Page 3 - Physical Look – Inside
Following our exterior examination, let’s take a look at the inside of the SilverStone Strider Gold ST65F-G 650W. After undoing four screws and voiding our warranty, we can see the guts of the power supply. Remember, doing so at your home will void your three year warranty. If you really want to open your unit up for some unknown reason, I would wait three years for your warranty to expire.
As previously mentioned, the majority of sub-650W SilverStone power supplies come in this dimension. In other words, a 650W model is probably near the limit of what this enclosure can accommodate. However, when I first disassembled it, my first impression was how well it was organized, and it does not appear to be as packed as I have imagined. Looking at the heatsink, there is ample space around it for adequate cooling. The 80 Plus Gold certification also translates to less heat generated during operation, which requires less active and passive cooling systems.
On the other side of the AC receptacle lies the transient filter stage. Some of the components are soldered onto an upside-down PCB, which makes them partially obstructed in plain sight. With four X capacitors, four Y capacitors, three ferrite cores, and one metal-oxide varistor, the SilverStone Strider Gold ST65F-G 650W certainly did not cut any corners here. This exceeded the recommended requirements by three X capacitors and two Y capacitors. The metal-oxide varistor is used to take out spikes on the AC power line. Some lower end PSUs do not have it, and one may argue it is probably not necessary in most applications, but more protection never hurts.
On the primary side, we can see a single Japanese brand Matsushita capacitor. The primary side heatsink appears to be specially designed to reserve space for this capacitor. From visual inspection, there is a clear gap in between the two components. The Matsushita capacitor is rated for 470μF at 420V, which is an average amount of capacitance, given the wattage rating of the PSU. The capacitor is rated at 105c. Since value oriented power supplies usually use capacitors rated at 85c, there is certainly no fault in this regard.
Some of active PFC circuit is hidden behind other components. Reading the model number off each part without damaging the Strider Gold is a bit challenging. In between the capacitor and a ferrite core, I managed to read off a marking, which appears to be an Infineon CoolMOS IPW50R140CP power transistor. Using my judgment with limited amounts of information I gathered by looking at the PCB label, along with the shape and size of nearby components, I concluded there are two of said power transistors. Each Infineon IPW50R140CP can provide up to 15A continuously at 100c. At the west coast of Canada, the maximum power this circuit can provides is 3450W (15A * 2 diodes * 115V). In the real world, hardly anything is 100% efficient, and the bottleneck usually lies elsewhere in the system. Sad face.
On the secondary side, we can see a cluster of Japanese brand Chemi-Con, Matsushita, and Rubycon capacitors. All of these are rated for 105c; a sign of a high quality product. Like all modern day high efficiency power supplies, the +5V output and +3.3V output are generated from the +12V source. The +12V power source is provided by four Infineon IPP041N04N MOSFETs. At 100c, each IPP041N04N has the capability to deliver 80A continuously. With all four MOSFETs combined, they can deliver up to 320A. Further voltage step down are handled by two ANPEC APW7073 synchronous buck PWM controllers. Each of them comes with their own daughterboard, and regulates one of the output voltages.
A daughterboard spans almost the entire back surface, and provides modular connections for the SilverStone Strider Gold ST65F-G 650W. This daughterboard also houses many capacitors to provide further filtering. The SilverStone Strider Gold ST65F-G 650W uses high end components from head to toe. After all, to get 80 Plus Gold certified, not only does it require good design, but all components also need to be highly efficient. Overall, our unit is well built. Clean solder joints and bonding agents were applied to the right places with the right amount. Kudos to the manufacturer Enhance for doing such a fine job as SilverStone's OEM.
The device that keeps all the high quality parts running cool and smooth has not been forgotten. Attached to the bottom half of the case is a 120mm fan manufactured by ADDA. The model number is AD1212MS-A71Gl. It is connected to the PSU via a 2-pin connector. ADDA is a Taiwan based company specializing in computer air cooling solutions. According to the manufacturer’s data sheet, this fan can reach up to 2050 RPM, and provides up to 80.5 CFM of airflow. According to SilverStone, the fan remains at around 900 RPM till 60% load, and only reaches 1400RPM at peak. Since most power supplies are most efficient at around 50% load, and most computers really don't use that much power under nominal operating conditions, noise should be a rare issue for most people in most conditions.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
