SilverStone Nightjar 400 W Power Supply Review
Load Tests
Contents
We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.
First we tested this power supply with five different load patterns, trying to pull around 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of its labeled maximum capacity (actual percentage used listed under “% Max Load”), watching how the reviewed unit behaved under each load. In the table below we list the load patterns we used and the results for each load.
If you add all the power listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can vary slightly (e.g., the +5 V output working at +5.10 V), the actual total amount of power being delivered is slightly different than the calculated value. On the “Total” row we are using the real amount of power being delive
red, as measured by our load tester.
The +12V1 and +12V2 inputs listed below are the two +12 V independent inputs from our load tester. During this test both were connected to the single +12 V rail from this power supply.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12V1 | 2.5 A (30 W) | 5.5 A (66 W) | 8 A (96 W) | 10.5 A (126 W) | 14 A (168 W) |
| +12V2 | 2.5 A (30 W) | 5.5 A (66 W) | 8 A (96 W) | 10.5 A (126 W) | 13 A (156 W) |
| +5V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 6 A (30 W) | 8 A (40 W) |
| +3.3 V | 1 A (3.3 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) | 8 A (26.4 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2 A (10 W) |
| -12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) |
| Total | 78.6 W | 158.5 W | 236.7 W | 314.6 W | 401.2 W |
| % Max Load | 19.7% | 39.6% | 59.2% | 78.7% | 100.3% |
| Room Temp. | 44.5° C | 44.4° C | 44.0° C | 44.2° C | 45.3° C |
| PSU Temp. | 51.7° C | 52.0° C | 52.2° C | 52.8° C | 53.6° C |
| Voltage Stability | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 92.7 W | 181.8 W | 272.3 W | 364.5 W | 470.8 W |
| Efficiency | 84.8% | 87.2% | 86.9% | 86.3% | 85.2% |
| AC Voltage | 114.4 V | 113.0 V | 112.6 V | 111.9 V | 110.6 |
| Power Factor | 0.963 | 0.986 | 0.991 | 0.993 | 0.995 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
SilverStone Nightjar 400 W is nothing close to an entry-level unit. It achieved an outstanding efficiency for a 400 W unit, between 85% and 87%, as you can see on the above table.
Voltage regulation was another highlight from Nightjar 400 W, with all positive outputs closer to their nominal voltages than required (3% vs. 5%), except the -12 V output, which usually doesn’t like to be so close to its nominal voltage (this output was inside its maximum limits).
Ripple and noise levels were always very low. Below you can see the results for test number five. The maximums allowed are 120 mV for +12 V and 50 mV for +5 V and +3.3 V. All values are peak-to-peak.
Figure 19: +12V1 input with the power supply delivering 401.2 W (56.4 mV).
Figure 20: +12V2 input with the power supply delivering 401.2 W (56.6 mV).
Figure 21: +5 V rail with the power supply delivering 401.2 W (29.2 mV).
Figure 22: +3.3 V rail with the power supply delivering 401.2 W (19.8 mV).
Now let’s see if we could pull more than 400 W from this unit.