PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500W
by Christoph Katzer on June 9, 2008 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Conclusion
The Silencer 500 leaves a great impression when it comes to external appearance and packaging, but the story changes once we begin testing with our Chroma. The performance isn't bad - in fact, it's quite good - but somehow the Silencer 500W does not have anything to do with silence when it comes to reasonable loads. The build quality is very good as always, though it seems the secondary capacitors could have been placed better and OST might have not have been the best choice. Our real complaint lies with the fan, however.
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From the performance side of the equation, the power supply does well with minor flaws in output stability. The efficiency is also good, reaching up to 86% with 230VAC and up to 84% with 120VAC. The optimal load for this power supply is 100 to 200W of power - about what you would need for a decent system with a 9800 GTX paired with an Intel E8500 or Q9300. For that sort of system, acoustic noise levels should remain acceptable as well.
At loads above 200W, however, acoustic noise becomes a real concern. There is simply no need to cool a 500W power supply with a 3200 RPM fan and a resulting 35dB(A). We have tested many midrange power supplies; frankly, there aren't any that reach similar noise levels. PCP&C should definitely give a second thought to noise; with small adjustments to the fan controls, we see a chance for this unit to compete with other silent units.
In terms of pricing, we have the next surprise, as the Silencer 500 will be a bargain (relatively speaking). PCP&C is known for being more expensive than competing models, but this time they're competitive with similar quality 500W offerings. The price in the US is $90, and we're told it will be an incredible 60 EUR over in Europe. Most other 500W units are at least 15-25 EUR more. Antec Earthwatts, Corsair, Seasonic, and Silverstone all have similar US prices, and they also run noticeably quieter. However, for 60 EUR there are almost certainly users who will be willing to overlook the minor flaws in voltage regulation; if you only use 250W of load (which will be easy unless you start overclocking components), you can also keep noise levels in check. The decision is as always yours, and pricing and availability will very likely play a deciding role.
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irev210 - Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - link
Is it just me or is this just an overpriced antec earthwatts 500W PSU?This is EXACTLY the same internals as earthwatts at a 50% price premium.
How depressing :(
C'DaleRider - Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - link
[QUOTE]OST are often used by Seasonic, but they don't have the best reputation.[/QUOTE]I'd amend that comment by adding "not uncommon for lower end Seasonic power supplies" to that because I defy you to find OSX caps in anything other than a lower-end Seasonic build....and in nothing that is placed as coming from a "premium power supply maker."
Anything other than a lower end build from Seasonic will have nothing less than RubyCon, Hitachi, and/or Chemi-Con caps in them....and to imply OSX caps are being used indiscriminately throughout all Seasonic's builds, which that single comment implies, is wholly incorrect.
Again, outside of basic bottom-feeder builds from Seasonic, such as an Antec Earthwatt, I defy you to find a single OSX cap anywhere in their builds.....Corsair certainly has none in any of theirs, Seasonic uses none in anything of 500W or greater capacity, and to find OSX caps in a PCP&C power supply, no matter the wattage, is to see the influence of OCZ finally rearing its ugly head in cost cutting. To save a couple of dollars in what it costs Seasonic to use OSX over Chemi-Con or Hitachi or the like is troubling, esp. given PCP&C's marketing position as a "premium" product.
yyrkoon - Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - link
I find it a bit silly that you ask to 'not soil' your name brand of choice, but then you go and soil about 5 other brand names yourself.Well done ! (not).
HOOfan 1 - Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - link
all of the brands he mentioned were made by Seasonic.The capacitor selection was also most likely the choice of PC P&C and Antec, not Seasonic.
Just like it was likely Antec's choice to use Fuhjyyu capacitors on the CWT built units.
What C'Dale Rider is objecting to is the author's assertion that it is somehow Seasonic's choice to use questionable capacitors, when it is more likely the choice of the company they make the unit for.
Corsairs are made by Seasonic and they use Hitachi and Nippon Chemicon capacitors..as do Seasonic's own branded PSUs.
Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - link
Depends on the budget for the product. But don't think the buyer is going to search for components and probably even purchases them himself. The manufacturer chooses them according to budget and MAYBE presents a selection to choose from.The Irish Patient - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
Christopher,Is there any particular reason that all of the PSU reviews at Anandtech limit efficiency ratings to outputs of about 50W and higher?
Like it or not, I rarely shut my computer off. A typical week is probably 10 hours running and 158 hours in standby. For all I know, my power consumption during standby may exceed consumption during actual usage, depending on how low the efficiency during standby is. However, the point is that I don't know since there's no data available.
Just making it up, assume that power supply output during standby is 2W but efficiency is only 10%. That would be about 14 kilowatt-hours consumed during a month.
Given the trend to "green" electronics, it wouldn't hurt to include this spec in your reviews.
mindless1 - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
No, it is always true that standby uses less power. Even if efficiency goes down it is always inherant that it be using less total power FOR that efficiency to go down (it is the cause of efficiency going down).Therefore, you are basically worrying about nothing important. If power consumption itself is important then hibernate, don't go only into standby.
Christoph Katzer - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
Hi, I had standby efficiency ratings in the beginning but nobody seemed to be interested in it. Standby efficiency is never really good but i can surely include then in future again. :)icingdeath88 - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
SecondedAlso, I think it would be cool if you guys did an article (or blog, I'm not picky) about computers vs the electric bill. For example, how to calculate how much of an effect a given computer will have on electricity usage. Like, add up the power usage of graphics cards, CPUs, etc., in use and at idle, and factor in the time it's on/standing by/off.
I'm still in shock that for the month out of the year that my computer was out of commission (i broke it good). My electric bill was only about 1/2 - 2/3rds of what it normally is. That's a huge difference even though I live in a small condo. And you could bring it back around to the performance side of things by showing what a difference overclocking can make on power usage.
I know it's a depressing subject, but efficiency and envirenment-consciousness are important to a lot of people right now.
mindless1 - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
That would hardly require a blog. Just a chart or even rough guess then look at your power bill for the KWH cost and the math is simple.Or look at the power bill to get cost and program that into a Kill-A-Watt meter.