I guess people with "low power" systems rarely want to invest the extra money in better efficiency at that price level. This bring diminishing returns the smaller the PSU wattage is meaning you pay the same "extra" for the efficiency but get smaller benefits than you would on a 700+W PSU.
Where I live you're typically pay 2€ per year per Watt consumed 27/4 (tendency rising). That can add up very quickly; my first home server used a total of 115W sustained, the successor was down to 65W, the next successor was down to 54W initially and then further tweaked down to 40W. That's a hell lot of money saved per year...
That's exactly what I meant by low wattage. When you have a sub-500W system the savings in economy are rarely recovered via increased efficiency. You need a higher difference from efficiency and to run the system 24/7 to get real benefits. Otherwise you just move the costs from really small installments every month for a few years into a bigger chunk payed at the purchase of the PSU.
Actually, you need to look at the efficiency curve. Most power supplies hit their highest efficiency at between 40-75% utilization. Unless you've got a monster gaming rig with dual or more SLI/Crossfire GPUs, you're not going to be in that zone with a 1200-1500W PSU.
A single moderate (GTX970/980) GPU system with a quad core processor will probably hit about 300-350W while gaming. About where you want to be with a 500-600W PSU.
Titanium rated power supplies would be a lot more appealing if you lived in a region that used 230V for the main electric line. North America uses 115V and any Titanium rated PSU would function (at best) at Platinum level efficiency there.
"80 Plus Titanium is where it's at. Applicable only in regions with 220~230VAC domestic power, 80 Plus Titanium requires a PSU to offer at least 94 percent efficiency at 20 percent load, at least 96 percent efficiency at 50 percent load, and at least 91 percent efficiency at 100 percent load."
The way I read it is that 80+ Titanium efficiency only worked in households supporting 230V lines, however, if you're at 115V, you wouldn't get the full 80+ Titanium efficiency you'd probably be at around 80+ Platinum efficiency rating.
Also note that the efficiency requirements are different for regions with different main electric supplies. North America, Brazil, Japan, etc has lower requirements to hit the same efficiency benchmarks (Bronze, Silver, etc) than 230V countries.
The only case where 80 Plus Titanium isn't defined is 115V industrial, which doesn't apply here. For any other case it is defined and a lot stricter than Platinum.
Fact remains that PSUs are generally more efficient when running at 230V, and the 80 Plus specification reflects that by lowering the limits on 115V.
The comment about Titanium JoeyJoJo123 quoted probably applied to one particular PSU which was 230V Titanium but didn't quite reach it for 115V, which may be a bit harder to hit?
> Fact remains that PSUs are generally more efficient when running at 230V, and the 80 Plus specification reflects that by lowering the limits on 115V.
True but besides the point. If a product is rated for "80 Plus Titanium" compliance it actually needs to comply with the requirements in each category and in each category Titanium has stricter demands than the Platinum tier. In other words: If you take a Titanium unit and operate it at 230V it needs to match the Titanium requirements for 230V, if you take the same unit to NA and operate it at 110V it still needs to comply with the Titanium requirements but the ones for 110V (which are a bit less strict than the 230V ones but still stricter than the Platinum tier at the same voltage).
Hey Anandtech! The Silverstone SX700-LPT 700W Platinum SFX-L is finally due to become avavailable and start shipping this month / very soon. After unspecified teething / production issues has delayed production. Therefore now would be a very good time to review it.
Hmm. and apparently "there is a silverstone expo tomorrow". Not sure what that means since was expecting shipping / stock movement instead. But can read more about it all over here --> https://hardforum.com/threads/silverstone-sx700-lp...
For a HTPC with discrete GFX, this seems like a good idea.. We cut the cable a few years ago and went full streaming, and for our system, that also doubles as our "console" for family entertainment, i'd be intereested in something like this, since our system runs a lot of hours daily..
My first thought was "Does a 550W platinum PSU even need a fan?", as I'm a happy owner of a couple Seasonic X400's that can go up to 600W load, fanless. Then I noticed the price. Note to self: not all platinum modular PSUs are made equal.
According to the testing done here, this PSU at room temperature stayed fanless until around 400W so it probably doesn't need a fan most of the time in a cool running rig. That Seasonic X400 may have the hardware to run up to 600W fanless for a while but it probably doesn't meet Platinum efficiency at that power level.
Can someone explain to me the difference with silver / gold / platinum PSUs? Is it simply more energy efficient? Or is it capable of actually outputting more juice or more consistent juice?
Why not just buy a 700w platinum? If the load requirement is only 300w of components, would a 700w platinum use more power than a 550w platinum?
All power supplies have an efficiency curve with the highest efficiency around half to 3/4 full load. The better PSU manufacturers show you that curve on a graphic. The lowest efficiency will be under 20% load with the efficiency falling further the lower the load (and at the other end of the curve, falling a bit past 75% load).
Under a 300W load, that 700W platinum PSU would probably use a little more power than that 550W. However, Under a 50 -100W load your gaming rig (idling while you surf the net) there may be a bigger difference in efficiency percentages.
I like the way you characterised the features of this product. I hope next month I am going to buy this awesome product. I am taking consideration of it very passionately. By the way Thanks for the review.
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ImSpartacus - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Always awesome to see a psu review for a psu that I might actually consider.I also like the commentary about the rarity of low wattage platinum power supplies. I hasn't thought about it from that perspective.
close - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
I guess people with "low power" systems rarely want to invest the extra money in better efficiency at that price level. This bring diminishing returns the smaller the PSU wattage is meaning you pay the same "extra" for the efficiency but get smaller benefits than you would on a 700+W PSU.close - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
*on the first line it should read "at that power level", not price.ImSpartacus - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Yeah, I can definitely understand why that's the case. It's a reasonable perspective.Though, I don't know if I'd consider a 500W pc to be "low wattage." That's realistically all most single gpu gaming rigs ever need.
Murloc - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
low wattage as in the difference in efficiency is negligible from a power bill point of view, or actually a minus if you consider higher cost.Daniel Egger - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
Where I live you're typically pay 2€ per year per Watt consumed 27/4 (tendency rising). That can add up very quickly; my first home server used a total of 115W sustained, the successor was down to 65W, the next successor was down to 54W initially and then further tweaked down to 40W. That's a hell lot of money saved per year...close - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
That's exactly what I meant by low wattage. When you have a sub-500W system the savings in economy are rarely recovered via increased efficiency. You need a higher difference from efficiency and to run the system 24/7 to get real benefits. Otherwise you just move the costs from really small installments every month for a few years into a bigger chunk payed at the purchase of the PSU.Namisecond - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
Actually, you need to look at the efficiency curve. Most power supplies hit their highest efficiency at between 40-75% utilization. Unless you've got a monster gaming rig with dual or more SLI/Crossfire GPUs, you're not going to be in that zone with a 1200-1500W PSU.A single moderate (GTX970/980) GPU system with a quad core processor will probably hit about 300-350W while gaming. About where you want to be with a 500-600W PSU.
random2 - Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - link
Wattage aint everything. Many cheaper PSUs don't have the amps on the 12 volt rail necessary to push major GPUs.random2 - Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - link
Not to mention the 46 amps on the 12v rail. :)tarqsharq - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
First sentence of the Final Words section broke.revanchrist - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
SilverStone ST60F-TI is even more mind blowing. 600W Titanium and very compact in size. Also fully modular.JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Titanium rated power supplies would be a lot more appealing if you lived in a region that used 230V for the main electric line. North America uses 115V and any Titanium rated PSU would function (at best) at Platinum level efficiency there.Daniel Egger - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Not sure where you got your information from but this seems to be incorrect according to a quick check with Wikipedia.JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/super-fl..."80 Plus Titanium is where it's at. Applicable only in regions with 220~230VAC domestic power, 80 Plus Titanium requires a PSU to offer at least 94 percent efficiency at 20 percent load, at least 96 percent efficiency at 50 percent load, and at least 91 percent efficiency at 100 percent load."
The way I read it is that 80+ Titanium efficiency only worked in households supporting 230V lines, however, if you're at 115V, you wouldn't get the full 80+ Titanium efficiency you'd probably be at around 80+ Platinum efficiency rating.
Also note that the efficiency requirements are different for regions with different main electric supplies. North America, Brazil, Japan, etc has lower requirements to hit the same efficiency benchmarks (Bronze, Silver, etc) than 230V countries.
Daniel Egger - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
How about you check with some authoritative source? I get you don't trust Wikipedia, how about the official homepage? http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80PlusPowerSuppli...The only case where 80 Plus Titanium isn't defined is 115V industrial, which doesn't apply here. For any other case it is defined and a lot stricter than Platinum.
nevcairiel - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Fact remains that PSUs are generally more efficient when running at 230V, and the 80 Plus specification reflects that by lowering the limits on 115V.The comment about Titanium JoeyJoJo123 quoted probably applied to one particular PSU which was 230V Titanium but didn't quite reach it for 115V, which may be a bit harder to hit?
Daniel Egger - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
> Fact remains that PSUs are generally more efficient when running at 230V, and the 80 Plus specification reflects that by lowering the limits on 115V.True but besides the point. If a product is rated for "80 Plus Titanium" compliance it actually needs to comply with the requirements in each category and in each category Titanium has stricter demands than the Platinum tier. In other words: If you take a Titanium unit and operate it at 230V it needs to match the Titanium requirements for 230V, if you take the same unit to NA and operate it at 110V it still needs to comply with the Titanium requirements but the ones for 110V (which are a bit less strict than the 230V ones but still stricter than the Platinum tier at the same voltage).
Daniel Egger - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
This is one very sexy PSU indeed. Thanks for bringing it to my attention...dreamcat4 - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
Hey Anandtech! The Silverstone SX700-LPT 700W Platinum SFX-L is finally due to become avavailable and start shipping this month / very soon. After unspecified teething / production issues has delayed production. Therefore now would be a very good time to review it.dreamcat4 - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
Hmm. and apparently "there is a silverstone expo tomorrow". Not sure what that means since was expecting shipping / stock movement instead. But can read more about it all over here --> https://hardforum.com/threads/silverstone-sx700-lp...Sn3akr - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
For a HTPC with discrete GFX, this seems like a good idea.. We cut the cable a few years ago and went full streaming, and for our system, that also doubles as our "console" for family entertainment, i'd be intereested in something like this, since our system runs a lot of hours daily..nagi603 - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
My first thought was "Does a 550W platinum PSU even need a fan?", as I'm a happy owner of a couple Seasonic X400's that can go up to 600W load, fanless. Then I noticed the price.Note to self: not all platinum modular PSUs are made equal.
tonyou - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
According to the testing done here, this PSU at room temperature stayed fanless until around 400W so it probably doesn't need a fan most of the time in a cool running rig. That Seasonic X400 may have the hardware to run up to 600W fanless for a while but it probably doesn't meet Platinum efficiency at that power level.AbRASiON - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
Can someone explain to me the difference with silver / gold / platinum PSUs?Is it simply more energy efficient? Or is it capable of actually outputting more juice or more consistent juice?
Why not just buy a 700w platinum? If the load requirement is only 300w of components, would a 700w platinum use more power than a 550w platinum?
Namisecond - Monday, April 11, 2016 - link
All power supplies have an efficiency curve with the highest efficiency around half to 3/4 full load. The better PSU manufacturers show you that curve on a graphic. The lowest efficiency will be under 20% load with the efficiency falling further the lower the load (and at the other end of the curve, falling a bit past 75% load).Under a 300W load, that 700W platinum PSU would probably use a little more power than that 550W. However, Under a 50 -100W load your gaming rig (idling while you surf the net) there may be a bigger difference in efficiency percentages.
cara smith - Friday, May 6, 2016 - link
I like the way you characterised the features of this product. I hope next month I am going to buy this awesome product. I am taking consideration of it very passionately. By the way Thanks for the review.