300W to 450W: 20 Power Supplies on the Test Bench
by Christoph Katzer on December 31, 2008 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 370W & 420W
The Silencer series is well known in the enthusiast community, but you rarely see reviews of the smaller 370W and 420W models. These two smaller versions look similar to the bigger brothers with a single 80mm fan at the back of the power supply. They also only come in matte black, while the 750 QUAD is offered in black, red, and blue. The front (i.e. inside the PC chassis) is perforated with long openings to maximize the airflow. The Silencer power supplies use a single strong 12V rail instead of separate 12V rails like all the other units in this roundup.
It's no secret anymore that the Silencer series is made by Seasonic, which includes the 370W and 420W versions as well. Seasonic loves to install cheap heatsinks that consist of an aluminum plate with the fins stamped into shape. It is an effective way to make heatsinks and Seasonic has done well so far, but the problem is that these heatsinks are not really designed for a pull-through cooling system like we see with the Silencer series. It doesn't mean it doesn't work, but with different heatsinks the effect would be better. Maybe this is one area where we should cut them some slack for the sake of cheaper production. The primary capacitor is made by Chemi-Con and the secondary caps are made by Ostor.
Both of the Silencers have the same cable length and number of connectors. The 24-pin, 4-pin, and 6-pin PEG connectors are on 40cm cable harnesses. There are another two cable harnesses with three Molex connectors each, and a final harness with three SATA connectors. The maximum length of 75cm is sufficient for most medium sized chassis.
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Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - link
We cannot run after every brand there is and if those companies don't come to us... there are surely many more missing but we can only test products from companies that are actually interested in us testing their stuff. We had an Akasa unit before though...boboko - Sunday, January 4, 2009 - link
>"We cannot run after every brand there is and if those companies don't come to us..."I guess that is the problem with almost all review sites. And the worst thing is not that you skip the smaller guys, but that what you are reviewing is not off the shelf, it's sent to you buy a company that wants a good review. So even if they have rotten quality control, and half their stuff is DOA, you know the one they send you has been triple checked and fine tuned. Not your fault, but to me the reliability is MUCH more important than a few extra watts or a few less decibels, and there's just no way to get good data on that.
Griswold - Wednesday, January 7, 2009 - link
If you read the reviews here, you'd know that this assumption is false in general. AT has had junk on their bench on more than one occassion - if every supplier would do what you claim, all reviews would take place in happy bunny land where everything is dandy and no negative notion is possible. But thats not the case.Surely there will be those who go the extra mile to make their product look better than it is off the shelf, but you just cant hide every trace of incompetence and bad quality.
Much like we cant expect a review site buy every piece of hardware to test it and hope they can re-sell it without a loss.
marc1000 - Thursday, January 1, 2009 - link
wow, I know it was said before, but you guys really do listen to us. that's the reason I come here everyday to know the news! keep up the good job at 2009! regards!C'DaleRider - Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - link
I'm just curious why the "old" version of the Antec Earthwatts 430 was dug out and retested since Seasonic is no longer the OEM for it but now has Delta as the OEM supplier and has been for many months now.Seems it'd be only fitting that the "new" version would be tested instead of a version no longer being made or sold, except as NOS (new old stock).
Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - link
If only "someone" could send it to us :] I will make sure to get new revision on time, you're totally right.sprockkets - Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - link
What were those bad things happening to the SII Seasonic PS?JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - link
I believe Christoph is just saying that he's received an increase number of email messages from people saying that their Seasonic PSUs have failed. It's anecdotal at best, and it could just be a case of more people buying their PSUs and thus a small fraction that fails can still result in more complaints than before.Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - link
Yes ;)There was a revision in the beginning that had problems with certain motherboards somehow, something to do with the "power good" signal. They've upgraded the series long time ago though.
Lonyo - Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - link
I'd just ordered some new parts, including a CX400 about 30 minutes before I saw this article come up.Nice to see that my choice seems fairly solid.
I'm sure this article will be relevant for other people as well.