Silverstone SX500-LG 500W Gold SFX-L

Will have to live with my SX600 until some new bracket is available for the NCase M1 that will allow the SX500 to fit with full length cards that have backplates. :(
 
Final update for this evening:

Ran the Prime 95 torture test again together with the GPU stress test for 54 minutes

CPU temps : low 70's.

PSU fan constant but slow. No ticking, no coil whine, not even a whoosh sound. I'd estimate it was running around 400-600 rpm throughout.

PSU temp remained very low, just luke warm throughout.

As soon as I terminated the 2 tests, the fan had stopped running in the time it took me to get up and walk the 6 feet to be next to the chassis

Overall initial impression :

This is a really good PSU. I havent seen any of the issues normally associated with SFF power supplies. My prime consideration for the PSU is getting and keeping the build as silent as possible and it doesnt disappoint that way at all.

The cabling is good, all flat and bends easily enough to position it comfortably.

In the latest V3 NCase, this unit works perfectly for me. Just the right length on the cables, no excess clutter to tuck away or fasten up with tie straps. I can confirm that a full length card is quite usable with this PSU when fitted to the NCase.

My existing ones (GTX650Ti Boost, 225 mm long) and (GTX760 4Gb OC Gaming, 275 mm long) both fit with ease. Even with the 760 fitted, I eastimate there is a further 2 inches or so in length available for a longer card, subject to the position of the power connectors of course.

The cables rest up to the back of the cards but do not force or bend then in any way, nor do they exert any pressure. With fine tuned cable routing, Im sure a small gap can be created.

Mine cost me £75.04 GBP (Including V.A.T) from scan.co.uk (Roughly $113 USD).

At that price for what I have got, I'm very pleased with it overall. I would have happily paid upto about £90 GBP for this.

The build quality is great and that all important quietness factor is top notch.

If anyone is still thinking about it, seriously guys, just stop thinking and get your money handed over. You wont regret it.

:p

Note : I will do some further testing once I have tidied up the internals of the build, fitted a case fan, fully assembled the chassis and such. With the exception of the PSU, all of the other hardware on this build is what I have used and tested in several different cases and builds; it always runs cool and quiet, and I specifically chose it for that reason. Since I cant hear the PSU fan even with the case open, its safe to say this PSU will be taking pride of place in my NCase.

And no, I dont work for any of the companies involved or mentioned. I've been reading this thread daily for some time now and once mine arrived today I thought I would come on and give a little something back.

If anyone has any specific checks/tests they would like to see carried out, post away and I'll do my best to accommodate.
 
Urelure said:
Well this certinly holds promise. Let's hope you didn't just get really lucky and get a very good one:)
Thank you Wonkey for a very thurough report. We knew backplates would be an issue but i seems you proved that without one you should be fine. Be aware though. The silicone based insulation on these cables are quite soft, so moving the case around too much with the cables rubbing on the GPU pcb could go very badly if the insulation wears down. It is very far fetched, I know, but it can still be worth a mention.

My Twin Frozr II cooler is nowhere near silent on full throttle btw. It easily drowns out the fan on my SX600-G when that is going on full speed as well. It's very easy to distinguish because the GPU dumps so much heat into the the case heating up the PSU that the GPU fans ramp down again after stress way earlier than the PSU. I suspect the cooler on your 760 is a twin frozr III or IV though, so there might not be grounds for direct comparison.
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Yep, the cable sheathing is a tad on the soft side which is actually really useful. If things got that tight, then a simple piece of plastic insulating sheet between the cables and the GPU would keep things extra safe.

The 760 has a large backplate extending the full length of the card, so even if the cabling remained directly touching it there should be no issues.

I never used the earlier Twin Frozr coolers but these are version III on the 650 and version IV on the 760. Both are twin fans obviously, and both run very cool and quiet. If anything I would say the 650 is slightly warmer but not by a big margin.

I haven't totally decided on my final build yet because I have a 4771 CPU available here and I could definitely fit a larger cooler in there too. This setup overall has worked so well that I think I could up the spec a little bit but still keep it totally silent. Since it will be on my desk a couple of feet away from my ears, I wont allow anything to compromise that, even at the expense of downgrading the spec if necessary. The quietness (And my ears!) are much too precious to compromise in any way whatsoever.
 
Thanks for the updates, WonkeyDonkey. Sounds like you have a great PSU!

Even though we've got only got two reports of this PSU here, one with coil whine and one without, I'll be optimistic now. Semifanless operation that works and no coil whine are great news.

The only thing I'm afraid of is the secondary non-Japanese capacitors. I am constantly replacing other people's power supplies and motherboards due to capacitors. The 2002 capacitor fiasco was not the end.

Ever since I restricted my custom builds to contain quality Japanese capacitors wherever possible, I have never had a failure. So sad Silverstone didn't go all-Japanese. :'(
 
josephclemente said:
Thanks for the updates, WonkeyDonkey. Sounds like you have a great PSU!

Even though we've got only got two reports of this PSU here, one with coil whine and one without, I'll be optimistic now. Semifanless operation that works and no coil whine are great news.

The only thing I'm afraid of is the secondary non-Japanese capacitors. I am constantly replacing other people's power supplies and motherboards due to capacitors. The 2002 capacitor fiasco was not the end.

Ever since I restricted my custom builds to contain quality Japanese capacitors wherever possible, I have never had a failure. So sad Silverstone didn't go all-Japanese. :'(
Click to expand...

A competent electronics guy should be able to sort that out for you, notwithstanding warranty considerations of course.

I've had some older PSUs here done with panasonic black & gold caps, and the (then) newer blue & gold. The results were superb. Not sure how they rank in the bigger scheme of things, but everyone Ive mentioned them to suggests they are amongst the best out there.
 
WonkeyDonkey said:
A competent electronics guy should be able to sort that out for you, notwithstanding warranty considerations of course.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I am also that competent electronics guy. I've sourced and replaced capacitors for failed hardware that is worth keeping. But I'd rather buy stuff with the quality capacitors already there.
 
josephclemente said:
Oh yeah, I am also that competent electronics guy. I've sourced and replaced capacitors for failed hardware that is worth keeping. But I'd rather buy stuff with the quality capacitors already there.
Click to expand...

Why not give it a try ? If its not good enough in a few years time, after the warranty has expired anyway, you can do a cap replacement yourself anyway.
 
WonkeyDonkey said:
Yep, the cable sheathing is a tad on the soft side which is actually really useful. If things got that tight, then a simple piece of plastic insulating sheet between the cables and the GPU would keep things extra safe.
Click to expand...

Yes they are great to work with when they're that soft. It's the same with the SX600-G. PLastick insulation sheet would work, but wouldn't look very good.

WonkeyDonkey said:
The 760 has a large backplate extending the full length of the card, so even if the cabling remained directly touching it there should be no issues.
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Wait. So your 760 actually has a backplate? Do you have any pictures of that? This would be very good news.
 
Urelure said:
Yes they are great to work with when they're that soft. It's the same with the SX600-G. PLastick insulation sheet would work, but wouldn't look very good.



Wait. So your 760 actually has a backplate? Do you have any pictures of that? This would be very good news.
Click to expand...

It does, gimme a few minutes and I'll post a pic.
 
Here we go.

This is the GTX760 Gaming OC 4Gb model (N760 TF 4GD5/OC)

3452azk.png


Another one to consider which I have previously used is the 'ITX' version :

2lm5u8n.png


This one had a little fan noise, but not terrible or annoying, just a steady whoosh. Its a lovely card to work with; I used it with my Apple Cinema Display (DisplayPort Version) because that plugs straight into the mini-DisplayPort connectors there.

This also has a backplate, as if it were needed :

33aflgo.jpg
 
WonkeyDonkey said:
Here we go.
This is the GTX760 Gaming OC 4Gb model (N760 TF 4GD5/OC)
Click to expand...

Seems like the M1 V3 SFX bracket was exactly the few mm needed to make this work. I think this backplate sits closer to the pcb than most others though, which is worth keeping in mind.

Do you have a measuring caliper or equivalent to measure the exact distance from the top of the GPU pcb to the top of the back plate to see how much extra thickness the back plate adds? And if anyone has a reference 9xx series card with reference back plate, could you do the same. I think these back plates are some of the thickest. I think there could be quite a difference, so it isn't necessarily this easy for all cads with back plates.
 
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Just got mine unit. I can hear some noise coming from psu from <10cm, but it's not a coil whine. Like a light chirring sound. Unfortunately can't make stress test, as I don't have a keyboard, or hdd, or video card :)
 
Urelure said:
Seems like the M1 V3 SFX bracket was exactly the few mm needed to make this work. I think this backplate sits closer to the pcb than most others though, which is worth keeping in mind.

Do you have a measuring caliper or equivalent to measure the exact distance from the top of the GPU pcb to the top of the back plate to see how much extra thickness the back plate adds? And if anyone has a reference 9xx series card with reference back plate, could you do the same. I think these back plates are some of the thickest. I think there could be quite a difference, so it isn't necessarily this easy for all cads with back plates.
Click to expand...

The backplates are both 2-3 mm thick I reckon, but no, I dont have a caliper. Is that what you mean ?
 
Leksys said:
Just got mine unit. I can hear some noise coming from psu from <10cm, but it's not a coil whine. Like a light chirring sound. Unfortunately can't make stress test, as I don't have a keyboard, or hdd, or video card :)
Click to expand...

wait so it's not even fanless with only the bios showing?
 
Leksys said:
Just got mine unit. I can hear some noise coming from psu from <10cm, but it's not a coil whine. Like a light chirring sound. Unfortunately can't make stress test, as I don't have a keyboard, or hdd, or video card :)
Click to expand...

Hi
What do you mean by chirring sound?
 
flod said:
wait so it's not even fanless with only the bios showing?
Click to expand...

It is fanless in bios. I left it running for half an hour, and no spinning at all.

Urelure said:
Hi
What do you mean by chirring sound?
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Don't know how to describe it. It is not coil whine, because it is not high pitch, but is audible within 10 cm from psu, and only from it's open sides (back and fan side). I tried to record it on the phone, but it's not audible on record, so it's not that bad.

I hope to do CPU burn test today.
 
From my experience, some switch mode PSUs will exhibit something similar to low pitch sound similar to what you can hear in a transformer station. If it is almost inaudible at sitting distance, I wouldn't worry too much.
 
WonkeyDonkey said:
The backplates are both 2-3 mm thick I reckon, but no, I dont have a caliper. Is that what you mean ?
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That was what i meant yes. Didn't see your post until now.
So basically what you're saying is that with the M1 V3, it will be absolutely fine with SFX-L and long card as long as the backplate adds <4mm or something right? Wonder how much the reference backplates add. They do at least LOOK thicker but i have no idea.
 
Mine was still except for when I loaded the system, at which point it was spinning at a moderate speed then stopping, as it should, then a steady spin when loaded even more.

Its definitely not a clicking sound though, just a very feint and very smooth whir. I've had clicking PSU's before; its definitely not doing that.
 
Urelure said:
That was what i meant yes. Didn't see your post until now.
So basically what you're saying is that with the M1 V3, it will be absolutely fine with SFX-L and long card as long as the backplate adds <4mm or something right? Wonder how much the reference backplates add. They do at least LOOK thicker but i have no idea.
Click to expand...

I think you will be fine so long as the backplate isnt *too* thick. You still have a little wiggle room of a couple of millimetres anyway.

I suppose the best option for somthing like this would be to have right-angled connectors, which would lower the profile by a decent amount. But thats upto Silverstone to think about of course.
 
Would it be safe to assume (in an NCASE M1 V3) an ASUS STRIX 750 ti would not come close to the SX500-LG since the board is shorter?

I know for sure the larger Strix cards would probably bump into it, not to mention the pcb width on those need to be filed just to fit in an M1 case.
 
Somebody. Please make a YouTube review! :O Not a SINGLE video featuring SX500-LG exist on YouTube atm :(
 
option.iv said:
Would it be safe to assume (in an NCASE M1 V3) an ASUS STRIX 750 ti would not come close to the SX500-LG since the board is shorter?

I know for sure the larger Strix cards would probably bump into it, not to mention the pcb width on those need to be filed just to fit in an M1 case.
Click to expand...


I have a SX500-LG and a reference 980 and it fits fine. a 750ti will fit even finerer
 
Urelure said:
That was what i meant yes. Didn't see your post until now.
So basically what you're saying is that with the M1 V3, it will be absolutely fine with SFX-L and long card as long as the backplate adds <4mm or something right? Wonder how much the reference backplates add. They do at least LOOK thicker but i have no idea.
Click to expand...

This is what a SX500-LG and a reference 980 looks like.
pPEaWoO.jpg
 
Ah thanks, I believe the 750 is like 3-4 inches shorter, so maybe it'll be like just barely under the sx500-lg. Thanks again.
 
In a more extended analysis the SX500-LG's fan isn't particularly quiet.

By this i mean it is easily audible at 2-3ft when computer is idling. Had a closer look, the fan is just about spinning when my computer is idling. It also buzzes at idle and probably under load by the GPU buzzing outweighs that atm.
 
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Anagog said:
In a more extended analysis the SX500-LG's fan isn't particularly quiet.

By this i mean it is easily audible at 2-3ft when computer is idling. Had a closer look, the fan is just about spinning when my computer is idling. It also buzzes at idle and probably under load by the GPU buzzing outweighs that atm.
Click to expand...

I can't tell from the pic, which way is the PSU facing in your M1?
 
Tony Ou said:
From what I can see, the SX500-LG are in our US and European warehouses now. You guys should be seeing these in stock soon at various online stores.

Typically our US office receive their products earlier than Eruope, but toward the end of last year and early this year, our US shipments were delayed by up to a month due to labor strikes that were happening at the ports.
Click to expand...

Ive already modded my ST45SF cables so that the cable lengths
suit my NCASE build.

Are they (ST45SF cables) compatible with the SX500 cables?
 
Reckie said:
Ive already modded my ST45SF cables so that the cable lengths
suit my NCASE build.

Are they (ST45SF cables) compatible with the SX500 cables?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, all silverstone modular PSUs have compatible cables with one exception, the Nightjar fanless PSU.
 
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