The SilverStone Strider Platinum 550W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on April 8, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- PSUs
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- 550W
- SilverStone
- 80Plus Platinum
Cold Test Results
For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox and various other bits and parts. For a thorough explanation of our testing methodology and more details on our equipment, please refer to our How We Test PSUs - 2014 Pipeline post.
The conversion efficiency of the Strider Platinum 550W at room temperature is good, although it technically missed the 80Plus Platinum certification limits during our testing. For 80Plus Platinum units under 230VAC input, the directive dictates that the unit should have an efficiency of at least 92% under 20% load and our instrumentation ended up recording 91.6% at that point. The actual difference is small and can be even attributed to the slightly higher ambient temperature of our testing environment (room temperature is defined as 25 °C and that is used for 80Plus certification tests, while our room temperature was nearly 27 °C at the time of our testing). The average efficiency is 92.4% within the nominal load range (20% to 100% of the unit's capacity) and reaches up to 94.1% at 50% load, just above the 80Plus Platinum certification mark. It is also worthwhile to mention that the Strider Platinum displayed some of the best low load efficiency figures that we have seen to this date.
As this is a semi-fanless (zero fan speed idle) design, the fan is programmed not to start until it is necessary for the cooling needs of the unit. During our testing in room temperature, the fan started right before the load reached 220 Watts, 40% of the unit’s maximum capacity. After that point, the fan started and continued to increase its speed alongside with the load, but barely reached up to 60% of its maximum speed at full load, generating just above 36 dB(A). Due to the relatively high efficiency of the PSU, the Strider Platinum held low operating temperatures during our room temperature testing, barely reaching above 55 °C.
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dreamcat4 - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
Hmm. and apparently "there is a silverstone expo tomorrow". Not sure what that means since was expecting shipping / stock movement instead. But can read more about it all over here --> https://hardforum.com/threads/silverstone-sx700-lp...Sn3akr - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
For a HTPC with discrete GFX, this seems like a good idea.. We cut the cable a few years ago and went full streaming, and for our system, that also doubles as our "console" for family entertainment, i'd be intereested in something like this, since our system runs a lot of hours daily..nagi603 - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
My first thought was "Does a 550W platinum PSU even need a fan?", as I'm a happy owner of a couple Seasonic X400's that can go up to 600W load, fanless. Then I noticed the price.Note to self: not all platinum modular PSUs are made equal.
tonyou - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
According to the testing done here, this PSU at room temperature stayed fanless until around 400W so it probably doesn't need a fan most of the time in a cool running rig. That Seasonic X400 may have the hardware to run up to 600W fanless for a while but it probably doesn't meet Platinum efficiency at that power level.AbRASiON - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
Can someone explain to me the difference with silver / gold / platinum PSUs?Is it simply more energy efficient? Or is it capable of actually outputting more juice or more consistent juice?
Why not just buy a 700w platinum? If the load requirement is only 300w of components, would a 700w platinum use more power than a 550w platinum?
Namisecond - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
All power supplies have an efficiency curve with the highest efficiency around half to 3/4 full load. The better PSU manufacturers show you that curve on a graphic. The lowest efficiency will be under 20% load with the efficiency falling further the lower the load (and at the other end of the curve, falling a bit past 75% load).Under a 300W load, that 700W platinum PSU would probably use a little more power than that 550W. However, Under a 50 -100W load your gaming rig (idling while you surf the net) there may be a bigger difference in efficiency percentages.
cara smith - Friday, May 6, 2016 - link
I like the way you characterised the features of this product. I hope next month I am going to buy this awesome product. I am taking consideration of it very passionately. By the way Thanks for the review.