SilverStone is one of the most reputable PC chassis and PSU manufacturers, known for their focus on small form factor (SFF) and micro-ATX designs. We have reviewed numerous of their SFX PSU in the past, ranging from the cost-effective ST30SF/ST45SF to the monstrous SX800-LTI with the 0.76kW/l power density. SilverStone also produces several compact cases that do support ATX PSUs but are of limited proportions, leading the company to research methods to reduce the size of their ATX PSUs as well.

Introduction

Today we're taking a look at the Strider Platinum PSU series. The entire series consists of six units, with outputs ranging from 550 to 1200 Watts. We had reviewed the least powerful model of the series two years ago, before the series was expanded  with the now two most powerful units of the series, the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT, which have a maximum power output of 1000 and 1200 Watts respectively. The SilverStone Strider Platinum are a reasonably-priced upgrade over the Strider Gold S for high-end gaming and workstation PCs, yet more cost-effective than the grand SilverStone Strider Titanium series.

Packaging and bundle

SilverStone supplies the Strider Platinum units inside a very sturdy cardboard box. The artwork is subtle, focused on black/platinum coloring and a picture of the PSU itself. The detailed information regarding the features and specifications of the units is printed on the sides and rear of the box. Inside the box, the PSUs are well-protected between thick packaging foam pieces.

The company supplies a relatively rich bundle along with their SilverStone Platinum units. Both the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT share the exact same bundle. Inside the box, we found a very detailed user's manual, a regular AC power cable, black cable ties, black long cable straps, a set of black mounting screws, a set of black thumbscrews, and a magnetic nylon fan filter. The fan filter is meant to protect the PSU from dust but it can be placed anywhere on the case if the PSU's compartment already features a filter.

The ST-1000PT and the ST-1200PT also share the same type of cables and connectors, with the only exception being that the 1200W variant offers two additional PCIe connectors. SilverStone is using flat "ribbon" type cables, made using all black wires and connectors. This includes the ATX cable and the CPU/PCI-E 12V connectors. The only exception at the blue connectors at the PSU side of the PCI Express power cables. The ATX cable is made of several smaller ribbons bundled and secured together, forming a sort-of round cable.  

External Appearance

Externally, the SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT and ST1200-PT are almost identical, with the sole exception being the stickers on the left side of the units. Both units are 180 mm deep, which is relatively short for units with that kind of power output, yet certainly longer than what the ATX standard dictates. Their depth will increase the compatibility with compact cases but they will certainly not fit in every ATX-compliant case.

The chassis of both units is sprayed with a textured black paint that is slightly rough to the touch but is also smudge and scratch resistant. The sticker with the PSU's electrical specifications is on the left side of the chassis, while the right side is almost completely plain, with just small version and serial number stickers present. SilverStone's logo is engraved at the top side of the PSU. There is also a black sticker at the top, featuring the legend of the PSU's connectors, as it would not fit at the front side of the unit. A metallic badge with the company's logo also covers the center of the cooling fan.

The front side of the unit is almost completely covered by the huge number of cable connectors. With the exception of the ATX plug, the connectors feature plastic caps. The CPU and PCIe do not share the same connectors, with the former being blue and the latter black. These connectors look the same but they are keyed so, for example, the PCIe cables will not fit in the CPU connectors. The rear of the PSUs is uninteresting, with only the AC cable receptacle and a small switch to be found.

Internal Design

Both the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT are using the same cooling fan, which is the customized flow version of the HA1425H12B-Z made by Hong Hua. The fancy-looking grill is not just for show, as it is supposed to focus airflow directly in front of the fan rather than allowing it to chaotically spread to all directions. It sports a dual ball bearing engine. The fan has a maximum rotational speed of about 2400 RPM.

The ST1000-PT and ST1200-PT are not identical only on the outside but on the inside as well. Both units are based on the exact same platform and even many of their components are the same. The only difference between the two units is that the 1200 Watts version has some higher-spec components that allow it to reach a higher power output.

The OEM behind the creation of these two units is Enhance, a company that SilverStone entrusts most of their PSUs. The platform design is relatively simple and clean, as Enhance is focused on quality and stability more than anything else.

 
The SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT (up) and ST1200-PT (down)

The filtering stage of both units is identical, consisting of four Y capacitors, four X capacitors and two filtering inductors. Surges are suppressed by a MOV and inrush current is limited via a NTC thermistor/relay configuration. Moving forward, we find two input rectifier bridges sandwiched together on a small heatsink that can be found beneath the main heatsink of the PSU.

 
The SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT (left) and ST1200-PT (right)

The main heatsink of the PSU is physically large but has thick and short fins, resulting to a relatively small heat dissipation surface. It holds the active components of the PFC and also the MOSFETs of the primary inversion stage. A large filtering PFC choke can be seen beneath its longer fins, followed by two APFC capacitors. The PFC capacitors differ between the two models, with two Nippon Chemi-Con 450V/540μF in the ST1000-PT and two Rubycon 420V/390μF in the ST1200-PT.

 
The SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT (left) and ST1200-PT (right)

The primary inversion circuit consist of four MOSFETs that form a LLC resonant full-bridge converter design. A single 12V line is generated at the secondary side of the PSUs by a massive rectifier configuration formed by twelve MOSFETs. The minor 3.3V/5V lines are generated via DC-to-DC converters, which can be seen on their own small PCBs. The filtering capacitors are a chaos, with both units using a mix of electrolytic capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con, Rubycon, and Unicon, as well as solid-state capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con, Nichicon, and Unicon.

SilverStone Strider Platinum 1000W & 1200W - Cold Test Results

For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M  40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox and various other bits and parts. For a thorough explanation of our testing methodology and more details on our equipment, please refer to our How We Test PSUs - 2014 Pipeline post.

Predictably, the performance of the two top-end Strider Platinum units is very similar, with the ST1200-PT showing just a tiny advantage over the ST1000-PT on the electrical efficiency and noise output. The units just barely meet the 80Plus Platinum certification efficiency levels with an AC input voltage of 230V, with the ST1000-PT even missing the 94% efficiency goal at 50% load by a tiny bit (93.8%). The ST1200-PT fares a little better, surpassing the 80Plus Platinum certification limits, even if by only a thread. The average conversion efficiency of the two units within their nominal load range (20% to 100%) is 92% and 92.2% for the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT respectively.

Although both the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT feature a "fanless" mode, the thermal control circuitry appears to be very sensitive and starts the fans with a load of merely 12-15%. Considering the powerful systems that these units are meant for, it is even possible that their fans will never stop, even if the system is idling. Both units displayed virtually identical thermal performance, with low operating temperatures. The acoustic performance however is unbalanced, with the fans starting and speeding up quite quickly, making the units clearly audible with a load of even a few hundred Watts. The 1200W variant fares a little better here as well, but the difference between the two units is imperceptible.

SilverStone Strider Platinum 1000W & 1200W - Hot Test Results

Enhance is an OEM who does not get concerned with power quality when the figures are good enough and these two units are no exception. The voltage ripple figures are mediocre, with the 3.3V/5V voltage lines flirting with the 50 mV recommended design limit. 

The 12V lines hold better, with the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT reaching up to 56 mV and 50 mV at maximum load respectively, which is half of the 120 mV recommended design limit but still considerably higher than what the competition nowadays offers. Voltage regulation is good and similar for both units, at about 1% for the 3.3V/5V lines and 1.6% for the 12V line across the nominal load range.

High ambient temperatures have a small but measurable effect on the energy conversion efficiency of the Strider Platinum units. The average conversion efficiency of the two units drops by about 0.6%, to 91.4% and 91.6% for the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT respectively, which is very good considering the very large difference in ambient temperature. This hints that the components that the manufacturer is using are capable of maintaining high performance at higher temperatures and/or significantly oversized for their tasks.

Regardless of the high ambient temperature, both units disabled their fans when the load was very low but would immediately speed up their fans when the load increased above just 100 Watts. The two units were not really louder compared to our room temperature tests, meaning that they were already running their fans at maximum speed before, even though the internal temperatures were much lower than the >80°C figures we get inside our hotbox.

Conclusion

Summing up our thoughts, let's start with a look at what separates the Strider Platinum ST1000-PT and ST1200-PT from each other; or rather in this case, the lack of separation. Due to their practically identical target markets  – high-end gamers and professionals who intent on using more than two GPUs – the two PSUs are all but indistinguishable, both physically and in terms of performance. The only practical difference between the two units is that the ST1000-PT has six PCIe connectors, whereas the ST1200-PT sports eight, allowing the connection of an additional graphics card. Other than that, the appearance, quality, and even performance of the two PSUs is practically identical. The ST1200-PT displayed a tiny performance advantage in our review but this advantage was very small and, considering that the ST1000-PT was struggling to reach the 80Plus Platinum certification limits, it could have been just a manufacturing tolerance error between the two units.

The Strider Platinum 1000W and 1200W PSUs are very well made, with exceptional quality components. On the outside, SilverStone kept their aesthetics simple and elegant, with the engraved company logo at the top of the PSUs and the unique textured paint. Both units feature a full set of modular flat black cables, including the ATX 24-pin cable, that are preferred over sleeved cables when aesthetics are important. Inside the units we found SilverStone's "penetrator" cooling fans and a proven Enhance platform. Enhance did an excellent job keeping the design clean, the components of high quality, and the assembly job seamless.

Enhance's approach to high-end PSUs is different than that of most manufacturers. They focus almost the entirety of their energy on making the PSU reliable and relatively simple. We first saw the platform used in the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT almost a decade ago, meaning that as it's now an older design, Enhance has opted to boost the efficiency of the design primarily by using higher quality active components and relatively small additions/upgrades rather than trying new techniques. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the manufacturer has accumulated a lot of experience on this particular platform, ensuring better quality control and proven long-term reliability.

On the other hand, by sticking to "what works", Enhance is not really trying to compete with the other OEMs in terms of performance. Everything regarding the performance of Strider Platinum units is acceptable but, on the other hand, the two high-end units do not actually excel anywhere. Both units barely reach their efficiency ratings and the electrical power quality is satisfactory but unexceptional, especially considering their class. The thermal performance is very good but the cooling profile is unbalanced, forcing the fans to overtask even when the temperature of the units is low. The fans do stop when the system is idling but will instantly reach audible levels with just a mediocre load.

The two most powerful SilverStone Strider Platinum units undoubtedly are very well made and reliable, as well as relatively compact for their power output, but their competitiveness in today's market is mediocre. Overall, the performance of both the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT is good, yet unimpressive, reducing the competitiveness of the two units against other products that are similarly priced and offer significantly better electrical and/or thermal performance. As only gamers and professionals who use three or more GPUs are virtually the only market of >=1kW units, it is a relatively small (and demanding) percentage of the market, in which the Strider Platinum does not display any other distinct advantage over the competition other than its proven quality. The high stability of the SilverStone Strider Platinum units under maximum load makes them very good for applications where the units will be heavily loaded 24/7, which may make them appealing to cryptominers during sale seasons and when offers are active.