SUMMARY: Power supplies... The past couple of years have shown just how important this component really is. It is no longer a matter of just picking whatever happens to be cheap and creating a master system. No, now you have to make sure that you have a PSU that can handle the high amount of stress that comes naturally to an enthusiast rig. Come join Mike "Darthtanion" Wright as he takes a look at a new company's entry into the PSU rat race. The SilverStone SST-ST400 makes bold claims of being both powerful and quiet, so let's delve a little deeper and see for ourselves if this newcomer can live up to their own claims!
As you open the box, you are greeted with a very odd looking PSU. The first thing you notice is that there is no fan on the back of the unit. Add to this the multitude of vent holes across the back plate and you have a unique look from the start. Also of note in regards to aesthetics is the high shine of the metal. No matter where you look, this thing just glows at you.
As far as functionality goes, you will find just what is necessary to run your system. Along the back you get the port for the power cord, a toggle switch for manually turning the PSU on and off, and a switch to allow adjustment of the power intake from 115v to 230v. Nothing extra except an eye pleasing appearance.
When you turn the unit over you will finally see the fan. And to handle the quiet part of the product claim, SilverStone has used a large 120mm fan that will spin at a slower speed (hence less noise) but still do a very good job of keeping the internal components cool. Since the fan works as an intake, the air from the case interior will be run through the bottom of the power supply and then exhausted out the multiple holes in the back of the unit.
Now that weve seen that the PSU is pleasing to the eye, we need to make sure that it has what it takes to handle the necessary power requirements of a system. Included cabling will consist of five 4-pin Molex connectors, two FDD connectors, a 20-pin main power cable, a 4-pin 12v supplemental connector, a 4-pin auxiliary connector, one SATA power connector (no adapter), and a 3-pin connector for monitoring fan speeds.
The addition of the SATA connector is a plus. Though not widely used yet, this type of hard drive is becoming more popular all the time. The fact that you get native support for this type of drive without resorting to a converter gives you some added flexibility.
Of course, I was a bit disappointed with having only five Molex connectors. I had to go scrounging for a splitter to be able to connect all of the fans in my system. This should be an area looked at for future improvement.
The only other item of note would be the supplemental power leads. Both the 4-pin 12v supplemental connector and the 4-pin auxiliary connector are set up as a single wiring harness. This can make it interesting when hooking one of them up and then having to find a hiding spot for the unused one. Most mainboards use one or the other, but not both together. SilverStone did, however, wrap both sets of cabling in a mesh covering so at least the airflow wont be an issue with this larger harness.
Cabling Installation & Maintenance provides information to industry professionals involved in the purchase, design, installation and maintenance of premises and campus-wide cabling systems.
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