SilverStone SX600-G 600W PSU Review

Performance Analysis

As the SX600-G has no real competition within its form factor, we turned to a comparable ATX model for testing, the Antec EDGE 650W, which is also 80 PLUS Gold rated.

Despite the reduced size, the SX600-G has fantastically stable voltages, never drifting from 12V by more than 1 percent, and actually coming out with better voltage regulation than the Antec PSU, albeit ever so slightly. Efficiency, on the other hand, is marginally worse, but that's not to say it's bad - with an average efficiency of 89.86 percent, the SX600-G clearly lives up to its 80 PLUS Gold credentials. It also tends to be more efficient at low and ultra-low load levels, bettering the Antec at 20W, 60W and 100W.

Ripple values also tend to favour the Antec PSU, but it's important to contextualise the results - a ripple value of less than 50mV at full load, as the SilverStone PSU has, is fantastic for any PSU, so for one this small it's even better. You don't need to worry about voltage ripple with the SX600-G.

Noise levels are lower for the SilverStone PSU until the 600W load test, and even there it's not louder by too much. As mentioned, the fan switches on at approximately 15 percent load, or pretty much as soon as load is applied to a regular PC system. It may stay turned off with a Core-series processor using integrated graphics, but with most systems it will need to spin up, if only from time to time.

Conclusion

SilverStone has released a high-quality small-factor-factor power supply based on the SFX standard. Able to mete out 600W at an ambient 40°C and sensibly kitted out with fully-modular cabling - a must in small builds typically powered by mini-ITX motherboards and cards - overall performance is sharp across a gamut of tests, meaning there's no obvious compromise when reducing the size by over half.

And it's the very size of the unit that plays into SilverStone's hands, as no other company, as far we know, has a semi-passive supply with such capacity and performance in a tidy package backed by a three-year warranty. If there's a negative, the secondary filtering could be better, but that's about it for our list of grumbles.

Those of you looking to power high-performance builds - overclocked Intel Core i7 4790K and GeForce GTX 980, for example - in small(er) chassis would do well to look at the SilverStone SX-600G.