SilverStone ST75F-PT 750W Power Supply Review @ [H]

SilverStone ST75F-PT 750W Power Supply Review - SilverStone is a long time favorite of many HardOCP readers and editors. We have more than a few in service in the Underground Bunker. Today SilverStone serves up a 750 watt PSU that puts it in the middle of the most competitive PSU enthusiast segment there is.

A bit of a fail on the review, I'm afraid, because - unless I missed it - you ignore the USP of the PSU. It's the "World's smallest ATX PSU", so some demonstration and discussion about that - perhaps photos comparing it with the FSP and Seasonic ATX PSUs and some SFX and SFX-L PSUs and a discussion about situations in which this PSU - might be appropriate. A single photo with a tape measure on page 3 isn't enough.

Quartz-1 said:

A bit of a fail on the review, I'm afraid, because - unless I missed it - you ignore the USP of the PSU. It's the "World's smallest ATX PSU", so some demonstration and discussion about that - perhaps photos comparing it with the FSP and Seasonic ATX PSUs and some SFX and SFX-L PSUs and a discussion about situations in which this PSU - might be appropriate. A single photo with a tape measure on page 3 isn't enough.

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That was talked about on several pages and specifically in the conclusion a couple of places as well.

Kinda harsh on the review, looks to be a very nice power supply. Size does matter

• Excellent efficiency
• Quiet
• Cool
• Great workmanship and parts used
• Smallest ever made in it's class
• Price is some what high
• Passed all test which are rather hard (45c test ), 100v test
• Warranty - sometimes it is not just a number of years but the actual service when you need it that counts more. A one year warranty is better then a 10 year one if the 10 year you have no chance of actually getting a replacement or repair done. While the 1 year you get immediate turn around. I could not find too much data for SilverStone Customer service so without that information the review is just relying on a year number and not actual service if needed.

To me this is a Silver product from all the review info.

It is relative though, it was middle of the pack in performance, it doesn't make any good separation from the previous ST75F-GS V2 in regards to performance, and it is pricey. That isn't exactly a first or second group kind of a result. It's sort of middle of the pack. That makes size it's thing and at 750W most people looking for SFF items are never going to use anywhere near this capacity right now. This is a product line that should probably be 350W-550W. The 550W was very good. This unit was very good, but there more appropriate options at 750W for systems that will actually use a 750W power supply. Enough options that this unit is just good in the grand scheme of things.

noko said:

Kinda harsh on the review, looks to be a very nice power supply. Size does matter

• Excellent efficiency
• Quiet
• Cool
• Great workmanship and parts used
• Smallest ever made in it's class
• Price is some what high
• Passed all test which are rather hard (45c test ), 100v test
• Warranty - sometimes it is not just a number of years but the actual service when you need it that counts more. A one year warranty is better then a 10 year one if the 10 year you have no chance of actually getting a replacement or repair done. While the 1 year you get immediate turn around. I could not find too much data for SilverStone Customer service so without that information the review is just relying on a year number and not actual service if needed.

To me this is a Silver product from all the review info.

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The by all means, buy several. It is a good PSU, not the best PSU, has a small footprint, but if you don't need that footprint......it is what it is. Paul and I did not see it as an award winner. If you do, by all means, purchase a couple now!

lol,

Review is good, good data and yes I think from the review it does not need a reward for some one to make a good decision. That goes for most of the reviews here. I see where HardOCP is coming from, just a different take on my part is all.

Paul_Johnson said:

It is relative though, it was middle of the pack in performance, it doesn't make any good separation from the previous ST75F-GS V2 in regards to performance, and it is pricey. That isn't exactly a first or second group kind of a result. It's sort of middle of the pack. That makes size it's thing and at 750W most people looking for SFF items are never going to use anywhere near this capacity right now. This is a product line that should probably be 350W-550W. The 550W was very good. This unit was very good, but there more appropriate options at 750W for systems that will actually use a 750W power supply. Enough options that this unit is just good in the grand scheme of things.

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Middle of the pack for what? Does the variation have any kind of significant value other than that it was in the middle. Does higher electrical noise equate to shorter life span of anything on the computer (motherboard, GPU, CPU, etc.)? Overclock limiting? What are the effects of the different variations if any? Now first thing that comes to my mind is coil whine but do not know.

I look at this product in efficiency in power which it does well, in size - exceeds all; then you combine it with low heat and noise and it gets even more enticing. I just don't need a 750w P/S so a mute point in the end. I can see others where the price does not really exceeds the performance from the electrical standpoint and rather just save the money and not any space saving, efficiency or noise or a combination where it exceeds some of those too. Best thing is use your own judgement with good data which I think this review provides to make a better choice.

Interesting PSU. I'm one of those ninnies that always buys PSUs with a little more overhead than I need, and this might be a good option for my Corsair 250D build upgrade coming in a few months. The crap PSU I have in there isn't modular, and the wadded up cables take up a lot of room.

I think that's where this PSU finds it's home: small form factor builds that aren't nano-builds, where quality power is good to have but space saving is at a premium.
I see why it didn't get a silver award, and I think it's definitely on the edge. Great review.

Meta Suggestion/Question- Have you ever thought of doing a measurement of the amount of air a PSU moves? Like the smoke-test for the case reviews. Some cases use the PSU has an exhaust fan when considering cooling, and it might be good to know if compact builds like this also don't move much air.

Quartz-1 said:

.....

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Your thoughts are noted.

Modred189 said:

Meta Suggestion/Question- Have you ever thought of doing a measurement of the amount of air a PSU moves? Like the smoke-test for the case reviews. Some cases use the PSU has an exhaust fan when considering cooling, and it might be good to know if compact builds like this also don't move much air.

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No, we will not be taking on that aspect of testing. That said, we do show you very good temperature data which could be extrapolated to make a call on whether or not you can use the PSU as a case exhaust fan.....not that I would ever suggest that be done.

Damn. Was reading this review hoping it would have dual 8-pin EPS connectors for my dual CPU Supermicro Server board (I currently have it ghetto rigged up with a PCIe power to EPS adapter, but I want to do it right)

Does anyone have any recommendations for a PSU much like this one (similar power, efficiency, etc.) but with dual 8-pin EPS connectors?

Quartz-1 said:

A bit of a fail on the review, I'm afraid, because - unless I missed it - you ignore the USP of the PSU. It's the "World's smallest ATX PSU", so some demonstration and discussion about that - perhaps photos comparing it with the FSP and Seasonic ATX PSUs and some SFX and SFX-L PSUs and a discussion about situations in which this PSU - might be appropriate. A single photo with a tape measure on page 3 isn't enough.

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It was not ignored as in not addressed. In fact, it was the predominate part of the introduction you read:

As we mentioned when we reviewed the ST55F-PT, a common theme among SilverStone power supplies of late has been a reduction in length of the ATX12v specification power supplies that they have been producing enabling their usage in ever smaller builds. While this change is certainly welcome for a certain niche of users, it is important that performance not be sacrificed to a great extent in the process. As it turned out with the ST55F-PT, SilverStone produced a product that was indeed still competitive even in its reduced form factor. However, today, we are looking at the ST75F-PT which is 200W greater in capacity yet still shares the same dimensions as the previous ST55F-PT. So, while SilverStone may have been able to pull off a competitive 550W unit, today this task is somewhat more challenging. And, just because this unit may be a smaller form factor and advertised heavily as such doesn't mean it gets a pass if it falls short in other areas in our evaluations. Therefore, as always, the emphasis today is going to be on how this unit performs in our metrics not primarily on how small it is.

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Quartz-1 said:

Forgive me but can you point them out? I see one sentence on page 2,



a photo on page 3

and a phrase on page 6



That really does not constitute being talked about to me.

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So, it is addressed in detail on page 1 explaining how it will be handled, it was explained in the ST55F-PT review which was the first member of this series reviewed, it was mentioned on page 2, physical size was given on page 3, page 6, and was the entire part of the thoughts section on page 9. So, I am not really sure what review you read that it wasn't addressed.

In the conclusion all you state is



without having gone into what that niche might be and comparing it with alternatives for that niche. (You compare it with two standard-sized ATX PSUs).

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That was on page 1....in the introduction. An ATX formfactor power supply that is reduced in length.

noko said:

Middle of the pack for what?

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The metrics used in all of our PSU reviews relative to other comperable(ish) units we have seen recently as was found on the bottom of page 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Does the variation have any kind of significant value other than that it was in the middle. Does higher electrical noise equate to shorter life span of anything on the computer (motherboard, GPU, CPU, etc.)? Overclock limiting?

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Yes.

What are the effects of the different variations if any? Now first thing that comes to my mind is coil whine but do not know.

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Coil whine is not a performance metric and is a unit to unit variation as well as a component to component matching variation more so than a design issue in most cases. So, coil whine is not even something that comes into play.

I look at this product in efficiency in power which it does well, in size - exceeds all; then you combine it with low heat and noise and it gets even more enticing. I just don't need a 750w P/S so a mute point in the end. I can see others where the price does not really exceeds the performance from the electrical standpoint and rather just save the money and not any space saving, efficiency or noise or a combination where it exceeds some of those too. Best thing is use your own judgement with good data which I think this review provides to make a better choice.

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?

Paul_Johnson said:

The metrics used in all of our PSU reviews relative to other comperable(ish) units we have seen recently as was found on the bottom of page 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.



Yes.



Coil whine is not a performance metric and is a unit to unit variation as well as a component to component matching variation more so than a design issue in most cases. So, coil whine is not even something that comes into play.


?

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For the Yes, is there any quantitative data to support this on the variations noted on the compared power supplies? Or something equivalent.

Can or has HardOCP taken the worst passing power supply for noise and then the best power supply and see if it affects OC and stability for both cpu and gpu? Transient response testing same thing with OC and stability. Basically will this power supply really give me a slight edge due to (reduce noise, better transient etc.)?

Motherboards and gpu's have there own power circuits to reduce the 12v to whatever voltage it needs, also very effective in cleaning up noise and to make up any voltage transients. The small variations noted in these reviews may not have any effect on modern motherboards or gpu operations. In other words if the power supply meet specs then it may mean nothing if a better within spec power supply is used.

I didn't mean power supply coil whine but coil whine like in a video card. Basically coil whine is caused by variations of current flow through the coil which causes the magnetic field around the coil to change - the two will give motor action or force on the coil (conductors) and thus will vibrate. Coils that are better mounted, configured to cancel out noise (mirrored but connected to each other physically), circuity to reduce current fluctuations (capacitors), larger wire coils (which will make them bigger, more mass, more expensive) will see less coil whine.

noko said:

For the Yes, is there any quantitative data to support this on the variations noted on the compared power supplies? Or something equivalent.

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You'll have to contact Intel, IBM, SGI, and the others involved in the relevant specification developments to get their data.

Can or has HardOCP taken the worst passing power supply for noise and then the best power supply and see if it affects OC and stability for both cpu and gpu?

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That has been addressed before. We do not posses the vast amount of resources necessary to do what you seem to think would be simple in a quantitative way.

I didn't mean power supply coil whine but coil whine like in a video card. Basically coil whine is caused by variations of current flow through the coil which causes the magnetic field around the coil to change - the two will give motor action or force on the coil (conductors) and thus will vibrate. Coils that are better mounted, configured to cancel out noise (mirrored but connected to each other physically), circuity to reduce current fluctuations (capacitors), larger wire coils (which will make them bigger, more mass, more expensive) will see less coil whine.

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Yes, we all know what coil whine is and this was addressed in my previous post. That is a videocard (component) problem, so it is not covered in power supply reviews as we are only looking at the power supply and there is no way to account for your videocard problems.

Paul_Johnson said:

You'll have to contact Intel, IBM, SGI, and the others involved in the relevant specification developments to get their data.



That has been addressed before. We do not posses the vast amount of resources necessary to do what you seem to think would be simple in a quantitative way.



Yes, we all know what coil whine is and this was addressed in my previous post. That is a videocard (component) problem, so it is not covered in power supply reviews as we are only looking at the power supply and there is no way to account for your videocard problems.

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Fair enough.

What maybe possible is to test to see if the small variation in noise from these power supplies, voltage variations due to spikes does or does not affect a given test rig or rigs.

Personally I have no feel for some of these measurements or the significance of the results. People in these forums with different power supplies, some even rated poorly do and have great overclocks. Would they get another 50mhz to 100mhz by switching the power supply? Getting a rig maxed out on one power supply consistently with restarts - switching the power supply and see if you have the same results or not - if they are the same results then the variation is not affecting OCing - If different then it would show clearly these variations can have adverse effects.

Not saying this should be done every time but it would be real world testing, something meaningful and very much relatable. Less of a fixed benchmark and more to an experience in the end result.