SilverStone ST-400 400W Power Supply Review
Have you ever heard of SilverStone Technology? Neither have I. Today we will be continuing the power supply week by looking at SilverStone Technologies new power supply from their Strider series line in hopes that we see what we can expect from SilverStone Technology.
About SilverStone Technology
SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd is a new name in the market. They have just started out this year and their main business is chassis designs (PC Cases), power supply products and more. Most of their R&D Team were former members of ACTS (CoolerMaster division). They are based in Taiwan and also have a branch operated in the LA area.
The box is a bit different than other power supply boxes
The package was delivered to me via UPS and in a corrugated box. The box had amounts of pink Styrofoam to protect the package from any harm. I opened the package quickly to see what this new power supply could do. The box was nicely designed and with nice quality cardboard paper feel as that of Soltek’s mainboard box. The box has the company logo and with the front saying boldly, “Lowest Acoustic”. SilverStone Technologies main slogan from what I can from the box is “The force behind our innovation is your needs”. The side of the package has some information regarding the power supply.
Specifications
- High Efficiency power solution.
- Optimum quality standard
- 120mm Fan assume PC stability
- Supports Serial ATA connector
- Auto thermal sensors optimize low acoustics
- Background noise is ~26dBA in normal operation
- Fan sensor
- 400W of power
- MTBF of 100,000 hours (Approximately 9-10 years)
- Safety Approvals: UL/CUL, CB, TUV, Denoko, Nemko, VDE
- EMC Regulations: FCC, CE
+3.3V |
+5V |
-5V |
+12V |
-12V |
+5VSB |
28A |
30A |
0.5A |
18A |
0.8A |
3A |
What you get with this power supply is the main unit that packs 400W of power and a power cord. Unfortunately there are no mounting screws provided.
Almost noticeably you will notice something different, something unique. This power supply is dead gorgeous. The SilverStone ST-400 has sexy looks and has a reflective aluminum housing. The main design is similar to the Seasonic power we just looked at but even at a higher level of design. The power supply has one of the nicest paint quality I have seen in a while. It's up there with the A+GPB paints. The details of the power supply are top-notch. The main power supply unit is quite heavy in size and is a good indication of quality.
The cables and the sleeves
The SilverStone ST-400 power supply comes with 1 ATX cable, 1 Aux cable, 1 P4 cable, 5 Molex connectors, 2 Floppy connectors, 1 SATA connector and one for monitoring the fan RPM. Right off the bat you notice two things. The first thing that is the SilverStone ST-400 comes with a SATA connector. However, this is connector is not an adaptor, it’s actually built-in the power supply drawing power from the main source. It doesn’t go through an adaptor. This is a great feature, as newer power supplies will have this. SATA will become the standard and you are ready to go with the ST-400. I did want to SATA connectors though as RAID is becoming more and more popular. The second thing you notice is the sleeving. Not only is the ATX cable is sleeved, the AUX and P4 connectors are sleeved as well. The attention to quality is shown through these. However, I would have liked a bit longer cables for taller cases. They were too short for my liking. You have only 5 Molex connections to work with. I feel more should have been added, as today’s systems need more.
The SATA cable and the 120mm cooling
Here on top the ST-400 power supply lays the 120mm fan cooling that I really like. This provides very low sound and a higher effectiveness of cooling that surpasses all 80mm solutions on the market. You have a bugger surface area of heat that is being transferred outwards. Looks like this is becoming the new trend among power supplies and SilverStone Technology and Seasonic have been picking this up.
- Small movie of fan silence - (Camera sound is cracky, I know but I can't do anything. The PSU is silent though, thats why you can't hear any other noises on top the noise you already hear.) WMP9 Required
The rear and the side shot
Looking at the rear of the power supply has the honeycomb style grill that the air will flow out of. The grill has a tiny bit smaller honeycombs but is very effective is dissipating the heat. You have your standard power supply input and a manual voltage regulation switch.
Inside the PSU
The inside of the power supply is rather tidy and gives space for the hot air to flow through. You have two blocks of aluminum that helps the transfer of heat and a switch that handles the voltages. The fan selection, which SilverStone has selected to go with in cooling, is the ADDA brand. ADDA fans are very quiet and this one cools well as well.
Let’s get on with the testing shall we?
Testing will consist of running the SilverStone ST-400 power supply on the test system for about 72 hours. After then, is where the idle and load voltages will be jotted down.
Results
Idle
(30 mins) |
Load
(Toast 5 mins) |
+12V
= 11.73 |
+12V
= 11.65 |
+5V
= 5.08 |
+5V
= 5.16 |
-12V
= -11.97 |
-12V
= -12.05 |
-5V
= -5.04 |
-5V
= -5.09 |
The SilverStone ST-400 held its ground with the test system providing good rails overall. Some are almost spot on. Every rail was close to it’s rating but the 12V was a little low. We did not experience any stability issues or lock-ups during testing.
Conclusion
I have to say I am very impressed. Truly. Out of nowhere SilverStone Technology has entered the market and I see great potential and see great quality with this unit. I like the fact that not only was the ATX cable sleeved; the Aux and P4 connectors were as well. We also have the SATA cable that is drawing power out of the power supply and not in a form of an adaptor. Lastly we have the high quality and fit and finish in this unit. The looks are a bonus.
All in all I rate the SilverStone 400W ST-400 power supply a…
8/10!
Pros and Cons
+
Sexy looks
+ Construction
+ SATA cable (non adaptor form)
+ 120mm cooling and silent!
+ Sleeved ATX, AUX and P4 connectors
+ Good power
- Only 5 Molex connectors, more would be appreciated
- Short cables
- 12V rail is a little bit low
I would like to thank SilverStone Technology for making this review possible. Hopefully this is an indication of things to come from SilverStone Technology. You will see more products from this company here at ModSynergy.
Please visit the in-progress SilverStone Technology site at: www.SilverStonetek.com for more information on this product and others.
You can pick this power supply up directly at SilverStone Technologies website for a MSRP of $70U.S which is a little high but has some competition. If they find a retailer such as Newegg, I would assume that the price would be lower and more competitive from what I have seen. We will keep you updated if we hear anything.
