color.
Measuring in at 150 mm (W) x 86 mm (H) x 180 mm (D), the SilverStone Strider Gold ST75F-G 750W is 20mm longer than the previous generation unit, while the other measurements stay the same (Otherwise it won't fit in a standard ATX case). This may potentially cause some problems smaller cases that do not have virtually unlimited length for power supply bays. Just be sure to check out the dimensions of the power supply area of your computer chassis before purchasing the Strider Gold. Interestingly, all the power supplies in this series up to the 1200W model are physically the same size, meaning this was also done to save on production costs. This is good, since some of this reduced cost will be passed down to the consumer... or makes more money for the manufacturer, depending on how you look at it.
Similar to the previous generation of SilverStone Strider power supplies, none of the cables are permanently affixed to the power supply. All of them are modular, which can be both good and bad. The good is it is easier to work with initially, but the bad part is that there might be higher efficiency loss. This is due to energy loss in the connector contacts, as compared to ones soldered directly onto the printed circuit board's output. Although I generally prefer to have modular cables, I do not believe all of them need to be, such as the one for the motherboard -- I am pretty sure everyone using this power supply will use this one attached anyway. In any case, all of them are clearly sized and color coded to make sure the right cables are put into the right slots located on this portion of the SilverStone Strider Gold.
As aforementioned, the power supply uses a rough metal finish for that rugged feel. I actually find it quite visually appealing, and do not feel cheap when touched. The SilverStone Strider Gold ST75F-G 750W is built very well with smooth sanded corners and feels very solid. There are neither sharp edges nor obvious imperfections carried down from manufacturing. Even if you find it to be not as appealing as the ones with the black matte finish subjectively, not many people will take that much time to take a look at their power supplies anyway. Unless you are as picky as our Editor-in-Chief Jonathan and his white NZXT HALE90, I'm quite confident that the look of most power supplies will not be the main selling point, haha.
Found on the left side of the SilverStone Strider Gold ST75F-G 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 66W 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.
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)
As aforementioned, all the cables are modular, and come in a bundle inside the box. There are no cables that are not sleeved; all of them are of good quality. The PCIe cables actually have 2200uF capacitors its ends for voltage stabilization. All cables are easy to work with, so we can make our final build as visually appealing as possible. All of the included cables come in good length and are long enough to fit in the largest full tower cases. SilverStone also offers short cable kits if you have a small form factor chassis. All modular cables are designed so they can only be inserted one way in order to prevent confusion with other cables, or simply plugging them in incorrectly. All in all, these cables are designed very well.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
