900W to 1100W PSU Group Test

Silver Power SP-1000E Results

Consistently we saw it remain within the ATX specification even up to 100 percent load. It does drop to within one percent of specification on one of the six 12V rails, but it doesn't actually fail at any time. The six 12V rails allow a large distribution of power over all the 12V rails, between SATA, ATX, 12V and individual PCI-Express cables which means the total load per rail is spread out.

Due to the limitation of power output though, loading the 12V rails fully means you can't load the 3.3V and 5V rails so as you reach 100 percent load you have a choice between requiring all the 12V rails or 3.3V/5V. It's unlikely you'll ever use all 12V rails to their fullest at the same time because there's simply so many of them distributed over all the connector types. At the same time though, 3.3V and 5V are becoming less important in PC use.

A consistent efficiency of 85-to-86 percent is sheerly phenomenal and the best we've seen yet. The PFC is also very high at nearly a consistent 97 percent, but it's not quite as good as the Seasonic.

Warranty

Silver Power offer a three year warranty like all Nanopoint products, which is comparable to the rest of the products reviewed and should be enough for most people, but it's not near the "lifetime" (10 year) BFG offers. Nanopoint's RMA scheme requires the product to be sent back to the UK retailer in the first year, then back to their UK offices in subsequent years.

Value

The Silver Power turns out to be a great PSU that comes in a well packaged box but you don't get many extras. The unit is meant to retail at around £150 (inc. VAT) and since it has the same six rails as the Tagan, it puts it in a great standing with regards to the other 1000W PSUs out at the moment.

In comparison, the Tagan has a far better package, better looking cables and is ten percent more powerful but is also £20+ more expensive when you also consider that Scan sells the Tagan 1100W for £170 will the Silver Power still be worth buying?

Conclusion

Unless your postal service has an in house football team, the Silver Power SP-1000E won't arrive broken thanks to the awesome box it comes in, and even though you don't get any extra goodies in it, the PSU's performance is excellent. It's built very solidly and even though it may not have a known brand name, it has a very highly regarded company behind it.

It not only achieves what it says on the tin, it does it with an as yet never seen before efficiency. Unfortunately it's let down by the half hearted braiding and extremely insufficient cable quantity, which you can do nothing about but use multiple adapters. It's great that it has the 8-pin connectors, but in a way you get what you pay for: the SilverPower 1000E is a bargain PSU so some corners had to be cut somewhere.

• Performance
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• -
• 9/10

• Features
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• x
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• -
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• 6/10

• Value
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• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Overall
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• -
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• 7/10

What do these scores mean?