SilverStone Strider Gold 650 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 the behavior of the reviewed unit 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 powers listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can have a slight variation (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. In the “Total” row, we are using the real amount of power being delivered, as measured by our load tester.
The +12VA and +12VB inputs listed below are the two +12 V independent inputs from our load tester. During this test, the +12VA and +12VB inputs were connected to the power supply’s single +12 V rail. (The +12VB input was connected to the power supply EPS12V connector.)
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 5 A (60 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 14.5 A (174 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 23.5 A (282 W) |
| +12VB | 5 A (60 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 14 A (168 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 23.5 A (282 W) |
| +5 V | 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) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 W) | 3 A (15 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 | 139.5 W | 270.3 W | 390.4 W | 521.4 W | 648.8 W |
| % Max Load | 21.5% | 41.6% | 60.1% | 80.2% | 99.8% |
| Room Temp. | 45.3° C | 44.3° C | 44.8° C | 46.4° C | 46.5° C |
| PSU Temp. | 47.1° C | 46.0° C | 46.5° C | 47.6° C | 47.3° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 156.1 W | 299.1 W | 436.3 W | 598.2 W | 759.0 W |
| Efficiency | 89.4% | 90.4% | 89.5% | 87.2% | 85.5% |
| AC Voltage | 117.4 V | 115.8 V | 114.6 V | 113.0 V | 111.4 V |
| Power Factor | 0.957 | 0.961 | 0.973 | 0.981 | 0.985 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
The 80 Plus Gold certification promises efficiency of at least 87% under light (i.e., 20%) load, 90% under typical (i.e., 50%) load, and 87% under full (i.e., 100%) load. While the SilverStone Strider Gold 650 W was able to match these numbers at light and typical loads (with very high efficiency at light load, by the way), at full load efficiency was of 85.5 percent. As we always explain, the tests for the 80 Plus certification are conducted at 23° C, we test power supplies between 45° C and 50° C, and efficiency drops as temperature increases. Also, during our full-load tests, the AC voltage was at 111 V, which also explains the lower efficiency.
Let’s discuss voltage regulation on the next page.