The SilverStone Strider Platinum 550W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on April 8, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- PSUs
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- 550W
- SilverStone
- 80Plus Platinum
SilverStone is a well-known manufacturer of PC cases and PSUs, famed for their obsession with small form factor and proprietary systems. They are one of the very few companies for whom a large portion of their retail products consists of SFX and compact cases, alongside with several proprietary ATX designs, such as the Fortress FT05 that we reviewed a few months ago. Such designs, even though they are frequently made to support ATX PSUs, have limiting PSU compartments and can cause compatibility problems with longer, high output units.
To combat that, SilverStone is focusing most of their PSU designs to be as small as possible, frequently adhering to the ATX standard. Almost every ATX PSU they currently market with a power output under 800 Watts is just 140 mm long. Even the most powerful PSU they currently produce, the Strider Gold S 1500W unit, is only 180 mm long, significantly shorter than other designs of equivalent power output.
Along these lines, today we are having a look at SilverStone's Strider Platinum series. As the name suggests, these are the 80Plus Platinum certified designs that SilverStone currently offers. The series consists of three units sharing the same core platform, all just 140 mm long, with their power outputs ranging from 550 to 750 Watts. A quick look at their specifications reveals numerous interesting features, as well as the fact that these are units whose performance is rated at 40 °C. We put the 550 Watt version of the Strider Platinum to the test and examine its features, performance, and value.
| Power specifications ( Rated @ 40 °C ) | |||||
| AC INPUT | 100 - 240 VAC, 50 - 60 Hz | ||||
| RAIL | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | +5Vsb | -12V |
| MAX OUTPUT | 20A | 20A | 45.9A | 3A | 0.3A |
| 105W | 550W | 15W | 3.6W | ||
| TOTAL | 550W | ||||
Packaging and Bundle
The cardboard packaging of the Strider Platinum is of typical size and sturdy enough to provide protection during transport. Aesthetically, the theme is simplistic and serious, focused mainly around large silvery areas reflecting the “Platinum” topic of the PSU. The main features of the PSU are printed on the front side of the box, while more specific details can be found on its sides and rear.
SilverStone supplies a fairly rich bundle alongside with their Platinum series units. Inside the box we found a standard AC power cable, four black mounting screws and four black thumbscrews, a few cable ties, four long cable straps and a well-written manual.
The modular cables of the Strider Platinum are "flat" type, ribbon cables, including the main 24-pin ATX cable. All of the wires and connectors are black, with the sole exception being the PSU side connectors of the PCI Express cables, which are blue.
| SilverStone Strider Platinum 550W | ||
| Connector type | Hardwired | Modular |
| ATX 24 Pin | - | 1 |
| EPS 4+4 Pin | - | 1 |
| EPS 8 Pin | - | - |
| PCI-E 6+2 Pin | - | 2 |
| PCI-E 8 Pin | - | - |
| SATA | - | 8 |
| Molex | - | 6 |
| Floppy | - | 2 |
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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.