INTRODUCTION

   Even though to date I’ve built over 50 PC systems for myself, family members and friends since noone i know (myself included of course) was into bitcoin or Ethereum mining the highest wattage power supply unit I’ve used was 1250W (and even that was too much). Still the fact of the matter is that many people are into mining and so it's no wonder that some manufacturers have released power supply units that have touched and even surpassed the 2KW (2000W) barrier. SilverStone is among those manufacturers but their most popular ultra-high wattage model to date is actually no other than the Decathlon Series DA1650 (SST-DA1650-G) which is also what today's review is all about.

   Founded in 2003, SilverStone is an established leader in its field, with an elite team of engineers; we started our quest of providing products that create inspirations. We have since expanded the lines of products as well as types of products we produce, giving our customers a wide selection of choices. With distribution centers in different areas of the globe, SilverStone products can be seen all over the world, not just for computer users but also for home entertainment use. Providing leisure with integration of advanced technologies that is functional and making them enjoyable to use.

   The Decathlon series of power supply units by SilverStone includes 550/650/750/850/1650W wattage models all of which are fully modular (future-proof since you can just swap cables if a new plug gets introduced) and feature the 80 Plus Gold certification (up to 90% electrical efficiency). The DA1650 model which i have here today has a peak output of almost 1800W, sports a single extra powerful +12V rail (137.5A) capable of delivering the units entire output (1650W) and comes packing numerous features like active PFC, low profile slim cables, fluid dynamic bearing 135mm fan and high-quality Japanese manufactured capacitors. As expected especially for such a unit the Decathlon DA1650 is fully shielded thanks to numerous electrical protections including over-current (OCP), over-voltage (OVP), under-voltage (UVP), short-circuit (SCP), over-temperature (OTP) and over-power (OPP). Last but not least SilverStone covers the Decathlon DA1650 with a 3-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

SilverStone uses a blue box that has a product picture at the front right next to their logo, the model wattage and the 80 Plus Gold certification.

The serial numbers and barcodes are located on the right side of the box.

At the base of the box, we find the main product features in 11 languages.

Moving at the rear we see the electrical table, available connectors and several charts showcasing the unit’s efficiency, noise levels and performance.

The unit is placed between two thick pieces of foam.

Along with the Decathlon DA1650 its modular cables and power cord inside the box you’ll also find 4 cable straps, 4 mounting screws, quick start guide and the user manual.

THE DECATHLON DA1650 EXTERIOR

SilverStone is using flat low-profile cables with the DA1650 (easier to route behind the motherboard).

With a length of 180mm for an 1650W model the DA1650 is quite compact.

At the top we find an 135mm fan right under a grille with the SilverStone logo at the center.

The company logo, product name and the 80 Plus Gold logo are all placed on both sides.

The electrical table along with several certifications can all be found on a sticker placed at the base of the enclosure.

A total of 18 modular ports are placed at the front of the enclosure, 17 of which are covered with plastic caps.

At the rear we find the usual honeycomb perforation, a large on/off power button and the power port.

THE DECATHLON DA1650 INTERIOR

The 135mm FDB fan is manufactured by Globe Fan and can reach speeds of up to 1700RPM.

According to the OEM tags on the PCB this unit seems to be made by High Power Electronic.

Primary capacitors are manufactured by the Japanese nichicon and are rated for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are manufactured by both Nippon Chemi-Con and Rubycon and are also rated for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However, it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a test rig. Certainly, limitations do apply and so you can't really push a 1000W power supply to its limits if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why over the years we saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact much closer to real world usage. So as always, we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

   Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say, in order to get 100% accurate readings, you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate, nor realistic for that matter). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

* After well over 10 years of testing PSUs the Intel Core i7-920 CPU of this rig failed and was replaced it with a Xeon X5660 (also swapped the GA-X58A-UD7 for the G1. Assassin).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   The SilverStone Decathlon DA1650 (SST-DA1650-G) may not be the best power supply unit money can buy today and the 80 Plus Gold efficiency certification may seem as a bit “low” by some (always compared to the Platinum and Titanium certifications) but at the end of the day power supply units like this one have only one job, to output massive amounts of safe and clean power. This power supply unit also features a hybrid fan mode (fan starts spinning after load surpasses 30%) which you can’t turn off (my idle dBA tests were performed the moment the fan started spinning) so even though this can be good to your ears in very hot scenarios that may not be quite ideal. Rail stability is also very good as are noise levels, at least up to the just over 1050W load my test system was able to draw. To try and increase load this time over i did plug some external 2.5” drives to my test rig but to no avail since i wasn’t even able to surpass 1100W (so do keep in mind that both rail stability and noise level numbers may slightly vary at 1650W).

  Ultra-high wattage models like the Decathlon DA1650 model by SilverStone are almost always far from affordable and with a current price tag set at USD486.94 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 369Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the same applies here as well. Price aside however the DA1650 is a high-quality model which delivers exactly what it was designed to for, provide up to 1650W of clean power to your devices and for that it deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Solid Rail Stability
- 1650W Output (1800W Peak)
- 80 Plus Gold Certified
- Electrical Protections (OCP/OVP/SCP/UVP/OPP/OTP)
- 135mm Fan With Hybrid Mode
- 137.5A +12V Rail

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- 3 Year Limited Warranty (Compared To The Competition)