INTRODUCTION

   If you're a gamer or an enthusiast then you know that the hottest PC hardware right now is the brand new GeForce GTX 1080 and 1070 graphics cards by NVIDIA not only because of their new technologies and performance levels but also because of their incredibly low power requirements. Still even though graphics card power requirements seem to decrease as time goes by that doesn't mean it's not a good idea to invest on a high performance and quality power supply unit. Now it did take a bit longer than we were expecting for the top-of-the-line 80 Plus Titanium Certified power supply units to make their debut in the market but right now there are quite a few of them available and one of them is the brand new Strider Titanium Series 800W SST-ST80F-TI model by SilverStone.

   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. Here at SilverStone Technology, we continue to pride ourselves in providing the highest level of standards in designing and manufacturing computer enclosures, power supplies, and accessories. Our pursuit for the first class aesthetic appeal is relentless; our teams of devoted engineers are constantly searching for the best technologies that suit end-users with different needs and will make our products as technologically sound as they are beautiful.

   Instead of releasing yet another full sized power supply unit (180mm long) SilverStone decided to "invest" on a smaller form factor model with the Strider Titanium Series 800W SST-ST80F-TI model (just 150mm long). Of course that doesn't mean this line has anything to be jealous of from full sized PSUs since aside its 80 Plus Titanium efficiency certification and full modular design it also features a peak output of 850W, single powerful +12V rail (66A) capable of delivering up to 93% of the units peak output (792W), 120mm fan, flat modular cables for increased airflow inside the case and an assortment of electrical protections including OCP (Over Current Protection), OPP (Over Power Protection), OVP (Over Voltage Protection), SCP (Short Circuit Protection), UVP (Under Voltage Protection) and OTP (Over Temperature Protection). So on paper the Strider Titanium Series seems to be the ideal PSU for use in small PC cases but just how well does it perform?

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Part of the PSU is placed at the front of the box along with the company logo, 80 Plus Titanium certification logo and main product features.

The product specifications, electrical table and available modular connectors are all placed at the base of the box.

You can also find the product features at the rear of the box printed in 10 languages and placed right next to several graphs and drawings used to showcase them.

Packaging is flawless with the PSU placed inside two thick black foam spacers and the rest of the bundle placed inside a second cardboard box.

The bundle is quite rich and aside the Strider Titanium Series PSU it includes a power cord, flat modular cables (24-pin cable, 2x 8-pin CPU, 4x 8-pin PCIe, 12x SATA and 3x Molex), FF141 fan filter, 4 cable ties, Molex to FDD power adapter, 4 cable straps, 4 thumbscrews, 4 regular screws, installation instruction and a user manual.

THE STRIDER TITANIUM SST-ST80F-TI EXTERIOR

The FF141 fan filter is a welcome addition to the Strider Titanium Series especially since it uses 8 small magnets to attach to anything metallic (including the top of the PSU).

Measuring just 150mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height the 2.7Kg heavy SST-ST80F-TI is currently the smallest 80 Plus Titanium PSU in the world.

According to SilverStone the 120mm fan placed at the top of the unit can keep interior components cool without generating much noise.

I've always liked how SilverStone engraves their logo and name on their PSUs and the SST-ST80F-TI is no exception.

The units output, 80 Plus Titanium certification and electrical table are all printed on a large sticker placed on the right side.

All the modular ports are color coded and tagged on a small sticker placed beneath.

SilverStone has also used covers for the modular ports (all aside the 24 pin mainboard connector) and that's not something we see all the time.

Once again the rear of the enclosure is perforated and has the DC power port but unfortunately it has no on/off power switch.

THE STRIDER TITANIUM SST-ST80F-TI INTERIOR

The 120mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) fan used in the Strider Titanium 800W is made by Ong Hua and can spin up to 2200RPM (due to its size this PSU doesn't have a semi-passive feature but the fan is set to a maximum speed of 1000RPM).

Judging by interior design and quality it's a safe bet that Enhance electronics is behind this PSU.

Primary capacitor is manufactured by Panasonic and is rated for use up to 105°C.

Capacitors on the secondary side are manufactured by Chemi-Con and Rubycon and are also certified for use up to 105°C.

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 computer. Certainly limitations do apply and so you can't really test a 1000W power supply if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why during the past 5 years i have 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 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). 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.

TEST RESULTS

RAIL STABILITY

Considering this is the smallest 80 Plus Titanium PSU out there rail stability is excellent.

POWER CONSUMPTION

Our test rig managed to squeeze a total of 759W at load from the SST-ST80F-TI so it pretty much had 91W to spare (from its peak output).

NOISE LEVELS (SPL)

Although it did so for just a few seconds during testing the Ong Hua 120mm FDB fan surpassed the 47dBA mark and although that shouldn’t “scare” potential buyers (your graphics card should be quite louder at load) still other full sized 80 Plus Titanium PSUs are quieter.

CONCLUSION

   Since I’ve been using full towers with all my systems for the past 16 years or so I’ve never cared about the size of a PSU but most people i know do so it was a nice surprise to see that SilverStone released a high quality and performance model aimed towards all of them. Unfortunately using a smaller enclosure means higher temperatures (in general anyways) and I think it’s largely because of that SilverStone rates the Strider Titanium at an ambient of 40° and not 50°C as most other full sized models. Also using a smaller sized fan (120mm vs 130/135mm used in most full sized models) means higher RPM and ontop of that the SST-ST80F-TI doesn’t have a semi-passive feature. Of course I don’t consider that to be a bad thing since whether a PSU fan sits still or spins at 650-700RPM chances are something inside your system will be louder (CPU cooler, GPU cooler or system fan, take your pick). Overall I can’t think of a single bad thing about the Strider Titanium Series so all that’s left is just how much it costs.

   Well it seems that SilverStone has placed a somewhat high price tag on the Strider Titanium Series 800W SST-ST80F-TI since it currently retails for USAD169.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 182Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Of course we do understand that these price tags are attached on the smallest 80 Plus Titanium certified PSU on the planet which is also modular but when consumers can currently find quite a few 80 Plus Gold power supply units in the market at around the same power output (750-850W) but at half the cost it’s hard to see them going for the Strider Titanium Series. On the other hand the Strider Titanium Series is indeed aimed towards more demanding users who in all likelihood will have zero problems with cost and since overall this is one of the best PSUs to ever reach our test bench it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Size (150mm Long)
- Excellent Rail Stability
- Fully Modular
- Flat Modular Cables
- 80 Plus Titanium Certified
- Electrical Protections
- Peak Output (850W)
- FF141 Fan Filter
 

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Noise Levels (Compared To The Competition)