The SilverStone Strider Gold S 1500W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on April 7, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- SilverStone
- 1500W
Introduction
SilverStone is one of the most reputable PC chassis and PSU manufacturers worldwide. The company is no stranger to AnandTech as we reviewed a plethora of their products during the years. However, it has been a long time since we reviewed one of their high-end power supply units; as a matter of fact, ever since the review of the Zeus 1200W PSU seven years ago, we have only been reviewing their least powerful PSU models. As a result, SilverStone supplied us with their currently most powerful model - the Strider Gold S 1500W (ST1500-GS).
SilverStone has some very interesting things to say about the Strider Gold S 1500W PSU. These include the fully modular design, 80Plus Gold certified, compact design, strict performance standards and a frightening price tag of $350. However, what is even more terrifying is that it has been rated for continuous operation at 40°C, not 50°C like the majority of manufacturers do for their high-end models. This is not in any way illegitimate as this is the normal rating for the operating temperature of consumer PSUs and other companies do rate some of their units at 40°C as well. However, a $350 PSU rated at 40°C comes with an element of shock, especially when considering our recent review units which have also had a 40ºC limit.
| Power specifications ( Rated @ 40 °C ) | ||||||
| AC INPUT | 100 - 240 VAC, 50 - 60 Hz | |||||
| RAIL | +3.3V | +5V | +12V1 | +12V2 | +5Vsb | -12V |
| MAX OUTPUT | 25A | 25A | 70A | 70A | 3.5A | 0.3A |
| 150W | 1440W | 17.5W | 3.6W | |||
| TOTAL | 1500W | |||||
Packaging and Bundle
The packaging of the Strider Gold S 1500W PSU is modest and sturdy, with a wealth of information to be found on the sides and the back of the box. The artwork is dark and very simple, as SilverStone always prefers focusing their efforts on beautifying the product itself. Inside the box, the PSU is protected very well within a polyethylene foam shell and a nylon bag.
SilverStone provides a good bundle with the ST1500-GS, consisting of a good manual, an AC power cable, a nylon fan filter guard, a few cable ties, four long cable straps and two sets of black screws (one normal set and one set of thumbscrews). The fan filter is magnetic but it can also be screwed in place if necessary.
We should note that the AC power cable included this PSU is not a standard C13 plug but a C19 plug, as shown on the unit below.
The ST1500-GS is a fully modular PSU, down to the ATX 24-pin cable. Every cable is a sleeveless, flat "ribbon" type, made using all black wires and connectors. This includes the ATX cable and the CPU/PCI-E 12V connectors. Only the blue connectors at the PSU side of the PCI Express power cables stand out against the vantablack-like design. The ATX cable also has a 4-pin voltage sensing connector that needs to be connected to the PSU separately.
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Gigaplex - Tuesday, April 7, 2015 - link
reininop: "the efficiency of these usually peaks at about 50 - 70% of rated power"DanNeely: "You obviously didn't read much if any of the article: You're way off..[snip].. and peaked at 92% efficient at a 50% load."
I'd say reininop was spot on. They were stating that efficiency is at its best at 50%-70% load, not that the PSU is 50%-70% efficient.
reininop - Wednesday, April 8, 2015 - link
You know, I typically read the intro and the final words and then if I find it interesting I go back and read the rest. In this case, I read some of the comments first as well. I have since went back and saw your power efficiency graph. I felt the comment was meant to be taking as a bit of a joke as I was pointing out a user case that almost certainly doesn't exist. For some reason, you seemed to take personal offense to it.As for the rest of you comment, I am well aware of what the 80+ gold means. I never said anything about the conversion efficiency, only the peak rate of efficiency as a function of the output power. Hence, when I said tech enthusiast, I was attempting to imply someone who actually has components that require 750 W to operate. I assume the confusion arose from my use of the word "pull" when discussing the actual system power requirements and you assumed I meant the outlet power.
KAlmquist - Wednesday, April 8, 2015 - link
The problem for the eco-conscious tech enthusiast is that the efficiency of this power supply drops significantly when power consumption falls below 300 watts. So it may be efficient during heavy gaming, but not so much when you take a break to post comments on anandtech.com.wbwb - Wednesday, April 8, 2015 - link
On the other hand, at idle load, an improvement in efficiency can make a difference of only a few watts, so it's understandable that the focus of 80plus has been on efficiency at higher loads where a little improvement can make a big difference. That was the low-hanging fruit. With that taken care of, they should now be improving the low end.Poik - Tuesday, April 7, 2015 - link
I'd just like to point out that anything above a 1440W PSU (assuming that's what they're pulling off the "mains") should really be on a 20A breaker/circuit. I know that 20A circuits are very common in the US - but they're far less common in Canada.The reason for this is that in both Canada and the US (and Europe too?) the normal household breakers are only rated to sustain 80% of their rated capacity. Ergo a 15A breaker will only hold 12A and a 20A breaker will hold 16A. Respectively those are good for 1440W and 1920W.
It's good to see the C19 plug being used here as that should force people to use a 20A T-slot plug (15/20A Hybrid) that should be common in the US. It seems very few people are aware of this but it's an important consideration - especially if you plan on using this PSU to its full potential.
Gigaplex - Tuesday, April 7, 2015 - link
Or, like the bulk of the rest of the world, it should run at ~240V.Pissedoffyouth - Wednesday, April 8, 2015 - link
Hmm really puts in perspective how lucky we are to have 240v in rest of worldex_User - Wednesday, April 8, 2015 - link
Consumer-grade 1500W PSU in year 2015? Buying one should be a freaking criminal offense -- together with multi-GPU setups and such. Really, people, wake the frack up!Oxford Guy - Thursday, April 9, 2015 - link
Criminal offense? How about asking people who just dropped 800 or more dollars on monitors (which you can still buy today) to replace them because the manufacturer isn't going to bother updating its firmware to support Freesync?ZeliaS - Wednesday, April 8, 2015 - link
Throwing this out there, I've owned a SilverStone Zeus 850W PSU for more than 8 years now... Switched 4 PC configurations on it. There were periods of more than 2 years without cleaning it. About an year ago I measured it extensively, I literally had to bend down in an efford to hear the fan, and all I have to say about my (first) experience with the brand is rounded up in one word - immaculate.