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| When it comes to brand recognition in the PC power supply market, PC Power and Cooling is the geek equivalent of Ferrari. The Turbo-Cool series have been chosen for the illustrious honor of powering the MaximumPC Dream Machine on a regular basis, and their quality is known throughout the enthusiast community. However, the top end of the PSU market is not nearly as elusive as it used to be. New market contenders like Corsair, Ultra and Antec have all launched products intended to assault the top position. Does PC Power and Cooling retain their elite status, or have they been overtaken? Today, we will find out by comparing the Silencer 610 EPS12V with my current standby, the Corsair 620HX. Out of Box Experience: First off, let's take a look at what we have. Unlike motherboards and video cards, PSU package bundles rarely have much in the way of extras, and that is just fine by me. Here we have the power cable, the PSU, four screws and a basic manual. For the PSU unit itself, the first thing we notice is the fan configuration. Instead of a 120mm fan on the bottom that many PSUs today use, the Silencer uses a single 80mm fan directly on the exhaust. Everybody knows that the larger fan you use, the less RPMs required to push the same CFM, and thus less noise generated. So, how does PC Power and Cooling justify using a smaller fan on a "silent" power supply? According to a PDF found here, PCP&C claim that the secret is in fan layout. PCP&C goes on to state that the Silencer reduces "air turbulence" by making the supply a little bit longer, and saving some space right in front of the fan. In another document, entitled "Power Supply Myths Exposed!", PCP&C goes on to claim that power supplies with a top mounted 120mm fan generally skimp on everything from passive cooling within the unit, to smaller capacitors and other components that essentially limit the power capabilities of the supply, in order to allow for the space for the large fan. We will investigate these claims further as we go on. As we rotate the PSU around, we get a further feel for the aesthetic feel of the unit. The entire supply is textured in a subtle black. We can also see the "SLI Ready" sticker. On the other side, we see a little venting, and a sneak preview of some of the coils. Nothing terribly exciting here, just the top of the PSU. On the front of PSU, we see the rest of the cooling, in the form of vents. This should be where most of the fresh air is pulled from. On most PSUs, a fan would be installed here, however, on the Silencer, all we have is the power ratings label. Shall we crack her open? With the top removed. we see what PCP&C were referring to in regards to giving the fan some breathing room. The large passive heatsinks are also aligned in such a way as to be the most conducive to airflow. The large vents can be seen on the right, this is where the fresh air comes from. Here we have a close look at the coils. A small plastic guard ensures that the coils do not make contact with the casing. On this side, we can see some of the caps, as well as the wiring configuration. While it appears the 12V (yellow) rails are split into two rails, it is actually a single unified rail. |
Cables:
Up next is the cable configuration. The way a power supply has its cables laid out can make or break a unit for many users. Modular supplies add some flexibility, so for a standard PSU, it is even more important. First, we have the motherboard connectors:
The Silencer includes a 24-pin, a 4-pin, and an 8-pin EPS connector. This should be sufficient for any motherboard, past or present. Next up, the PCI-e power connectors.
Here, the Silencer again shows off its flexibility, as it has two PCI-e plugs, one being a standard 6-pin, the other a 6-pin with a 2-pin add on, for overclocking the new ATi HD 2900 series GPUs. Finally, we have our general purpose Molex and SATA connectors:
There are two identical Molex strands, with three plugs apiece. Only one here is shown.
The last Molex strand has two standard Molex plugs, with one floppy style plug.
There are also two identical strands of SATA plugs, with three connectors each. Once again, I am left bewildered as to why there is so much wiring between SATA plugs. One of these days a PSU maker will hear my pleas and make a SATA strand with plugs only 1.5" apart. Oh well, time to go onto the rest of the review...
Specifications and Features:
This is the part of the review where we let the manufacturer speak for themselves as to what their products are capable of. According to the PCP&C website, this is how the Silencer is laid out:
Features:
- 610W Continuous @ 40C (670W Peak)
- Up to 90% (10dB) Less Noise per Watt
- EPS12V / NVIDIA® SLI™ Certified
- High Efficiency (83%); .99 Active PFC
- +12VDC @ 49A (Large Single Rail)
- 24-pin, 8-pin, 4-pin M/B Connectors
- 2 PCI-E and 15 Drive Connectors
- Automatic Fan Speed Control Circuit
- Black Finish (Copper on request)
- 3-Year Warranty and Tech Support
Specifications:
| AC Input | |
| Operating Range: | 90-264 VAC .99 power factor |
| Frequency: | 47-63Hz |
| Current: | 10A |
| Efficiency: | 83% |
| EMI: | FCC-B, CE |
| DC Output | |
| Output: | +5V @ 30A +12V @ 49A -12V @ 0.8A +3.3V @ 24A +5VSB @ 3A continuous = 610W peak = 670W |
| Regulation: | 3% (+3.3V, +5V, +12V) 5% (-12V) |
| Ripple: | 1% (p-p) |
| Hold Time: | 16ms |
| PG Delay: | 300ms |
| Safety | |
| OV Protection: | +3.3V, +5V, +12V |
| OC Protection: | 135% OPP |
| Agency Approval: | UL/ULC/CE/CB/RoHS |
| Environmental | |
| Temperature: | 0° - 40°C |
| Humidity: | 20% - 80% RH |
| Fan Type: | 22 - 55 CFM ball-bearing |
| Noise: | 26-38dB(A) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Compatibility: | EPS12V / NVIDIA SLI™ certified |
| M/B Connectors: | 24-pin, 8-pin, 4-pin, dual 6-pin Video |
| Drive Connectors: | 15 (6 SATA, 8 Molex, 1 mini) |
| MTBF: | 100,000 hours |
| Power Cord: | 6' 18AWG (incl.) |
| Warranty: | 3 Years |
Testing and Performance:
On the bench we are going to be stressing the Silencer with the following parts:
| CPU: | Opteron 170, 2.75GHz, 1.51V |
| Motherboard: | DFI Lan Party nF4 Ultra-D |
| GPU: | OCZ 8800GTX, 576MHz Core, 900MHz RAM |
| RAM: | 2x1GB OCZ Platinums, 250MHz, 3-3-2-8, 2.8V |
| Case: | Danger Den Water Box Plus |
| Sound: | X-Fi XtremeMusic |
| Cooling: | CoolerMaster GeminII with 2x120mm Antec TriCool fans |
| Hard Drives: | 1x500GB Seagate Barracuda 2x150GB Raptor X |
Voltages:
First off, we are going to measure voltage stability. I am using SpeedFan's built in logging capability to capture the voltage readings in realtime, while applying various loads to the system. I am using Orthos to load both cores on the CPU simultaneously, using Large FFTs. For the GPU, I used the 3DMark06 test "Deep Freeze", with 8xAA, 16xAF, at 1920x1200. I randomly applied loads over the course of 30 minutes to see if I could get any significant variance.
This is the variance from the 12V rail. The graph shows what is considered acceptable, ie, 12V +/- 5%. In this case, the rail stayed around 11.65V and varied to just below 11.6 and just above 11.7 volts. That is less than a 1% variance in either direction, which is very good.
Next up is the 3.3V and 5V rails. The 3.3V rail hung around 3.25V and pretty much just stayed there. The 5V rail moved a little bit, but not much, staying solid at 4.81V.
Vcore was also very stable, only moving from 1.46 to 1.47V. Next up, we will take a look at power efficiency compared to the Corsair 620HX.
Power usage was measuered at the plug with a Kill-A-Watt meter. Idle is defined as being on the desktop, and load was achieved by running Orthos and 3DMark06 at max settings simultaneously. Here we can see that the Silencer is a more efficient power supply, using 32W less at idle and 5W less under load. Next up, lets take a look at noise and thermal performance.
For noise measurements, we used a Radio Shack sound meter, capable of measuring both dBA and dBC weighted measurements. When testing, the sound meter was placed approximately one inch from the exhaust of the PSU, in order to magnify any effect the PSU noise would have. In reality, since the user is much furrher away, the effect of PSU noise would be much smaller. The dBA weighting system emphasizes the 3-6kHz range where the ear is most sensitive. The dBC scale is more broad and does not attenuate low frequencies nearly as much. When in idle, both the Silencer and the Corsair perform very similarly. Under dBC, both have the same value of 64 dB, and the Corsair is slightly quieter in dBA. When under load however, the story changes a bit. The silencer becomes 6dBC louder than the Corsair, while still maintaining a 2dB delta in dBA. This would seem to suggest that there is a lot more low frequency noise being generated by Silencer when loaded.
As for temps, the single 80mm fan actually does a good job of keeping the Silencer cool, with air temperatures consistently 2-3C lower under load than the Corsair unit.
Conclusion:
I was a bit skeptical that a single 80mm located right on the exhaust would really be quieter than the traditional top mounted 120mm PSU, and it looks like my skepticism was warranted. While it is not the most quiet PSU out there, it is still a darn good unit. The rails are rock solid, and the efficiency is top notch. The fact that the little 80mm fan is able to keep the PSU cooler than the Corsair is a plus as well. The added length of the PSU may cause some headaches for smaller mid-towers, but should not be a problem for most people. Not using a modular system for plugs is a drawback, as pretty much every other high-end PSU maker is utilizing modular plugs for at least some models. As for value, the price has come down quite a bit, and is fairly comparable to similar units on the market.
Pros:
► Stable
► Cool
► Excellent finish
► High compatibility, for EPS motherboards and HD 2900 GPUs
► Efficient
Cons:
► Not as quiet as hoped
► No modular plugs
| | |
| Innovation: | 8.0 out of 10 |
| Performance: | 8.5 out of 10 |
| Quality: | 9.0 out of 10 |
| Stability: | 9.5 out of 10 |
| Overclocking: | N/A |
| Software/Drivers Pack: | N/A |
| Value: | 7.5 out of 10 |
| Overall Rating 8.5 | |
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| Project Skill Level | 3 out of 10 |
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Power supply packages seem to be the one component that doesn't try to sell the product with advertising. For the most part, power supply packages come loaded with information and photos and not extravagant marketing. This SilverStone package is no different with maturity being the one word that comes to mind when summing up this package.
Wrapped in plastic, the package is protected from being opened prior to your purchase. There isn't really anything that could be pulled from this package if it wasn't wrapped in plastic, but I always like getting a box that is sealed when I buy something.
The entire package is written in English but this one side does have a brief description in six different languages for an international flavor.
The opposite end is used to show the cable connections that come with the power supply and some of the other features that SilverStone wants to show off including the OCP, OVP, SCP and NLO protection that is incorporated in the Zeus line of power supplies.
Moving around to the front edge of the package we see the standard specifications that most people look for when making a power supply purchase. The specifications and amperage chart are listed on the left hand side providing all the necessary information to potential buyers.
The top, like every other package I have received in the last month or so, has a carrying handle built into it. A nice touch but again, with the package being wrapped in plastic it doesn't really serve any purpose until you get the power supply home and at that point you really won't be carrying the box around that much. Perhaps a lunchbox for the kids once you have installed the power supply?
I will state it again, the classy look of this package really speaks volumes about SilverStone as a company. The cases they provide are stunning and this power supply looks to be just as fashionable. Next up will be a look at the specifications that Zeus ST56ZF offers.
The specification sheets on power supplies can be quite overwhelming to most so we will start out with the basic info that almost anyone looking for a power supply will want to see from prospective candidates.
This chart is an expansion from the basic info we found on the exterior of the package above. It almost seems odd to see a single 12v rail but when there is 38A on that single rail any un-easiness melts away like snow in the spring. If that isn't enough specifications for you, you will want to download the detailed specifications sheet in PDF format from the SilverStone web site.
In the package section I mentioned the various protective features that SilverStone offers with this power supply, here is a breakdown of those features that can be ultimately found in the PDF file linked above.
OCP - Over Current Protection
This is a safety feature that will prevent the +3.3v, +5v, and +12v rails from producing a set value that could damage your components by shutting the power supply down. Simply power cycling the unit will allow for the power supply to function again.
OVP - Over Voltage Protection
Again, any over voltage on any of the rails will cause the power supply to shut down at a preset value.
SCP - Short Circuit Protection
If the output voltage is short circuited then the power supply will automatically shut itself down.
NLP - No Load Protection
This just allows the power supply to run without causing damage with no load being placed on it. This feature will allow for me to test the voltages of the various rails without any load in the performance section.
This is what SilverStone has to say about their own power supply:
The last of the specifications we will look at is the cable connections. I mentioned earlier, in the introduction of this review, that there is a plethora of connections stemming from this power supply and this list borrowed from SilverStone�s web site will confirm that.
That is definitely an impressive list of available connections in the wiring loom. Note the 8-pin ATX12V connector near the top of the list. Some new enthusiast and server motherboards are coming out with an 8-pin power connection and SilverStone has ensured that this power supply is future proofed by going with the 8-pin connector with an adapter to hook up with the normal 4-pin ATX power connection on 939 and P4 boards. As a consumer, this is appreciated so that a necessary upgrade may be avoided down the road with a new motherboard purchase.
At some point the package has to be opened and that time is now.
We are initially greeted with the ST56ZF manual placed on top. The manual is more of an information booklet explaining all the features and in-depth specifications of the power supply laying in wait under the protective top cardboard piece.
With that top cardboard flap lifted, we can see that there is Styrofoam secured to the underside to protect the power supply. The box of accessories is tucked in-between the power supply and one sidewall with more styrofoam underneath the power supply holding it tightly in place. A package cannot get much neater or more secure than this one.
Since the power supply is not a modular one, there really isn't a lot of pieces inside the box. There is just the power supply and bundle of wires, the manual, and the box that contains some goodies.
Inside the little white box is a power cord, the 8-pin to 4-pin adapter along with a small bag of mounting screws, a bracket, and something that is often overlooked by lesser power supplies; some cable ties to aid in cable management.
There are no real surprises when we pull the power supply out of the box. The exterior is a nice flat black with nothing on it other than the sticker shown here. The grill at the front houses an 80mm fan behind it and the cables come out the rear all bundled together.
Silverstone takes care where the cables release from the power supply by incorporating a cable tie to keep the bundle in place. The 24-pin, 8-pin, and both 6-pin cables come sleeved in the mesh netting while the rest of the cables are kept together with periodical cable ties that are all neatly trimmed.
The entire front of the power supply is grilled and we can see inside by looking through it. Two very large heatsinks are hard to miss as we peak inside. It does not look like there is a second fan anywhere, so the one that we saw at the rear appears to be the only active cooling for this power supply. That might lead to some unwanted noise and I will be checking for that during testing.
As mentioned, there is no bottom fan like so many power supplies have these days. We will see how that plays out during testing.
Removing the bubble wrap lets the cables run free. There is a large number of connections and it shows. Meshing the 24-pin, 6-pin, and 8-pin cables will definitely help keep the interior of cases that this power supply is mounted in look clean. Again, even those cables that are not wrapped in netting are cable tied at two different spots to keep them from flailing about wildly.
Going in a clockwise rotation starting in the top left is the 24-pin ATX power connection, the 8-pin motherboard connection, our 4 SATA power connections and the pair of 6-pin PCI-E connections. The finish on the meshing around the cables is very clean and tidy. Both ends, at the connectors and the power supply, are heatshrinked and very professional looking. We will now be going inside to see what SilverStone has used for components inside this guy.
The first order of business was to take the 80mm fan out. We can see those two huge heatsinks on top that we saw through front grill in an earlier photo. They pretty much cover the entire interior of the power supply.
This is the fan that I removed. It is made by Sanyo Denki and I could not find the exact part number on their web site. 9A0812G406 is the model number on the fan but the closest model on the web site I could find is 9A0812G402, here are the specifications on that model.
Rated current: 0.38 A
Rated input: 4.56 W
Rated rotating speed: 4500 RPM
Air flow: 1.5 m3/min
Static pressure: 80.3 Pa
Noise: 40 dBa
Mass: 90 g
All the power connections connect to the circuit board and most of the protection features are housed on this circuit board. The quality of the solders and care taken in the tying of cables is quite impressive. This is a very neat and well put together power supply.
Anywhere heat is being generated, there seems to be an aluminum heatsink near by as is the case above, with a small heatsink providing cooling to hot components in this area.
The small heatsinks continue throughout the power supply with two more seen here aiding in keeping warm components cool.
Finding the large capacitors that we are use to seeing in a power supply took a little bit of time, but I found them tucked in here behind another circuit board on the opposite side of the cable connections. There are three in total but due to their location I was unable to determine their brand or model number.
Here is one more shot of the three large capacitors seen through the front grill. Again, the Zeus ST56ZF seems very solid and well made by SilverStone. We will now move on to the performance section where we can see how it performs.
As with all other power supplies we review here at Overclockers Online, the SilverStone ST56ZF will run under three different load situations and the voltages from the various connections will be recorded with a digital 2 decimal multimeter. Here is the list of components that the ST56ZF will be powering during the testing period.
nForce4 Ultra Chipset @1.8v
AMD Venice 3000+ @ 295*9 1.60v
Asetek VapoChill Micro Ultra Low Noise
OCZ 1024-3200ELGEGXT_K 241MHz 2-2-2-5 3.14v
HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB 570MHz core / 600MHz memory
2 X 36.6GB WD Raptor 10,000R4PM
2 X 250GB WD 7,200RPM SATAII 16MB/cache
2 X 160GB Maxtor 7,200RPM IDE 8MB/cache
2 x Asetek 92 mm fans
1 X CM 80mm fan
Components are spread out across my desk.
Power Supply:
SilverStone Zeus ST56ZF
Here is a quick photo I took during the testing period. I didn't realize just how many hard drives I had until they were all lined up like that.
For the testing I ran the system for 4 hours under load using Prime95 on torture test blend, at idle with nothing more than background services running, and in a power-on state with nothing plugged into the power supply. I took 3 random readings throughout the 4 hour period in each state and averaged out the results for the charts below. Let's take a look at the numbers:
There is a noticeable pattern on all connectors, which makes sense as they are all on the single rail. The voltage drops ever so slightly from power-on to idle and again under load. The largest drop was on the 4-pin auxiliary connection to the motherboard that went from 12.15v at power-on to 12.00v under load. This is only a drop of 1.25% which is quite acceptable considering how much voltage was being used by the CPU and RAM, all on the same rail. SiSoft Sandra estimates that the CPU is using almost a full 100W by itself.
SilverStone also has the power supply putting out exactly what it should be on the +3.3v, +5v, and +12v lines with every connector supplying no more than 1.25% voltage over what it should be. The margin for error in power supplies is generally accepted at 5%-6% so SilverStone is well within those limits.
When it is all said and done, the SilverStone Zeus ST56ZF is a very solid offering. The package is top notch with very little chance of damage being done to the unit during any amount of transport and the power supply inside is just as good. In addition, the quality of the cables is excellent, with clean heatshrinking and artistic cable tying. Another nice feature of this power supply is that the length of the cables should allow this power supply to be used inside of any case no matter how big. If you noticed in the testing photo I have the power supply a good 6 inches lower than the desk that the motherboard is sitting on and the cables reach to all connections on it quite easily. The cables are also quite easy to maneuver, twist, and bend in order to go where you want.
My DFI LanParty motherboard did not pick up the temperature of the power supply but during the entire testing period the exterior of the unit did not really get warm at all. I know my hands are not a temperature probe but all sides of the outer shell seemed to be room temperature throughout the extensive testing period. The fan does run fairly fast at all times but doesn�t make a lot of noise. I did notice a slight vibration type rattle when I had just the power supply on for the voltage testing and it didn't seem to disappear once the power supply was hooked up to the motherboard. You could only hear the high-pitch sound when you have your ear pointed at the unit and within a short distance but the noise is still there. Despite only having a single fan the power supply did seem to remain quite cool but a large 120mm fan in the bottom would have been nice to help the rear fan and allow it to run at a lower RPM.
Over the past three weeks I have had this power supply running pretty much 24/7 under 100% load with the same system as in testing just without all the hard drives. I have been working on a memory review where the RAM is sucking on 3.5v at times for the last week and not once has the SilverStone Zeus ST56ZF rebooted, shutdown, or acted unruly in any way. Don't let the single rail turn you off in this multi-rail world as the SilverStone Zeus ST56ZF is a worthy competitor to power your next high-end system.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Added note: We have just been told that the Silverstone ST56ZF has now been certified by nVidia as an SLI Certified Power Supply!
For a list of all certified products, please visit SLI Zone
Overclockers Online would like to thank Silverstone for providing the sample
