SilverStone Strider Plus 750 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 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 both inputs were connected to the power supply single rail (+12VB input was connected to the power supply EPS12V connector and all other cables were connected to the load tester +12VA input).
Note: We are now using the names +12VA and +12VB for the two inputs from our load tester because some people were thinking that the “+12V1” and “+12V2” names present on our table referred to the power supply rails, which is not the case.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 5 A (60 W) | 11 A (132 W) | 16 A (192 W) | 22 A (264 W) | 27 A (324 W) |
| +12VB | 5 A (60 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 16 A (192 W) | 21 A (252 W) | 27 A (324 W) |
| +5V | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 6 A (30 W) | 8 A (40 W) | 10 A (50 W) |
| +3.3 V | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) | 8 A (26.4 W) | 10 A (33 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 | 147.4 W | 297.5 W | 446.6 W | 594.6 W | 741.3 W |
| % Max Load | 19.7% | 39.7% | 59.5% | 79.3% | 98.8% |
| Room Temp. | 46.0° C | 44.6° C | 45.2° C | 46.6° C | 47.9° C |
| PSU Temp. | 53.0° C | 52.2° C | 52.6° C | 53.8° C | 55.7° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 174.6 W | 342.5 W | 514.7 W | 699.0 W | 895.0 W |
| Efficiency | 84.4% | 86.9% | 86.8% | 85.1% | 82.8% |
| AC Voltage | 114.8 V | 112.9 V | 111.1 V | 109.1 V | 106.6 V |
| Power Factor | 0.972 | 0.989 | 0.994 | 0.995 | 0.995 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
SilverStone Strider Plus 750 W can really deliver its labeled wattage at high temperatures.
Efficiency was very high when we pulled up to 80% of the unit’s maximum capacity (i.e., up to 600 W), between 84.4% and 86.9%. At full load (750 W) efficiency was still good at 82.8%. Since this unit is 80 Plus Silver certified, it should present 85% efficiency under full and light (20%) loads and 88% under typical (50% load). As we already explained on our Can We Trust the 80 Plus Certification? article, 80 Plus certification process is conducted at a room temperature of 25° C, while we test power supplies between 45° C and 50° C, and efficiency drops with temperature. Therefore if we were in charge of the 80 Plus certification process, this unit would be an 80 Plus Bronze, not Silver.
Voltage regulation was the highlight from this power supply. All voltages (except -12 V) stayed at a maximum of 3% from their nominal values (i.e., voltages closer to their official values than required, since the ATX specification allows them to be up to 5% from their nominal values (10% for the -12 V).
Noise and ripple were low at all times. Below you can see the results for test five, with the power supply delivering around 740 W. The maximum allowed values are 120 mV for the +12 V outputs and 50 mV for the +5 V and +3.3 V outputs, peak-to-peak figures.
Figure 15: +12VA input from load tester at 741.3 W (32.6 mV).
Figure 16: +12VB input from load tester at 741.3 W (41.4 mV).
Figure 17: +5V rail with power supply delivering 741.3 W (19.8 mV).
Figure 18: +3.3 V rail with power supply delivering 741.3 W (20.2 mV).
Let’s see if we can pull more power from SilverStone Strider Plus 750 W.