Unboxing & Preview: SilverStone SFX Series SX500-LG Power Supply

Small form factor builds were often used as HTPC for home entertainment purposes, a lightweight gaming machine for LAN party enthusiasts who wanted to enjoy games with other enthusiasts, or perhaps gamers who always travels around and prefer a proper gaming machine over a gaming notebook. Regardless of its purposes, these builds usually require a small form factor power supply that will fit in a small form factor chassis, especially a slim type small form factor chassis like the SilverStone RVZ02.

Unlike the mainstream power supply, a small form factor power supply isn't widely available and most of them comes only in 400W or lower, which aren't capable of supporting high-end graphics card even though graphics card manufacturer like NVIDIA has vastly improved the power efficiency of its high-end graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1080 to run on a mere 500W power supply. 

SilverStone is one of the very few power supply manufacturers that offers high-powered small form factor power supply and in this article, we'll be checking out on the SFX Series SX500-LG 80 Plus Gold certified power supply, which is just about the minimum requirement to power up a GeForce GTX 1080... Or is it? 

(The SilverStone SFX Series SX500-LG retails at RM 435)

Specifications

Model No.	SST-SX500-LG
Max. DC Output	500W
Power density	484W per liter
Load Range
+3.3V +5V +12V +5VSB -12V Max.(Amps) 20A 20A 40A 3.0A 0.3A Peak (Amps) / / / / / Min.(Amps) 0A 0A 0A 0A 0A Range (%) ±3% ±3% ±3% ±5% ±10% Line Reg.(%) ±1% ±1% ±1% ±1% ±2% Ripple(mVp-p) 50mA 50mA 120mV 50mV 120mV
Color	Black（Lead-Free Paint）
combined +3.3, +5V	105W
combined +12V	480W
Input Voltage	90V ~ 264V
Input Frequency Range	47Hz ~ 63Hz
PFC	Active PFC（PF>0.95 at full load）
Efficiency	87%~90%（20% to 100% loading）
MTBF	100,000 hours
Operating temperature	0°C ~ 40°C
Protection	Over Power Protection Over Voltage Protection Over Temperature Protection Under voltage protection Short Circuit Protection
Connectors	1 x 24 / 20-Pin motherboard connector（300mm） 1 x 8 / 4-Pin EPS / ATX 12V connector（400mm） 2 x 8 / 6-Pin PCIE connector（400mm / 150mm） 3 x SATA connector（300mm / 200mm / 100mm） 2 x 4-Pin Peripheral connector（300mm / 200mm） 1 x 4-Pin Floppy connector（300mm / 200mm / 200mm）
Cooling System	Single 120mm silent fan
Noise Level	0 ~ 36 dBA (SX500-LG V1.0) 18 ~ 36 dBA (SX500-LG V2.0)
Dimension	125 mm (W) × 63.5 mm (H) × 130 mm (D)
Weight	1.4 Kg
Form factor	SFX-L
Certification	80 PLUS Gold
Other	Includes SFX to ATX bracket for use in ATX case GPU Support list Compatible with ATX12V v2.4

Packaging

Highlighted features and some specifications of the SX500-LG can be found at the front of the box for easy reference. Detailed specifications ready with graphs can be found at the back of the box in case if one is interested to know more after looking at the highlighted features at the front of the box.

Inside the box, you'll find a user's manual, mounting frame for chassis that only takes standard sized power supply, a power cord, modular cable set consist of 24pin connector, PCIe power connector for 2 x 6+2pin, 4pin molex connector, SATA connector, and the SX500-LG itself.

As a small form factor power supply, the SX500-LG comes in a smaller dimension of 125mm x 63.5mm x 130mm and with a 120mm cooling fan installed instead of the usual 140mm cooling fan on a standard sized power supply.

On closer inspection, we can see that the SX500-LG uses a slim 120mm cooling fan to gain better compatibility among most chassis used for small form factor build.

The SX500-LG is using the same honeycomb ventilation design like most of the power supply available in the market, a design that has been proven to promote maximize airflow throughout the enclosure of the power supply.

Despite its small size, the SX500-LG is a mini beast that is capable of delivering 20A on both +3.3V and +5V rail, and a whopping 40A on the +12V rail. Technically, the power output from the SX500-LG is more than enough to support even a GeForce GTX 1080 with ease.

As it's specially tailored for small form factor build, on the SX500-LG comes with a fully modular design and the connectors available are meant for a mini-ITX form factor motherboard and one graphics card. You can use it on a build with ATX form factor motherboard of course, but that will defeat the purpose of its small form factor design. 

User Experience

As Tech Critter do not own any industrial grade load tester to perform intensive tests on the power supplies on hand, we will be performing tests from the end user's angle. 

We've mounted the SilverStone SFX Series SX500-LG on our Raven Series RVZ02 small form factor test system and have gone through numerous tests which involve stress test and overclocking various hardware throughout the weeks; AIDA64 System Stability Test is done using Intel i7 4790K installed on the ASUS Republic of Gamers Maximus VI Impact, as well as FurMark stress test using all of NVIDIA's latest GeForce GTX 10 Series graphics cards. We're glad to report that the SX500-LG easily survived the stress test with our i7 4790K overclocked to 4.6GHz and all the GeForce GTX 10 Series graphics cards overclocked to its best stable performance.

Final Thoughts
While the SX500-LG might be a little costly for a 500W 80 Plus gold rated power supply, we shouldn't overlook its features such as small form factor and fully modular cable design, all cables with flexible flat array, high power output on the +12V rail, which is an obvious beneficial features for a small form factor build. If you're really into building yourself a small form factor powerhouse, the RM435 that you'll be spending on the SX500-LG is definitely a worthy investment.  

Unboxing & Review: SilverStone Primera Series PM01

As one of the big player in the PC DIY scene, SilverStone's uniquely designed chassis has been endorsed by many hardcore PC enthusiasts who looks into PC chassis that offer not only for the looks but also its functionality and build quality. With their Raven series and Fortress series being the mainstream choice for years, SilverStone has finally decided to come up with a new series for their chassis lineup, the Primera Series. 

We have the latest Primera Series PM01 from SilverStone with us here today, mighty thanks to SilverStone Technology and Inter-Asia Technology for providing us with the PM01. With no further adieu, let us proceed with the review to see what kind of quality and features can we expect from the PM01, costs? RM399 on the SRP.

Specifications

Model No.	SST-PM01BR-W (black with red LED + window)
	SST-PM01CR-W (matte black with red LED + window)
	SST-PM01WA-W (white with blue LED + window)
Material	Plastic outer shell, steel body
Motherboard	ATX (up to 12" x 10.7"), Micro-ATX
Drive Bay	External	None
	Internal	2.5" or 3.5" x 4, 2.5" x 5
Cooling System	Front	3 x 120mm / 140mm fan slot (includes 3 x 140mm LED fan)
	Rear	1 x 120mm / 140mm fan slot (includes 1 x 140mm fan)
	Side	--
	Top	3 x 120mm fan slot or 2 x 140mm fan slot
	Bottom	--
	Internal	--
Radiator Support	Front	120mm / 240mm / 280mm / 360mm x 1
	Rear	120mm / 140mm x 1
	Top	120mm / 240mm / 280mm / 360mm x 1
	Bottom	N/A
Expansion Slot	7
Front I/O Port	USB 2.0 x 2 USB 3.0 x 2 Audio x 1 MIC x 1
Power Supply	Standard PS2(ATX)
Expansion Card	Support graphics card up to 16.5", width restriction - 6.88"
Limitation of CPU cooler	180mm
Limitation of PSU	240mm
Net Weight	9kg
Dimension	220mm (W) x 571mm (H) x 560mm (D), 70.3 Liters

Unboxing

The PM01 comes in a very unusual looking box, rather staggering compared to the usual minimalist design from SilverStone that we've seen in the past.

Protection has been done well as usual, with the chassis flanked in between 2 pieces of foam as shock absorbent and plastic wrapping to prevent damages during shipping.

Accessories

The accessories included are rather simple - 2 pieces of fan extension cable, a pack of screws and the user's manual for the PM01.

The PM01 bears a slight resemblance to NZXT's Phantom series chassis at first glance, but you'll soon notice the offered features are much better as we proceed through the review. There are 3 versions of the PM01 available - glossy black, matte black and glossy white, the unit we have here in our lab is the black glossy finish version that comes with a large windowed side panel for hardware showcase. 

The front panel comes with a large meshed grill to maximize air intake at the front of the chassis, much similar to the airflow design of both the Fortress FT04 and Raven RV04. However, removing both the front and top panels can be a little tiresome as it requires unscrewing of 4 pieces of screws from the front panel, only to be able to access the edge to remove the top panel that requires removing another 4 screws. 

A large meshed grill at the front also meant a huge amount of dust intake as well. SilverStone has taken that into account of course, by having a large piece of dust filter at the front to minimize dust intake.  

On the top of the chassis is where you'll find the front I/O with 2 x USB 3.0 port, 2 x USB 2.0 port, audio jacks, and both power and reset button on the side of the top panel.  

SilverStone is one of the few brands that makes very versatile chassis for water cooling setups, and those traits can be seen here on the latest Primera Series PM01 that is able to support not one, but two 360mm radiators - with one at the top and another one at the front of the chassis. The mount can be improved by moving it further away from the inner section of the chassis, which will provide extra clearance for tall memory kits.

Here is the view of the bottom view of the chassis.

It's good to see that SilverStone has included a dust filter for the PSU grille to keep dust bunnies from reaching your PSU, but the rather thin, soft padding on the chassis feet makes its glossy surface prone to scratches. 

At the back of the chassis, you'll find the rear fan grill that supports both 120mm and 140mm fan or radiator, and the use of plastic head thumb screws here avoids scratching the glossy side panels.

Some of the notable features of the PM01 are its pre-installed stand-offs for faster and easier installation, spacious interior and cutouts specially tailored for the best possible compatibility for components and water cooling setup of up to 3 radiators ( 1 x 140mm and 2 x 360mm). Things could be even better if SilverStone were to consider using thumb screws on the PCIe expansion slot to make swapping hardware easier.

PSU shrouds are a long going trend to those who wants to make their system looks clean and SilverStone has stepped up their game with it built directly onto the chassis for that better aesthetics. 

There's also a slide cover on the PSU shroud that is removable in case if you need another 360mm radiator for your system.

If you're thinking to spice up your system with some LEDs, SilverStone got that covered as well with built-in LEDs that is well positioned to make your system shine.

The magic behind the motherboard tray of the PM01 - velcro straps included, fan hub for cooling fans, plenty of spaces for cable management and more. 

The pre-installed fan hub is able to support up to 10 fans running simultaneously and the compartment for PSU has plenty of spaces to keep the PSU cables well hidden for a clean and neat cable management.

Storage drives wise, the available options will pretty much suffice for majorities of the users, as you can install up to 3,  3.5" HDD and 2, 2.5" HDD/SSD which are then mounted on the back of the motherboard tray. 

Here's a proof of our claim of the PM01 being an excellent chassis for custom water cooling setup, with a RayStorm Pro Ion AX240 Water Cooling Kit from XSPC. 

Performance Test

Test Rig Configuration
CPU Cooler	be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 / XSPC RayStorm Pro Ion Ax240 Water Cooling Kit
CPU	I7 4790K @4.6GH
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Maximus VII Hero
Memory	Kingston Savage DDR3 16GB kit
Primary Hard Drive	Crucial M500 120GB
Power Supply	be quiet! Straight Power 10 600W PSU
Chassis	SilverStone Primera Series PM01
Display Monitor	Dell U2312HM

Moving on to the performance test, we ran a few stress test with the setup that we've prepared as above. These involves the CPU stress test utility Prime95 with the option 'In-place large FFTs' while GPU stress test utility FurMark with its Furry Donut stress test for maximum heat output from both the CPU and GPU. 

The test conducted consists 4 different scenarios:

• Without side panel + Water Cooling Kit
• With side panel + Water Cooling Kit
• Without side panel + Air Cooler
• With side panel + Air Cooler

While the direct airflow isn't as strong compared to what a pair of AP182 on FT04 and AP181 RV04 can deliver, but he pair of 140mm LED fans were able to deliver a considerable amount of airflow to the interior of the chassis and the difference in temperature as we've observed are pretty much negligible. 

Verdict

The SilverStone Primera Series PM01 offers a lot of great features, and good cooling is just one of them. It's a great choice for both air and water cooling as it's spacious enough to be able to fit in a decent custom water cooling kit, as what we've done with our XSPC RayStorm Pro Ion AX240 kit. You may even consider going all out for a monstrous setup with dual 360mm radiators, one at the top and another one at the front but you will have to remove the existing fans at the front panel.

Despite having tedious unscrewing work to be done during installation, SilverStone did manage to compensate for that with other features that convenience their users such as the velcro straps for easier cable management, built-in fan hub for the ease of powering cooling fans; as well as a PSU shroud, tool-free 3.5" drive bays, removable 2.5" drive brackets,  and built-in LEDs that allow users to cut through few corners to build themselves an aesthetically pleasing system.

There are drawbacks for having a glossy surface for a PC chassis as it's prone to scratches but that is something rather subjective which we won't be bothered by too much. The SilverStone Primera Series PM01 is without a doubt, a good value chassis when one takes into account for both looks and functionality; at a pretty decent price of RM399, it is worthwhile to recommended.

Pros

• Great features and build quality
• Able to provide a decent amount of airflow 
• Excellent cable management design (velcro straps, PSU cover)
• Comes ready with built-in LEDs and fan hub
• Dust filters are removable and very easy to clean
• Water cooling friendly design

Cons

• Hairbreadth distance between the chassis feet to the floor makes it prone to scratches 
• A lot of unscrewing work required during installation i.e removing front panel, removing top panel, installing PCIe expansion cards, etc
• Clearance issue with memory stick if you're using a radiator with more than 32mm thickness