SilverStone Strider Titanium ST80F-TI Review: Silent And Modular
Introduction
SilverStone's power supply line are comprised of the Strider, SFX, Nightjar, Gemini and Zeus model lines. The Strider Titanium line consists of three power supplies ranging in capacity from 600W, 700W and 800W. Today we are going to look at the SilverStone Strider Titanium ST80F-TI power supply that retails for $169.99 and comes with 5 years of warranty. The ST80F-TI is a 80+ Titanium certified PSU, fully modular and comes in a compact design that delivers 413W per litre. It is very efficient under typical loads and uses all high-quality Japanese brand capacitors that ensure long-term reliability. Being fully modular allows you to only use the cables you need thus helping improve case airflow and eliminating unnecessary wires and reducing clutter. SilverStone has designed the ST80F-TI for those looking to build efficient systems in small footprints.
The ST80F-TI outputs enough power to feed two high-end graphics cards with little effort and still has plenty of room if you plan to overclock your CPU. It uses a single powerful +12V rail that can deliver up to 66A and offers great power output, rail stability and compatibility with the latest hardware. With that being said, platinum power supplies are becoming more and more popular nowadays but are about twice the price of a standard 80 Plus power supply unit. I recently reviewed the Strider Platinum ST75F-PT power supply and found it to be highly efficient and perfect for people who want to build computers in small footprints. Head over here if you are interested in reading my review of the ST75F-PT.
At the time of writing this review, the ST80F-TI is $15 more than the ST75F-PT so whether it's worth paying $15 more for a Titanium PSU efficiency is entirely up to you because both models are highly efficient and both would perform the same in every-day usage. From what I have seen on Amazon and Newegg, the ST80F-TI is about $20-30 cheaper compared to other similar capacity Titanium PSUs from companies such as EVGA and SeaSonic. But you have to keep in mind that companies like EVGA, Corsair and SeaSonic provide 10 year warranties for their high end models while SilverStone only provides 5 years.
SilverStone equips the ST80F-TI with a silent 120mm fan that has good airflow and is very quiet under typical loads. The PSU comes bundled with flat black cables that have good flexibility to allow for tighter folding and management of cables. The first thing you will notice about the PSU is Silverstone's logo in the middle of the rounded wire grill. The ST80F-TI has a 40 Celsius operating temperature rating which is a normal operating temperature for a power supply but pretty much all the high quality PSUs that are on the market are rated for 50 Celsius. When you are making a compact design PSU, you have to compromise somewhere and in this case it is in the operating temperature.
Specifications
| SilverStone ST80F-TI Specifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacture: | SilverStone | |||||
| Model: | SST-ST80F-TI | |||||
| Max. DC Output: | 800W (Peak 850W) | |||||
| Power Density: | 413W per liter | |||||
| Load Range | ||||||
| +3.3V | +5V | +12V1 | +12V2 | +5VSB | -12V | |
| Max.(Amps): | 22A | 22A | 66A | / | 2.5A | 0.3A |
| Peak (Amps): | / | / | / | / | / | / |
| Min.(Amps): | 0.1A | 0.2A | 0.15A | / | 0A | 0A |
| Range (%): | ±3% | ±3% | ±3% | / | ±5% | ±10% |
| Line Reg.(%): | ±1% | ±1% | ±1% | / | ±1% | ±1% |
| Ripple(mVp-p): | 50mV | 50mV | 120mV | / | 50mV | 120mV |
| Color: | Black（Lead-Free Paint） | |||||
| Combined +3.3, +5V: | 120mm | |||||
| Combined +12V: | 792W | |||||
| Input Voltage: | 90V~264V | |||||
| Input Frequency Range: | 47Hz~63Hz | |||||
| PFC: | Active PFC（PF>0.9 at full load） | |||||
| Efficiency: | 90% ~ 94% at 10% ~ 100% loading | |||||
| MTBF: | 100,000 hours | |||||
| Operating temperature: | 0°C ~ 40°C | |||||
| Protection: | Over Current Protection Over Power Protection Over Voltage Protection Short Circuit Protection Under voltage protection Over Temperature Protection | |||||
| Connectors: | 1 x 24 / 20-Pin motherboard connector（550mm） 1 x 8 / 4-Pin EPS / ATX 12V connector（750mm） 1 x 8 / 4-Pin EPS / ATX 12V connector（550mm） 4 x 8 / 6-Pin PCIE connector（"550mm" x 4） 12 x SATA connector（"600mm / 150mm / 150mm / 150mm" x 3） 3 x 4-Pin Peripheral connector（600mm / 150mm / 150mm） 1 x 4-Pin Floppy adapter connector （100mm） | |||||
| Cooling System: | Single 120mm silent fan | |||||
| Noise Level: | 18 dBA Minimum | |||||
| Dimension: | 150 mm (W) × 86 mm (H) × 150 mm (D) | |||||
| Weight: | 2.7 kg | |||||
| Form factor: | ATX | |||||
| Certification: | 80 PLUS Titanium | |||||
| Other: | GPU Support list Compatible with ATX12V v2.4 | |||||
Packaging
The PSU comes in a large sturdy box and on the front, we see the product's model number (ST80F-TI) shown in large letter. SilverStone claims that this is world's smallest 80 plus Titanium fully modular power supply. On the back, you will see some of the product's features and graphs illustrating the features of the PSU such as the efficiency, size difference between a regular PSU. The dimensions are 150mm in width, 86mm tall and 150mm deep and weighs 2.7 kg. Most modern cases are designed for full-ATX power supplies and since the ST80F-TI comes in a compact design, you have extra room for better cable management. The compact design makes this PSU ideal for enthusiasts with compact cases.
The overall packaging of the ST80F-TI is very good and SilverStone always does a good job packaging their products. We can see that the ST80F-TI is protected by two high density foams as shock absorbent and plastic wrapping to prevent any accidental damages during shipping. The ST80F-TI features a nice clean, flat black paint job that's really attractive. It also comes with a magnetic dust filter that can help reduce dust buildup and it uses built-in magnets that make it easy to attach and remove. There's a void sticker on one of the corners of the PSU and tampering with the PSU of course voids the warranty. The ST80F-TI doesn't have a power switch which in my opinion is an essential feature that every PSU should have.
The two manuals have all the information that you need to know about the power supply. The black manual has basically information on how to set up your power supply in all the languages and it's pretty generic. The white manual on the other hand is where all the interesting information is about the PSU and it tells you everything you need to know about the PSU. It's perfect if you want to learn how PSUs work and how to troubleshoot them and it will make you a more informed enthusiast user. I have said this before in my other reviews and I will say it again, SilverStone puts a lot of effort into their packaging which is greatly appreciated.
The accessories are stored in a small box that keeps everything neatly organized. Inside the box you will find the regular 24-pin cable, 2x 8-pin CPU, 4x 8-pin PCIe, 12x SATA and 3x Molex, with a floppy attached on the end. You will also find a couple of Velcro straps, two sets of bolts and a couple of zip ties. All cables are flat and the lengths are very good. This PSU is compatible with SilverStone’s PP05-E which can be used to reduce cable clutter in smaller cases. The PP05-E is made with flexible cables that allows for much tighter bends than traditional cables and it is great if you are going to be building a small form factor computer so you won't have to deal with the added clutter of long cables
Internal Design
The overall build quality of the ST80F-TI is great and with plenty of room between components for optimal airflow. The OEM that makes the ST80F-TI is Enhance Electronics which is not as well known to most users as some other OEMs. The first thing you will notice when you take a look inside is the primary heatsink which is bigger than most heatsinks in most PSUs. Enhance built power supplies are known for using large heatsinks on the primary side. Moving on to the secondary side, you will see two smaller heatsinks and some Japanese made capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con and Rubycon rated at 105c. The ST80F-TI uses a single layer PCB design and the integration and soldering is excellent.
The ST80F-TI includes all Japanese capacitors which is common in high quality PSUs. Japanese manufacturers such as the Nippon Chemi Con are high quality and have a reputation for excellent quality control. Japanese capacitors are also said to use a refined electrolyte with better sealing capacity that are more resilient to higher temperatures and ensure operation stability under extreme conditions.
The primary side uses an LLC resonant converter while the secondary side uses synchronous rectification and DC-to-DC converters. The PFC and primary side power components are attached to the primary side heatsink and next to this is the add-in PCB which houses the PFC controller. All the wires are color-coded so it is easy to take everything apart and re-house if needed. This ST80F-TI incorporates a modern topology with a clean integration and high quality components.
The +12V rail's filtering is handled by several Nippon Chemi-con and Rubycon standard capacitors capacitors. The Strider Titanium 800W comes with a FDB 120mm fan with a max 2200 RPM rated at 0.58A at 12V. The fan is made in China by Hong Hua and the model number is HA1225H12F-Z and it is connected to the PCB using a 2-pin connector. Fluid dynamic bearings fans have much longer lifespans compared to sleeve bearing fans and this makes them perfect for power supplies.
Below the sockets, there’s a basic guide as to what each socket is for and the connectivity is fairly standard. Similar connectors are grouped together; and are laid out in a very logical manner.
Test Methodology
| Test Setup | |
|---|---|
| Processor: | Intel i7 3770K @ 4.4GHz 1.24v |
| Motherboard: | Asus Maximus V Gene |
| RAM: | Kingston HyperX 8GB |
| Graphics Card: | Sapphire R9 390X |
| Storage: | Samsung 840 Pro 256GB |
| Power Supply: | SilverStone ST80F-TI |
| Heatsink: | Noctua NH-U14S |
| OS: | Windows 8.1 64Bit |
| Thermal Compound: | Noctua NT-H1 |
| Case: | SilverStone PM01 |
I don't have a proper power supply tester so I am going to focus on testing just the fan noise. The ST80F-TI easily powered the computer that you see above without any issues and it was silent. But I will mention that the lack of a power switch threw me off at first but after researching online, it seems that several Enhance models don't have it and I strongly think that every PSU should have a power switch. Moving on, I used AIDA64 to stress test the computer to its absolute limit and keep in mind that my i7-3770K is overclocked to 4.4Ghz and I'm also using an R9 390X which is power hungry. The ST80F-TI is an impressive PSU and if you are a silent PC enthusiast, the ST80F-TI might be what you are looking for. Now let's move on to the fan noise results.
| Noise Levels In dBA | |
|---|---|
| Lawn Mower: | 90 dBA | Vacuum Cleaner: | 80 dBA |
| City Traffic: | 75 dBA |
| Conversation: | 65 dBA |
| Air Conditioning: | 60 dBA |
| Floor Fan: | 50 dBA |
| Electric Hum: | 45 dBA |
| Refrigerator Hum: | 40 dBA |
| Rustling Leaves: | 30 dBA |
| Pin Falling: | 15 dBA |
| Just Audible: | 10 dBA |
| Threshold of Hearing: | 0 dBA |
All of the testing is done with an ambient temperature of ~19C. Sound pressure level readings were measured 10cm away from the PSU and the ambient noise level is ~26 dBA. Fan noise will be measured in three load levels: low, medium and high load. Fan noise in low load will be measured after leaving the computer idle for 10 minutes at the desktop screen. Fan noise in medium load will be measured after playing GTA V on max settings for 10 minutes. Fan noise in high load will be measured after stress testing the computer with AIDA64 for 10 minutes.
Results
The fan does stay on at all times and it's extremely silent but once the PSU is under high load, it becomes loud. In low and medium load, the fan is barely noticeable but during high load, the fan is defiantly noticeable.
Conclusion
SilverStone has a good reputation for releasing quality power supplies and the ST80F-TI is no exception. Having a high efficiency PSU pays off in the long term and there's recently been a demand for high efficiency PSUs. The ST80F-TI uses all high-quality Japanese brand capacitors that ensure long-term reliability and it is very efficient under typical loads. With a retail price of $169.99, the ST80F-TI is cheaper compared to other similar capacity Titanium PSUs that are on the market. A few months ago, Corsair announced that they were extending their warranties on their high end PSU models from 7 years to 10 years to compete with EVGA. A short warranty, in this case 5 years, might be a deal breaker for most people when shopping for a high end PSU and SilverStone needs to extend the warranty to 10 years to compete with companies like EVGA, Corsair and SeaSonic.
Making a compact PSU has its negatives. Most of the high end PSUs on the market are rated for 50 Celsius but since the ST80F-TI utilizes a compact design, it's harder to achieve that same rating as the other PSUs. But for your every-day usage, there would be no difference whether you buy a PSU rated for 50c or 40c. I know it's easier, marketing-wise, for a company to advertise that their PSU is rated for 50c but like I said before, it wouldn't make any difference for typical load usage.
Moving on, the clean and elegant build quality of the ST80F-TI is nice and simple. The trend for small form factor computers has been increasing over the years and as hardware components continue to advance toward more efficient and smaller designs, SilverStone is helping to drive the efficiency movement by releasing the Strider Titanium series of power supplies. Being fully modular design allows every single cable to be removed from the power supply for ease of installation and removal. You can also leave off unnecessary cables to reduce case clutter and maximize case airflow.
The lack of a power switch is disappointing. Like I have already mentioned, every power supply must have a power switch because
if you want to fully stop the power going into your computer, you either have to unplug the AC cord or flip the switch.
The 120mm fan does a good job at keeping the PSU nice and quiet which is great for quiet home or office use.
The internal design quality of the ST80F-TI is excellent and very modern and the integration is very good.
It has plenty of power to run two high end video cards with no issues.
Pros:
+ Cheaper Than Competition
+ All Japanese capacitors
+ Quality Internal Design
+ Magnetic Fan Filter
+ Fully modular
+ Compact Design
+ Great Packaging
+ Silent
+ Aesthetic
Cons:
- 5 Years Warranty
- No On/Off Power Switch
SilverStone has a good product in their hands with the ST80F-TI and the compact design, high efficiency and high build
quality make this a top notch PSU. I think that SilverStone should extend the warranty on their high end models to 10 years to compete with other companies.
Overall, I believe the SilverStone ST80F-TI deserves our recommended award.
Final Score 9.0
