Testing the SilverStone DA750
To test the performance of this power supply I'm going to do it the way that most of my colleagues review power supplies: by installing it into a system and measuring voltages with a digital multimeter and software at idle and load modes. I measure the +12V, +5V and +3.3 voltage rails and check if they are in line with the official ATX Voltage Specifications.
The +12V and +5V rails are tested with my digital multimeter while the +3.3V rail is measured by Asus PC Probe. I would love to do a more in-depth test in which I fully explore the maximum power output, ripple, efficiency, voltage regulation at different output levels and noise level but unfortunately my test lab isn't equipped with the necessary multi-thousand dollar equipment to do this kind of testing.
Test system specifications:
- Asus Commando motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 with ThermalTake Blue Orb FX HSF
- ASUS EN7300GS/HTD 256MB graphics card
- 512MB Kingston DDR2 memory
- Seagate 320GB HDD
- SilverStone Decathlon DA750 PSU
- NZXT Zero case with seven fans
First I let the system rest for about 15 minutes before I take the idle readouts. The I connect a bunch of extra fans to generate more power consumption and I load up different benchmarks and programs to stress the CPU, graphics card, memory and processor.
Here are the results:
Conclusion
During the test I noticed very little fluctuations (sometimes a very small 0.01V fluctuation) but that's normal because the PSU actively corrects voltage fluctuations faster than a multimeter or software can notice. The difference between idle and load was minimal, the 3.3V and 5V stayed exactly the same while the 12V dropped 0.01V. Overall the results look pretty good, except that the voltage of the 12V was a bit low. 11.75V is still well within the ATX PSU specifications but I would prefer it to be a bit higher.
One of the things that bothers me a bit is a loud whining noise I heard, it's not the entire time but only occasionally when the system is under heavy load. I did some research and I found people who own the SilverStone Olympia OP750 (basically the same PSU but with regular cables) complain about the same thing. This is likely coming from a coil that is vibrating too much and while it's annoying it's not really harmful. SilverStone should do their best to address this issue as good as they can because people who buy a PSU that costs about 180EUR in the EU and up to $180-$200 in the U.S. don't want to be irritated by loud noises coming from their power supply.
Besides this problem, the SilverStone DA750 is a great power supply with lots of power and a good mix of included cables.
The Good Stuff
- Very powerful
- Lots of amps on the single +12V rail.
- Voltages seem pretty stable.
- Has a plethora of cables and connectors.
- Comes with a pouch to store unused cables in.
- High efficiency
The Bad Stuff
- There's sometimes a loud whining noise under heavy load.
- Some cables not fully sleeved.
- A bit longer than standard ATX PSUs. This may cause installation problems in some cases.
- Expensive, but which high-end PSU isn't?
I give the SilverStone SST-DA750 power supply a 8/10.
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