Introduction
SilverStone is known for its industrial design, better build quality, and function over form thinking when it comes to the consumer market and industrial clients. This differentiates the brand, and while the products may not have some cool looks, they are filled with features and functionalities. SilverStone carries a whole lot of PSUs for consumer as well as industrial use including server-grade PSUs and SFF-grade PSUs. SilverStone is probably amongst the few who adopted the Cybenetics certification for its products which is now becoming a Gold Standard for PC products. SilverStone carries the following products under the 700 to 999W SFX/SFX-L PSUs:
- SX700-G
- SX700-PT
- SX700-LPT
- SX750 Gold
- SX750 Platinum
- SX800-LTI
- Extreme 850T Platinum
Anything above and we technically land in the 1000 to 1200W category. SilverStone has released SX750 Platinum V1.1 sometime ago based on SX750 Platinum. I am doing an overview of this unit in this article. Since I am not equipped with the proper testing equipment to do a full-scale testing of the PSU, I will stick to the basics and my user experience plus a basic PSU tester result.
Item: SST-SX750-PT
Price: $164.60 [AMAZON pricing at the time of this writing]
SilverStone SX750 Platinum SFX PSU Specifications
I have shown the specifications of the PSU in the above picture. The power density of this unit stands at 945W per liter. This unit has a single powerful +12V rail that produces a combined 750W output. This PSU comes with a 92mm fan that uses a double ball bearing.
Packaging and Unboxing
The PSU is shipped inside a cardboard-based packing box in blue and white colors. This is now a standard SilverStone theme color for its packaging.
This unit is fully module in design and conforms to 80 Plus Platinum certification. One general misconception is that having a higher 80 PLUS certification would imply a better build quality of the unit. While in theory, this could imply reality is far from it. So, always check for the components used in the PSU, its topology, and other data including the built-in protection system, capacitors, single rail vs multiple rails, and relating current limitation per rail, etc.
The backside of the packing box has some key data printed over it. A single +12V rail is rated for 62.5A. Efficiency curves show the potential savings on electricity by reducing waste. This unit has a tolerance of ±3% regulation on the rated output of the rails. Connector data is also printed.
Opening the box will show a cloth pouch that has a PSU inside. There is a cover under which the cables are placed.
Closer Look
The salient features include:
- Standard SFX form factor
- Silent running 92mm dual ball bearing fan with minimum 0dBA
- All Japanese capacitors
- High efficiency with 80 PLUS Platinum certification
- Class-leading single +12V rail
- Strict ±3% voltage regulation and low ripple & noise
- 100% modular cables
- All cables with flexible flat arrays
There is a black color cloth pouch or container. The main unit is placed inside this container.
When I took the unit out, there was a yellow color label over it informing the user that the fan of the PSU will not spin until a certain temperature value is crossed. This makes the PSU to be a semi-fanless design since the fan will start under certain conditions only.
The SX750 Platinum is a compact unit measuring at 125x63x5x100mm (WxHxD). This is a standard SFX form factor to which this unit conforms. The weight of this unit is 1.01 kg. It is black in color (Lead-free paint). I am showing the fan side of the PSU in the above picture. This unit has a 92mm fan that uses a double-ball bearing. Since this fan stops spinning under no load, the minimum noise level is rated at 0dBA. The fan starts spinning when the output power range is between 150 to 200W. The fan is screwed to the main housing using 4x screws. There is a mesh cover-style cutout on the top housing for air intake. We can see a SilverStone branding over the center.
I am showing the side of the unit. It has a label showing the SilverStone branding and SX750W 80 Plus Platinum rating of the unit. There are two screws on each side securing the top lid over the base housing.
There is a power on and off button on the rear of this unit. There is a 3-pin power connector to which the power cord is attached. The rest of the area has perforated steel for ventilation. There are 3 mounting holes on each side for the installation of this unit.
There is a power label printed over the base of this unit. This unit has a single 12V rail rated at 62.5A producing a combined 750W output. The power table is:
| Voltage Readout | Current | Power |
| 3.3V | 20A | – |
| 5V | 20A | – |
| 3.3V and 5V Combined | 120W | |
| +12V | 62.5A | 750W |
| -12V | 0.3A | 3.6W |
| 5Vsb | 3A | 15W |
| Total Power | 750W |
This is an Active PFC design with PF > 0.9 at full load. The AC Input is 100-240V AC, 9-4A, 50-60Hz. The DC output is shown above. As can be seen, this is a V1.1.
Let’s take a look at the connectors side of the unit. We have a total of 8 connectors here. Connectors are not directly labeled. There is a description over the bottom identifying which connector is for what purpose. Starting from the left side of the top row, there is a 6-pin Peripheral connector followed by 3x CPU/PCIe connectors and a 4-pin Sense wire connector. The bottom row has 2x peripheral connectors and a motherboard 24-pin connector. This PSU’s motherboard connector includes a 4-pin sense wire that needs to be connected to the PSU’s modular interface as shown. Sense wire helps improve PSU’s regulation performance by around 1%-2%.
SilverStone SX750 Platinum SFX PSU Cables
This PSU is fully modular. The modular approach has made it convenient for users and saved them the hassle of dealing with all the cable clutter. Now, users can connect only the required cables and keep the not needed cables away. This would help in better cable management and improve airflow which in SFF builds is more important.
SilverStone has provided the following cables:
| Cable | Quantity |
| 24-Pin ATX24 | 1 |
| 8/4+4 ATX12 | 2x |
| PCIe 6+2 | 2x |
| SATA | 1x |
| Peripheral | 1x |
The cables are flat and black. These cables are flexible and would be handy for the SFF builds.
Connectors
The connector’s information is as under:
| Connector | Quantity |
| ATX24 | 1 |
| EPS/ATX12V | 2+1x |
| PCIe | 4x |
| SATA | 8x |
| Peripheral | 3+1x |
Cable Configuration
Following is the length of the cables in mm between the connectors:
| Cable | Length |
| ATX 24-pin | 300mm |
| CPU 4+4-pin | 400mm |
| CPU 8-pin & 4+4-pin | 400+150mm |
| PCIe 6+2-pin | 400+150mm |
| SATA | 300+200+100+100mm |
| Peripheral & Floppy | 300+200+100+100mm |
The above picture shows the unit with all the cables connected to it. A nice squid!
The above is a close-up on the connectors side with all cables connected.
SilverStone has provided:
- 4x Zip ties
- 4x PSU Screws
- 4x Thumb Screws
- 4x Velcro Strips
There are:
- User Manual
- Warranty Paper and guide
General Characteristics
In power supplies, capacitors possess a critical place in defining its behavior. They are susceptible to changing their original behavior due to their constant engagement with high power. Especially, their ESR values and temperature tolerance are important in deciding their aging factor, endurance, and reliability. The peculiar role of a capacitor’s ESR value depends on the position of the capacitor in a power supply. For example, two important capacitors that are used in power supplies are the capacitor which is soldered at the input filter after PFC, and secondly, the capacitor that used as an output filter after the main transformer secondary rectification. SilverStone is using 105°C Japanese capacitors with low ESR, long life, and better stability.
The above picture shows the expected output transient step sizes for each output. The transient load slew rate is = 1.0 A/μs. To understand it, consider that for a rated +5 VDC output of 14A, the transient step would be 30% x 14 A = 4.2 A.
The above picture shows the ripple and noise ratings. This is measured over a bandwidth of 10Hz to 20MHz at the power supply output connector. A 10μF electrolytic capacitor in parallel with a 0.1μF ceramic capacitor is placed at the point of measurement.
The above picture shows the efficiency level at certain loads. In the 115Vac/60Hz input voltage, the power supply efficiency is more than 89%.
The power supply shall be stable and meet all requirements with the following capacitive loading ranges.
Protection and Safety Features
When buying a PSU, users must give due consideration to the rated safety and protection features of the particular unit as slight negligence can put the expensive machine at higher risk of getting damaged. This is where these safety features come in handy. Ideally, as soon as any short circuit or surge is detected, the PSU should shut itself down before the damage occurs to the components. High-quality PSUs include protection features such as Over Voltage Protection, Over Current Protection, Over Power Protection, Short Circuit Protection, Under Voltage Protection, Over Temperature Protection, etc. Usually, these features are mentioned as synonyms like OCP stands for Over Current Protection.
The SilverStone SX750 Platinum PSU has the following protections:
- OVP (Over Voltage Protection)
- OPP (Over Power Protection)
- SCP (Short Circuit Protection)
- OCP (Over Current Protection)
- OTP (Over Temperature Protection)
The above table shows the parameters for the Over Voltage Protection.
The above table shows the parameters and ranges for the Over Current Protection.
Here is what SilverStone has stated about the Short Circuit Protection mechanism of this unit. “An output short circuit is defined as any output impedance of less than 0.1 ohms. The power supply shall shut down and latch off for shorting the +3.3 VDC,+5 VDC, or+12VDC rails to return or any other rail. Shorts between the main output rails and +5VSB shall not cause any damage to the power supply. The power supply shall either shut down and latch off or fold back for shorting the negative rails. +5VSB must be capable of being shorted indefinitely, but when the short is removed, the power supply shall recover automatically or by cycling PS_ON#. The power supply shall be capable of withstanding a continuous short-circuit to the output without damage or overstress to the unit”.
Whenever any of these protections are triggered the power supply will shut down and will come back on when the trigger is normalized or the reason for the trigger is removed. This is a self-locking mechanism built into this unit.
The above table shows the PSU timings data. The power supply should maintain output regulations despite a loss of input power at the low-end nominal range-115 VAC / 47 Hz or 230 VAC / 47 Hz – at 80% load continuous output load as applicable for a minimum of 13ms (T5+T6).
Test Configuration
I have used below mentioned configuration for the basic use of the PSU:
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU
- ASRock B650E PG-ITX WiFi
- Sabrent Rocket DDR5 Kit 16GBx2 4800MHz
- Noctua Nh-D9L chromax.black
- MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio 24G
- Western Digital SN850 500GB NVMe SSD
- SilverStone SX750 Platinum PSU
As mentioned at the start of the content, I don’t have the necessary equipment to test the PSUs hence a simple PC-based synthetic testing was done to put the configuration under stress testing. The PSU was working fine despite stressing both main components at a time and there was no reset or shutdown.
I have used a Thermaltake Dr. Power II PSU tester to measure the voltage range on each output. It is a basic test that shows if the PSU is working within the specifications. The above table shows that the SilverStone SX750 Platinum is operating within the specifications.
Concluding Remarks
SilverStone carries a plethora of PSUs in different categories and serves consumer and industrial clients. They also carry some solid options in the SFX and SFX-L categories of PSUs. This type of PSU is suited for SFF builds using ITX components. SFX-L form factor allows the manufacturers to provide high Watts units since SFX form factor is typically ranged for up to 800W or so.
I have used SilverStone SX750 Platinum PSU which was required for an ITX build inside the ALTA G1M PC Case from SilverStone. Since I am not equipped to properly test the PSU units, I have given an overview of this unit in this article. The SX750 Platinum has a dimension of 125×63.5x100mm (WxHxD). It weighs 1.01 Kg and it conforms to the SFX form factor.
The power density is rated at 945W per liter. This PSU has 80 Plus Platinum certification. It is rated for a 92% efficiency level at 50% load whereas this efficiency level is 89% at 100% typical load. This unit does not have Cybenetics certification. It has a 92mm fan that uses double ball bearings. The fan will start spinning when output power reaches the range of 150W to 200W. This is a semi-fanless design because the fan stops spinning below 150W load.
This unit has a single +12V rail rated at 62.5A providing a combined output of 750W. The 3.3V and 5V rails are rated for 20A each producing a combined power output of 120W. This unit has 3x 8-pin connectors for CPU and PCIe. It has 3x 6-pin connectors for peripherals (SATA+IDE) and it has a 4-pin sense connector along with a 24-pin ATX connector. SilverStone has provided 1x 24-pin ATX cable, and 2x EPS cables with 8-pin and 4+4-pin configuration. There are 2x PCIe cables with a total of 4x 6+2-pin PCIe connectors. There are two SATA cables with 6x connectors and 1x Peripheral Cable with 3 Molex and 1 Floppy connector.
This PSU has the following protections:
- OVP (Over Voltage Protection)
- OPP (Over Power Protection)
- SCP (Short Circuit Protection)
- OCP (Over Current Protection)
- OTP (Over Temperature Protection)
I have already listed the settings tables of OVP and OCP above. This unit will shut itself down if any of the protection is triggered and it will come back online automatically as soon as the reason for the trigger is removed. This is a self-locking mechanism that prevents damage to the PSU itself as well as to the system-wide protection. This unit uses Japanese 105ᵒC polymer capacitors. The MTBF rating is 100,000 hours and there is ±3.3% voltage regulation with tight ripple control.
This unit is listed on AMAZON at $164 at the time of this writing which seems a bit steep pricing. SilverStone offers a 5-year warranty on this unit. This unit is working fine in my standard PC configuration and is recommended.
