Silverpower SP-SS-400 400W unboxing and thoughts

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

After trawling through many candidates for a new PSU for my mates computer I decided on the Silverpower Green Power SP-SS-400 400W:

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...us-better.html

It is made by Seasonic and looked a good PSU for the price. After having a word with the nice people at Scan they put it on Today Only for the princely sum of £33.59! Not bad for a Seasonic S12 based PSU.

Scan posted the PSU super quick(in three and half hours from the order being placed) although DPD conspired to undo that! Luckily I did end up getting it today!

It did come in a sturdy box(it needed it as the there was no additional protection for the box in the package Scan posted).



Interesting it can supply more amps on the 12V line than the 430W CX430W!

The PSU is also 80+ certified.

The PSU comes complete with a plug and some mounting screws.



It seems there is a UK number for the guarantee which is 2 years and Silverpower will pick the unit up from you.

Here is a comparison with HX520W I already have.



The Silverpower is very well made and seems to weigh more than the HX520W!!

Edit!!

It seems the bathroom scales proved me wrong and they weigh the same!

I did have a quick peek through the grill and it seems the primary capacitor is an 85C job made by Hitachi. This seems consistent with the Anandtech review of the unit.

The cables are also all braided and are exactly the same quality as the non-modular cables on the HX520W. Since both units are made by Seasonic this is not surprising.





Unusually for a 400W unit this PSU comes with a pair of PCI-E power connectors making it perfect for a card like a GTX460 768MB.

I did connect the PSU up to my other computer and it seems to vent more air out of the case than the HX520W. This is consistent with the TechReport review of the PSU.

At least at low loads the PSU was not making any additional noise over the system fans.

IMHO,this unit is a very strong contender in the £30 to £40 price range.

[Max Tractor]

I picked up one yesterday £33 on today only, literally just unboxed it. I actually thought it was a bit light compared to the hx520

[LuckyNV]

I wouldn't use weight for any type of measurement, I have a no-name brand 250W, about as light as my mouse.

Antec Trupower 380W and 550W (old first series) both feel like bricks.

Tagan 480W also quite heavy.

HX620, VX550, VX450 all notably lighter given the far higher quality over anything I've used previously.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I picked up one yesterday £33 on today only, literally just unboxed it. I actually thought it was a bit light compared to the hx520

I bought it yesterday. I just checked the invoice and you are right it was £33.59!

I am going to get the scales out and weigh both units.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I used the bathroom scales and both units seem to weigh the same.

[Tonka777]

Could you tell me which the air is exhausted out of the PSU please Cat?

Does it blow up toward the GPU/ Down toward the CPU, or suck away and vent out the back?

Thanks.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Could you tell me which the air is exhausted out of the PSU please Cat?

Does it blow up toward the GPU/ Down toward the CPU, or suck away and vent out the back?

Thanks.

IIRC,it vents the air out of back.

[Sputnik]

Looks a good unit at that price, Who is going to be daring and open it up for a look inside ?

[Tonka777]

IIRC,it vents the air out of back.

Cool, cheers.

[Max Tractor]

beside hx520

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Looks a good unit at that price, Who is going to be daring and open it up for a look inside ?

I would but the PSU is for a friend!

Anandtech has a teardown of the unit.





I had a peek through the grill and the PSU seems to have the same Hitachi primary capacitor.

Here is a CX400W for comparison:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic...y-Review/750/2

They look very similar IMHO.

[Pob255]

Actually I'd go as far as saying they are using the same design & board.

probably only a few minor component variations.

it's hard to weigh a modular vs non-modular psu as the cables do add a lot of weight.

Weight is of course not a good measure of a psu's quality but it is a general indicator.
A newer psu may be lighter and still better quality than an older psu, however no quality psu will fall into that very light catagory of really cheap psu's
I relly must stress Indicator not Measure, esp as a while back there where a few cases of some rather cheap and dodgy psu's which had weights in the bottom under the pcb to make them feel like a higher quality psu.

[Iron Sights]

I've got one of these units last year, still going strong, excellent psu for the price .

[Homeking]

I like the look of this alot. I think I might add the 500W version of this to my list of possibles.

A shame that Scan don't appear to stock the 650W version.

[Pob255]

Make sure you get the Seasonic version, it has SS in the model number.
The other model is ok for a non-gaming pc but nothing special, just average, better than an el-cheapo psu but nothing more.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I also have had experience with the cheaper Silverpower SP-400P2C 400W which was also quite well built for a PSU retailing for around £30.

I wonder what OEM this uses??

Here is a picture of the PCB from the maxpoint website.



One of the nice things about the maxpoint website is that they post internal pictures of their PSUs too.