Geschrieben von Cerberus am 21.03.2010 um 01:44:
Silver Power Gorilla SP-SS750M Power Supply Unit
"Please do not feed" does not appear on the packaging, but editors should refrain from reaching into the fan grill anyway... It was expected that the existing Gorilla family would eventually spawn a new member because the high-end segment still was missing in the portfolio. This is now remedied; the approximately one year old but still excellent layouts of the Seasonic M12 series which at least pointed out an efficiency of nearly 90%, even if these values already have been outperformed, provide the basis.
If you look at the current price comparison, the M12 power supplies from Seasonic still range at a level from 130 to 150 , a price for which we already get more efficient models. What would speak for the Silver Power then? Hopefully we will be able to figure this out in this test, but we can already reveal that the power supply will be offered directly after the CeBIT fair for 119 and it includes a revised wiring harness that differs markedly from the rather stubborn Seasonic pendants.
We picked this power supply randomly from the existing range of the first devices, not that anyone gets the idea that we got a Gold sample. We already hinted at it in the Sharkoon Rush Power test, that we will not get involved in this game and that we will again and again anonymously purchase models from the current series. We hope you enjoy reading our Silver Power SP-SS750 PSU Gorilla test, which provides you new insight and hopefully good entertainment...
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IEC power cord
modular wiring harnesses with bag
screws
Quick Start Guide (multilingual)
Body Material: Steel
Total power: 750 Watts
150 watts combined power output (+3.3 and +5 V)
744 watts (62 amps) combined output power (+12 V)
Universal wide-range input: 100-240 VAC for different power grids
Maximum load capacity of the various power rails:
+3.3 V: 24 A
+5.0 V: 30A
+12 volt V1: 40 A
+12 volts V2: 40 A
-12 Volt: 0.8 A
+5 V standby: 3 A
ATX versions: 2.2
EMC-shielded cable strands: yes
Active PFC: Yes
Fan: 120mm with S ² FC Controller
Cable management: Yes
DC-to-DC technology: yes
LLC-resonant converter: no
Polymer Aluminum capacitors: (partly on the DC-to-DC board)
protection:
OCP - Over Current Protection
OPP - Over Power Protection
OVP - Over Voltage Protection
UVP - Under Voltage Protection
SCP - Short Circuit Protection
Standard PS/2 Dimensions (W Χ H Χ D): (150 Χ 86 Χ 160) mm
Weight: 2.36 kg (without packaging)
Production to RoSH Regulation
MTBF: 150,000 hours at 25 ° C
Current market price: about 119
previous versions: 750 and 850 watts
Certificates: 80 Plus Silver
Warranty: 2 years
Additional service: 1 year free on-site exchange service within 48 hours for retail
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The sturdy packaging reveals a familiar sight, which unfortunately also applies to the amount of extras, because just like Seasonic, Silver Power does not provide such useful freebies like cable ties. Well, this is not the end of the world but in this price segment some extras would be appreciated. All the more pleasing is the sight of the modular cable strands which are in no way inferior to the ribbon cables from Corsair and Thermaltake, but more on that later.
The powder finish does not win a beauty prize, but serves its purpose and fairly well protects the PSU against gross motor skills. The overall depth of 160mm should be no problem for smaller computer cases; we are still well within the ATX specifications. Negative, however, we evaluate the Gorilla emblem on the fan grill. The reason is very clear: if you want to put the power supply into a current Lian Li / Lancool case, you will be confronted with the new adapter brackets, the grill along with the emblem might be damaged if you want to put the power supply with the fan side facing towards the interior.
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Recesses in form of a grid at the front end minimise the air resistance of the waste heat of the PSU, which supports the effect of the fan. Silver Power refrains from counterproductive rear or side vents which makes sense, because in the worst case warm air from the inside of our PC could enter.
The cabinet opening for the main wiring harness is equipped with an opulently designed edge protection, so that the edges can not mistreat the cables, this measure should become popular. The weight that our calibrated scale shows is nothing unusual today, with 2364 grams the Gorilla power supply is at about the level of comparable power supplies of these ratings. The weight might play no role at first glance, but there are still enough PC towers, where the retainers for the PSU already bend when unpacking the power supply.
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The 120mm fan comes from the assortment of Sanyo Denki. Unfortunately those fans are relatively rare in current power supply layouts, except from Seasonic nearly no manufacturer uses them. It has the following characteristics:
Bearings: ball bearings
Weight: 142g
Lighting: no
Dimensions (mm): 120x120x25
Fan blades: 7
max. Loudness: 36 dBA (2.0 sone)
max. Transport volume (CFM): 83cfm (141.1 m³ / h)
max. Speed: 2350 rpm
Power consumption: 4,39 watts
Connection: 2-pin
The fan has been mounted in the blowing direction which is advisable, because it not only transports the heat from the power supply, but also provides suction for removing waste heat from the range of the CPU / motherboard, etc., even if this is by no means its primary task. The fan is temperature controlled by the proven Smart & Silent Fan Control (S2FC).
The wiring is undoubtedly one of the highlights of this power supply. Not only because the individual cable strands are long enough, also the flat ribbon coating of the strands is flexible, so that the individual strands can be excellently placed within the computer case. Experts in this field will agree on that, since this type of modular flat ribbon coating is also used by Corsair and Thermaltake.
The Silver Power PSU has connector ports embedded in the casing, so that they do not protrude beyond the power supply case. The locking position of the connectors is clearly defined and we get an audible feedback in order to hear that the plug has arrived in the port.
You can discuss it controversially if cable management is useful or not, this time we see two points for discussion:
1. The additional circuit boards and connectors not only have significantly higher production and additional costs, but also might involve the risk of corrosion-voltage drops.
2. When many devices have to be supplied you will nonetheless use all the cables and cords so that the optical / logistical advantage is already lost. In spite of that cable management enjoys the highest popularity, even if it results in no technical advantage, only in generally higher prices. Occasionally you read the call for a completely modular wiring arrangement, so that the main wiring harness may be removed. To be honest, we can not understand that, because without a main harness a power supply will not work.
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9x S-ATA connectors (45cm + 15cm + 15cm long, modular)
1x floppy connector 90cm (long strand at the PATA integrated, modular)
2x PCI-Express 6/8-pin power supply 60cm (long, modular)
2x PCI-Express 6/8-pin power supply (55cm and 70cm long, modular)
1x 4 +4 pin ATX12V/EPS12V (in 4 +4 separable, 60cm long, native)
1x 24 pin motherboard power connector (20 +4 separable, 55cm long, native)
The cable lengths are amply dimensioned, but could be slightly longer, because in large towers 55 cm long cables can be too short, especially if the power supply has to be assembled on the case's bottom. Silver Power does not provide an ATX12V/EPS12V on an 8-pin connector for dual CPUs (not dual cores!) which is too bad, especially since Seasonic had provided one in their M12-series back then.
We can not complain about a lack of connections or cables being too short. You should be able to place the SATA cables conveniently in larger towers too. There is also nothing to complain about the PATA plug connection, because also the six 4-pin Molex connectors with their handy removing aid still have a right to exist. If someone has to connect three case fans and his fan control, usually the first four Molex connectors are occupied. If there is a water cooling system added, it increases the need for further connectors; ergo we see no reason for rationalising these plugs which some manufacturers already do.
Despite the thorough cable coating the cable strands are extremely flexible; this applies especially to the wonderful ribbon cables. The quality of the plugs and shielding is at a high level, we could not find a stubborn plug during our test. Maybe some users will miss a tacho sensor and temperature-controlled connectors, but we have to tell them that those are often a source for problems, because there are many motherboards that refuse to work at a fan rotation speed of 1.000 rpm.
Before we take a more detailed look at the electronics, we would like to offer you our special article on this subject:
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In the article linked above you can also learn everything about DC-to-DC technology, which indeed plays a major role in the case of Silver Power SP-SS750M. The corresponding extra-board sits slightly hidden under the heat sinks, but Seasonic was as kind as to give us a separate copy on which we can see the polymer aluminium capacitors very well. The hotspots of the Mosfets are routed through heat sinks to the cantilevered aluminum radiator to ensure rapid heat dissipation. Although the fins are relatively wide, but since DC-to-DC power supplies are working very efficiently and are therefore not so warm, the airflow should be sufficient. The aesthetes among us will certainly not praise the milling works of Seasonic, but it is not so bad, as long as the heat sinks serve its purpose.
All four boards are made of epoxy resin impregnated glass fibre mats, which means they belong to the high quality class FR5 in contrast to the much cheaper Pertinax boards FR1 to FR3. FR4 and FR5 boards have better creep resistance and improved high frequency characteristics. FR stands for flame retardant. The boards are also applied to the 850 watt version. The soldering quality is at a very high level, there is absolutely nothing to complain about it.
For the input filter (including board) X (1x) and Y capacitors (2x) are connected, which are supported by a filter coil. But that is not all; the input filtering is continued on the main board and consists of two additional X-capacitors, two other Y-capacitors, a metal oxide varistor (MOV), the mandatory safety fuse and three coils along with an additional ferrite core. The whole design is substantially more complex than in cheaper power supplies, where this area is designed significantly more economical, before the current is then transmitted to the rectifier. They are joined by a large transformer on the main supply and a smaller one for the required 5V standby line that powers our USB devices for example. Seasonic / Silver Power set on two large KMR electrolytic capacitors in the primary circuit that are manufactured by Nippon Chemicon and have a 330 ΅F and 390 mF capacity at 400 Volts, designed for temperatures up to 105 ° C. The electrolytic capacitors of the secondary areas are also made by Nippon Chemicon and are available in 105 ° C variants and the grade KZH and KZE, which means even higher quality than the KMR capacitors of the primary circuit. On the board for the cable management we find some Nippon Chemicon capacitors that match the quality level of KY. We would have preferred the Zalman solution that provides higher quality polymer aluminum capacitors there, since this area is hidden, leak detection is extremely difficult, not to mention the difficult cooling of this area altogether. All other coils, X and Y capacitors and metal oxide varistors come from the usual upscale assortment in Japan. In short, the components have been continuously selected from high quality material. Last but not least the shrink tubes on the important solderings must not be missing; it is a very important contribution to the internal power supply security. For those who are surprised about the plastic films on the sides, these films serve to protect against the hull, preventing effectively from short-circuits.
Of course the circuit board for the implemented protective circuits is also not missing, but you have to be careful there, because not every PSU that speaks of OCP, OVP, etc. really actively uses those circuits. There are quite a few manufacturers that leave out those circuits, even if the brochures tell a different story. But the motives for this are quite clear, the protective circuits have negative effects on the efficiency of a PSU and because they can only advertise well with high efficiency, they cheat. The customer nearly has no chance to check if the circuits are missing or not. Only when the PSU is hosed and kills all the components you get an idea of what went wrong. But do not worry; the Seasonic layout has got those working protective circuits in all variants, which are present on the market at the moment:
OPP - Over Power Protection
OVP - Over Voltage Protection
UVP - Under Voltage Protection
SCP - Short Circuit Protection
Also the Silver Power PSU already meets the requirements of the RoHS environmental ordinance ("Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment"), which came into effect in July 2006. A separate advertisement of this characteristic does not help in merchandising anymore; the manufacturers have to comply with it.
Exchanging the PSU is not very difficult, even unpractised users should not encounter great difficulties; therefore we do not describe the procedure in detail, and name only the important aspects. The most important basic rule when working inside the computer casing is to set all the components to zero-voltage. Therefore, first switch off the PSU and better plug off the cable. But the computer is not yet set to zero-voltage completely, because on the motherboard and inside the PSU there are still charged capacitors. When operating the system these capacitors balance current fluctuations. Normally the components discharge without any action, but this can take up to 10 minutes. Who wants to wait for such a long time? Using a small trick you can get rid of the remaining electricity: Simply press the power on button of the computer again, after the cable has been removed. You will notice that the fans start for a split second and stand still immediately again. Now the computer is set to zero-voltage and the old PSU can be exchanged with the new one.
Please do not forget to ground yourself before working inside the computer!
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Before the installation of a PSU and respectively before the test we briefly check its function with a Power Supply Tester. If there already are any problems, for example a fan that is not running, we cancel the test and return the PSU to the sender...
The Power Good Value (PG) specifies the space of time in which the motherboard and the PSU "talk to each other" during the power on of the system. Parts of the motherboard are permanently supplied with +5 V via the Slave Power Supply. This is the green wire that leads from the motherboard to the PSU. When pressing the power button this voltage goes to zero, the PSU starts. When something is wrong, the PSU stops its supply and the computer resets. Under normal conditions the Power Good Value is between 100 and 500ms, which also was the case concerning the Silver Power PSU with 223.7 ms.
At this point, again, the reference to our special article:
The article is also very detailed; we test our power supplies like this since February 2010, so we spare you the story here. Our test sequence is as follows:
1. 15 minutes warm up at 50% load
2. Preparing the respective test procedures for the areas of 5%, 10%, 20%, 50%, 80%, 100% and 110% load, which are initiated via the Chroma Racks or the Statron 3229.0 devices
3. During these 7 tests the voltage stability as well as ripple and noise levels are recorded on the oscilloscope and Tektronix TPS 2014 FAST FA 828 ATE and analyzed afterwards
4. The temperatures are measured with the Yokugawa temperature measuring instrument and continuously monitored
5. We measure the PFC with the FAST FA-828 ATE and the Seasonic Power Angel
6. The Loudness of the fan is measured about 15 cm away from the fan with an ACR-264-verified plus instrument, which usually includes a range from 15 to 140 dBA. Any other noises are also taken into account
7. The efficiency is derived from the input of the electronic load generator and the output of the power supply outputs, which are placed on a specially built board from Enhance
8. The standby consumption (S5, computer turned off) is measured after the completion of the tests
9. To eliminate compatibility issues and any noise through coils and transformers in power supply and motherboard, the PSU finally is built into two of our editorial computers and put into operation
Let us turn to the results for the Silver Power SP-SS750M power supply:
| Output | Tolerance | Umin. | UNom. | Umax. |
| [%] | Volt | Volt | Volt | |
| +12 V* | 5 | 11,4 | 12,00 | 12,60 |
| +5V | 5 | 4,75 | 5,00 | 5,25 |
| +3,3V | 5 | 3,14 | 3,30 | 3,47 |
| -5V | 10 | 4,50 | 5,00 | 5,50 |
| -12V | 10 | 10,80 | 12,00 | 13,20 |
| +5Vsb | 5 | 4,75 | 5,00 | 5,25 |
5 volt rail: a maximum of 50mV
12 volt rail: a maximum of 120mV
| Test values of the Silver Power SP-SS750M 750 watt power supply | |||||||
| Rubric: | 5% load | 10% load | 20% load | 50% load | 80% load | 100% load | 110% load |
| Voltage stability 3,3 Volt | 3,42V | 3,42V | 3,39V | 3,35V | 3,31V | 3,29V | 3,27V |
| Voltage stability 5 Volt | 5,09V | 5,09V | 5,08V | 5,07V | 5,06V | 5,05V | 5,04V |
| Voltage stability 12 Volt | 12,19V | 12,19V | 12,12V | 12,06V | 11,99V | 11,93V | 11,88V |
| Ripple&Noise 3,3Volt | 16mV | 16mV | 16mV | 24mV | 24mV | 40mVC | 40mV |
| Ripple&Noise 5Volt | 16mV | 16mV | 16mV | 24mV | 24mV | 40mV | 40mV |
| Ripple&Noise 12Volt | 16mV | 20mV | 26mV | 34mV | 42mV | 66mV | 71mV |
| PFC | 0,87 | 0,88 | 0,89 | 0,91 | 0,94 | 0,96 | 0,97 |
| temperatures | 24,5°C | 27,5°C | 32°C | 39,5°C | 42,5°C | 40,5°C | 39,5°C |
| Loudness of the fan | 18 dBA(0,1 sone) | 18,5 dBA(0,1 sone) | 18,5 dBA(0,1 sone) | 18,5 dBA(0,1 sone) | 23,5 dBA(0,4 sone) | 27,5 dBA(0,8 sone) | 32,5 dBA(1,3 sone) |
| Perception of the fan | scarcely audible | scarcely audible | scarcely audible | scarcely audible | quiet | still quiet | audible |
| PSU electronics noises | none | none | none | none | none | none | minimal buzz |
| Efficiency (230VAC) | 80,3% | 83,7% | 85,9% | 88,8% | 89,7% | 88,4% | 87,9% |
Not much is missing for the 80 + gold certification (Gold: 87, 90 and 87 per cent at 20, 50 and 100 % load with 115 Volt) the Silver Power PSU even operates a bit better than the Seasonic M12D original, although the layout has not been changed significantly. The ripple and noise results are excellent and free of any incident of bursts or peaks, showing clearly that all the filtering units work very well. As for the voltage stability, there is also no cause for criticism; the same applies to the tolerance levels of each power rail. New Intel Nehalem/Lynnfield systems draw increasing power from the 3.3 volt rail, but concerning the supplied 24 Ampere there is no reason for concern. In addition, we must specifically declare that this is a quite normal power requirement. Current high-end technology (in particular DC-to-DC technology) apparently allows tolerances from 1 to 3% for the 12V/5V and 3.3 volt rails, power supply units with average or poor quality components can achieve at best 5%, usually not even that.
Concerning the PFC values the Silver Power is also very good, this applies to the measured temperatures too, we also controlled them via the sensor on the heat sinks. The Sanyo Denki fan clearly is one of the better models on the market and the S2FC fan control keeps it well under control. Not until 50 to 60% load it reaches the magical threshold of 20dBA, under full load it works with 2200 rpm and produces up to 32,5 dBA excess pressure, which is of course not quiet. On the other hand this probably will not bother those who operate a PSU on the brim of its rating, because within that range of performance other system components pipe up as well.
Neither had we noticed unusual electronic noises which exceeded the typical quiet cracking noise under full load during the test in the test station nor in our current Socket 1336 system. But there might be Socket 1156 systems that react with noise to DC-to-DC PSUs, so far turning off the power options in the BIOS could help. Finally we mention the standby power consumption (S5, computer switched off), which is at about 0,64 Watts, an excellent value.
An additional explanation for the dBA definition: A human's hearing in general is best at 1.000 Hz; the dBA value refers to it: a sound at 18.000 Hz is sensed more faintly than a sound at 1.000 Hz, and the dBA value corresponds to this. To be able to compare, we now show the corresponding values in Sone.
Note:
We have to advise you that the results which appear in this review refer only to our test system without exception
1. The PSU has to be currently available
2. There has to be a current revision
3. If a PSU series contains several models, we add the one to the list which appears to be the best in our opinion
The products on this list are not primarily directly comparable, because they often have different performance classes and concepts...