Silverstone SST-SX600-G 600w Gold SFX

mazzy80 said:
I was so eager awaiting it to be available here in Europe to start my first Mini.Itx system around a FT03 mini - Impact VII board, but now it looks like a big let down.
For top dollars I was expecting top quality and quiet operation, instead I'm reading about cheap stuffs and noise.
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I think you have misinterpreted some things. The HardOCP review was generally very positive about the PSU because it worked above spec in about all the scenarios. The lesser quality components aren't going to mean it's crap, but just that certain components are of lesser quality. But in the review, this doesn't show.

The noise people have complained about is mainly the faintest of buzzing or fan whirring, but overall people still said that it is much more quiet. People here sometimes have difficulty putting experience into the right words, so you really have to read what is being said. AFD's opinion sounded like it was loud, although he said it was still much quieter than the ST45SF-G and was listening up close.

Don't expect this to make absolutely no noise whatsoever with your ear against it, this is in the end just a consumer PSU, not lab equipment. Even though you'd pay €120-130 (my guestimate), there are still more expensive ~600W ATX PSU's like the Seasonic Platinum Series 660W. Yes, 80+Gold vs 80+Platinum but you know what I mean.

Let's also not forget that some people are overly critical and obsessive about noise.

mazzy80 said:
In Europe there're available 2 sfx PS models from Be quiet! rated 300W and 400W but I've found no decent info about. I'm temped to take a chance on the 400W unit but the noise specs are not that great.
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Those are said to be pretty noisy and of lesser voltage stability, Silverstone still is king of SFX.
 
WiSK said:
Can you try without the filter mesh?

And another idea: tomorrow when you switch PC on in the morning, put a thermometer above the PSU exhaust. See how quickly and what temperature it reaches before you hear the PSU fan? If it's a hassle, don't bother, but would be interesting to know :)
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I'll have to find a thermometer somewhere and try that out. Will also try running the system without the filter and side panel in a few days and see if that makes any difference (getting nervous about breaking more clips! :D). Even if the filter is actually the issue, I'd probably give up the semi-fanless before giving up the filtration.. my PSU filter was by far the dirtiest of all of them.

Tried running my goofy RAM at 1333 (which gave me only 10° above ambient CPU idle temps). System ran for over 5 minutes this time before the PSU fan kicked on (it makes a cute chirpy bird sound when kicking on or off, lol).. but just sitting here typing at the same temps the fan just stays on for good once the system has warmed up. It's not really a big deal I suppose.. it's just that it's not working as I had expected.

Phuncz said:
People here sometimes have difficulty putting experience into the right words, so you really have to read what is being said. AFD's opinion sounded like it was loud, although he said it was still much quieter than the ST45SF-G and was listening up close.
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Yes, it was difficult to describe everything in a way that was accurate, but made sense. And I really don't think the SX600-G's fan is loud at all, just very quietly crappy sounding. For the most part, I can't really tell that the fan is even on at all (except that I keep putting my ear a few inches away to find out it's still running). I seriously think that if the intake was facing inward in my M1, it would be nearly impossible to hear (the noise being so quiet and very directional). Dunno.. OCD, and all that ;)
 
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Regarding the price and the discution about the components used.
I understand they have to make compromises and so many things to consider.

But this is just me, i paid 230 $ for the Seasonic X-Gold 1250W and i will pay the same for SX-600W if the quality was the same(very high) because in my mind the "math" is simple: half or 1/3 the size, 1/2 the power - i can justify it.

I mean it's already a niche product why not make it all the way.
But for something like this i can accept the price to be very high as long they deliver maximum quality.

The same for the NCase.
Maximum quality, no shadow of regret for the money spent.
For me a psu is an investment i want to keep it as long as i can especially in a build around the M1 where not so many sfx psus.

Also waiting for my SX600G to arrive from Amazon and see for myself how it will perform.
 
Phuncz said:
Let's also not forget that some people are overly critical and obsessive about noise.
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*cough*

Yeah, sorry if I sounded a little nuts. :p The PSU is pretty quiet at the loads I tested it. The vast majority of people won't find this thing loud. I was just trying to describe what I heard, and might have come off a little over the top.

That said, this is not a cheap PSU, and I still feel a little bummed out over the coil whine, and the cheap fan and caps (even if its only a handful of the caps). I realize this is a niche product and probably required a good deal of R&D, but the penny pinching on some of these things... it's just hard to swallow. If this were an ATX PSU, I'd have returned it by now, but I don't have many other options for SFX PSUs so I'm still not sure if I will keep it or go the ATX route with my future NCASE build.

All that said, it does have some nice features. Lots of power, love the cables, nice and small, efficient, etc. If this thing didn't have the coil whine, I would keep this and ignore the cap/fan issues, maybe even switch out the fan with something that isn't some crap ADDA fan. But as of now I've got to weigh my options. My PC is going to be close enough to my head that I'm probably going to hear the coil whine, and possibly even the fan the majority of the time. Decisions, decisions...


EDIT: Since people were mentioning it, my power is 120V @ 60Hz (Canada), and it is grounded as far as I know (three-prong wall sockets). Also, my motherboard drains power when not powered on. It's got a little green LED that's on all the time, and I imagine more things contributing to its "phantom power" draw. I also tested the PSU outside of my current case (Fractal Define Mini) so noises coming from it were most likely louder than if it were mounted in the system.
 
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AFD said:
just very quietly crappy sounding.
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LOL :D

Rorschach said:
But this is just me, i paid 230 $ for the Seasonic X-Gold 1250W and i will pay the same for SX-600W if the quality was the same(very high) because in my mind the "math" is simple: half or 1/3 the size, 1/2 the power - i can justify it.

I mean it's already a niche product why not make it all the way.
But for something like this i can accept the price to be very high as long they deliver maximum quality.

The same for the NCase.
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I agree with you but plenty of people have shown their opinion on this matter, in the Ncase M1 topic, that they think a "450W PSU for $120" is absurd. While it is a fraction as big as an ATX one and still performs admirably (except for noise), they still had an issue with it. Not with the $200+ for the Ncase M1 though...

I look at it like this: some people buy large rims (expensive) for their cars, but realise later that the tires to fit on those are also more expensive. So they buy the cheapest they can find. But a tire is the only contact a car has with the road and is crucial for all performance a car has: fuel economy, acceleration, decceleration, cornering, noise, etc.

A PSU works the same way: it powers all components and a bad one can cause many issues like instability, bad performance, shut-off, noise (fan and coil whine), heat, etc.
But Silverstone has probably researched that most people aren't willing to pay $150/€150 (excluding generally expensive countries) or more for a top-end SFX PSU.
And I think they are right, most wouldn't. It would force them to buy cheaper, crappier PSU's like the Be Quiet ones.
 
Phuncz said:
I agree with you but plenty of people have shown their opinion on this matter, in the Ncase M1 topic, that they think a "450W PSU for $120" is absurd. While it is a fraction as big as an ATX one and still performs admirably (except for noise), they still had an issue with it. Not with the $200+ for the Ncase M1 though...

I look at it like this: some people buy large rims (expensive) for their cars, but realise later that the tires to fit on those are also more expensive. So they buy the cheapest they can find. But a tire is the only contact a car has with the road and is crucial for all performance a car has: fuel economy, acceleration, decceleration, cornering, noise, etc.

A PSU works the same way: it powers all components and a bad one can cause many issues like instability, bad performance, shut-off, noise (fan and coil whine), heat, etc.
But Silverstone has probably researched that most people aren't willing to pay $150/€150 (excluding generally expensive countries) or more for a top-end SFX PSU.
And I think they are right, most wouldn't. It would force them to buy cheaper, crappier PSU's like the Be Quiet ones.
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I agree, and for this reason maybe Silverstone could release a cheaper less efficient 600W alternative for those who can't or won't buy a premium psu.

The flagship version would use only premium components, and cost a lot more. I'd buy one of these, even at $250.
 
A 600W 80+Bronze maybe, like they did with the 450W ? I guess it would have been a good idea, because they could bundle the 80+Bronze in some of their cases. But I guess the people in charge decided against it. Maybe because of the 500W SFX-L ? I was originally more interested in that one and I still am, but it's so quiet on the release-front :(
 
My system:
-3770K
-P8Z77I Deluxe
-16GB Vengeance Pro
-780 Ti Reference Cooler (fan profile 40% - 70%, temp:fan ratio 1:1)
-2x 840 Pro SSD
-C14 cooler
-2x NF-F12 fans and 1x NF-A9x14 (standard mobo fan profile)
-NCASE M1 (no filters)
-FS2333 1080p monitor

I have the case on my right hand side, next to the monitor.
The distance from my head to the front of the case is about 1m when I'm sitting in my chair and using the computer.
My ambient temp is about 18C.
My SX600-G unit is from the first PCCG batch in Australia.

=My observations so far=

#1 - system off
With my ear next to the psu, I can hear a feint but high pitch sound.
Sitting in my chair, I cannot hear that sound.

#2 - system on, idle in windows
With my ear next to the psu, the feint but high pitch sound is still there
Sitting in my chair, I only hear the woosh sound from the F12 fans
PSU fan does not spin

#3 - Valley Extremem HD preset, first few minutes
With my ear next to the psu, now I hear a light static like noise
Sitting in my chair, I only hear the 780 Ti blower noise
PSU fan does not spin

#4 - Valley Extremem HD preset, after about 10 minutes
PSU fan starts to spin slowly (there is a short squeal sound at the fan start moment)
With my ear next to the psu, now I hear what I think is periodic squeal sound from the fan bearing (maybe due to low rpm, similar to my experience with undervolting GT AP-15)
Sitting in my chair, I only hear the 780 Ti blower noise

After exiting Valley and idling in windows for 20 minutes, I noticed the PSU fan is still spinning slowly, but the exhaust air is not all that warm. Maybe there's a bug in the fan profile programming, I don't know for sure.

At all times, I tried to do things like moving the mouse wildly to see if the noise from PSU changes like in the Linus coil whine video; but no, the noise all stayed uniform.

For my current setup, the PSU noise is not really audible under normal use case because the fan opening is facing away from my head.
However, IF I was using a case like the next NCASE project one, where I'd put directly in front of me under the monitor and the PSU fan will be facing me, I most likely will look for a different PSU.
 
I personally feel like the noise thing has been a little over done. When running Prime95 on my system (sitting open on my desk, about 2-3 feet away from me), the Noiseblocker M12-2 fan that sits on my Scythe Kabuto 2 is louder than the PSU. And the Noiseblocker is quiet. At idle, I can JUST hear the fan spinning in the PSU, but it's not obnoxious at all. Interestingly, like others, my fan doesn't stop spinning once it starts up. I'm going to install mine in my nCase with the fan facing inwards, and then have a 120mm fan blowing air toward the PSU. Hopefully this will help cool it down and stop the PSU fan running. The coil whine that I originally had in my unit is also now gone.

My suggestion to people - if you want this PSU, buy it. Try it for yourself. If it's too loud for your ears, return it. Don't go on what current owners have been posting here.
 
Good to hear (lol, pun) that the coil whine went away ! I think that a 120mm fan blowing at it will help keep the fan off for longer but it is also going to kick in once the load rises above a certain level.
 
Did it legitimately "go away" or is it just no longer perceptible due to the new orientation of the PSU?
 
Phuncz said:
Good to hear (lol, pun) that the coil whine went away ! I think that a 120mm fan blowing at it will help keep the fan off for longer but it is also going to kick in once the load rises above a certain level.
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From what I understand the fan is thermally controlled, not load-based.

If you could keep the PSU below the thermal threshold even at 100% load I don't think the fan would come on. (But I could be completely wrong about this!)
 
You can see from this graph it is both:
sx600-g-06.jpg


http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=524
 
Phuncz said:
It would force them to buy cheaper, crappier PSU's like the Be Quiet ones.
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I´m using an ATX one from be quiet (SP7 - 500w) on my ncase. It runs well, at least no coil whine as my other ones from coolermaster and corsair. I havent tested sfx from silverstone or bequiet.

One important point is to check who is the manufacturer behind brands. There is a "non oficial" list here from oc.net forum
 
ATX PSU's are not comparable and they might very well be good choices, I won't argue on that :)
I must say I don't have a hands-on experience with the Be-Quiet's SFX PSU's, but what I've read from them (user experiences) these are certainly not spotless. Nor are the Silverstone's obviously, but they still get good reviews consistently.
 
Phuncz said:
I think you have misinterpreted some things. The HardOCP review was generally very positive about the PSU because it worked above spec in about all the scenarios. The lesser quality components aren't going to mean it's crap, but just that certain components are of lesser quality. But in the review, this doesn't show.

The noise people have complained about is mainly the faintest of buzzing or fan whirring, but overall people still said that it is much more quiet. People here sometimes have difficulty putting experience into the right words, so you really have to read what is being said. AFD's opinion sounded like it was loud, although he said it was still much quieter than the ST45SF-G and was listening up close.

Don't expect this to make absolutely no noise whatsoever with your ear against it, this is in the end just a consumer PSU, not lab equipment. Even though you'd pay €120-130 (my guestimate), there are still more expensive ~600W ATX PSU's like the Seasonic Platinum Series 660W. Yes, 80+Gold vs 80+Platinum but you know what I mean.

Let's also not forget that some people are overly critical and obsessive about noise.


Those are said to be pretty noisy and of lesser voltage stability, Silverstone still is king of SFX.
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The lesser quality components means to be cheap, even more for SFX where the temps are higher that standard ATX case, the airflow is more restricted, it's even more important to push on quality.
The performance are not spectacular in any sense. It's only barely recommended due at the SFX format not in absolute terms.
The MIni-ITX is a niche market. The mini-itx gears are more expensive that micro-ATX ones for examples.
so why be cheap to saves $5-$10 at max ?

If you're ready to pay €130 for the only 600W SFX on the market, you'll surely ready to pay €140 for an amazing unit no question asked, otherwise you save and going for $80-90 450W unit.
At this level the peoples pay attention at the details.

I wish that corsair instead to push another Line of ATX PSU on market start to pay attention at the SFX sector, We need competitions. On the ATX front there're 8-9 model at every price/power that are amazing and you can not go wrong whatever your choice. On SFX the quality is only barely adequate.

At the end I think that this unit is still the way to go, but only because the other few choices are even less impressive IMO.
 
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zoob said:
Did it legitimately "go away" or is it just no longer perceptible due to the new orientation of the PSU?
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I didn't change the orientation. It's still sitting open on my desk, waiting for my NCASE M1 to arrive.
 
I just changed my ST45SF-G to SX600-G not long ago.

I've been following this thread closely about a month ago. Registered to this forum today to let you guys know about my 1st impression.

I'm using Silverstone ML07 case and the PSU is mounted in front of the case. Due to the front positioning, the fan noise of ST45SF-G was very audible even during idle about 1 feet away from the casing on my desk. During gaming, the psu fan noise becomes very noticeable as far as 6 feet away and the fan doesn't slow down even after the my gaming sessions (usually i only gaming for about 1-2hours long). The fan stays at high speed even the pc was already idle after gaming, which is annoying.

Seeing you guys complained about the SX600 about chirping sound, buzzing fan and coil whine had put me into a dillema whether to change my psu into this.
Then i got to know my local shop carries SX600 yesterday, so i took the plunge to try out this psu because i don't have any other SFX alternatives and desperately need to get rid of the noise produced by ST45SF-G.

Here are my observations/impressions of the SX600 (My setup is i5 4460 and 760gtx both at stock speeds):
1) It is definitely much quieter than ST45SF-G on both idle and load. I think my system consumes ~300w at full load (based on rough calculation)
2) Upon power up, the fan doesn't spin until about 15minutes later. Ambient temp was 28c. When it starts to spin, it doesn't stop. I do not hear any chirping sound when the fan kick started.
3) When the fan is about to start, the blades click forward and backward a couple of times. Probably because it's voltage controlled, so the voltage was below the fan's start threshold. Not a problem here because i don't hear any noise from it.
4) I did not hear any coil whine during idle and full load
5) 15 minutes of running PassMark burn in test, the psu fan does spin faster but so does the GPU and CPU fan. Now my GPU fan is the loudest in my system now. Before this, the ST45SF-G was noisiest in my system. Waayyy louder.
6) The fan does have scratchy/scrapping/chattery sound as mentioned by AFD, but only when i put my ears close (5cm) away from the intake. At 1 feet away i almost couldn't hear it. When the fan spins faster under load, the scrapping noise is gone. It's acceptable for me.
7) Overall i'm quite satisfied, except for the lower grade capacitor used. Since this psu is a niche product, the price is not cheap. It's about USD150 after conversion from my local currency.

Btw i'm from Malaysia and uses 240v input.
 
ellroy80 said:
Crazyee, thanks for your impressions. Sounds similar to my experience with this PSU.
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You're welcome. Glad i can share my experience with you guys.

My experience with this psu was good probably because my system at max load only occupies about 50% of the PSU limit. I'm sure if anyone have i7 with 780gtx both OC-ed will load the psu even closer to the limit, and the fan profile will be different as well. Let's see more user reviews from different system configs :)
 
I haven't had any coil whine with my PSU and it has been a lot quieter than the 450W version. Unfortunately I been hearing clicking noises recently which I'm guessing is when the fan is on the fence about spinning. I'll give it one more day for it go away for good otherwise I'm returning for the 450W.
 
I don't see the issue with this as most people have already said it is silent at idle anyway. Inaudible vs zero noise is the same in the end, except for dust. I'd rather have the fan not switch on and off every few minutes. It is much easier to notice large changes in fan speed than a constant one you can ignore.
 
ellroy80 said:
Mine doesn't. It'll come on after 10-15 minutes after start up, and not shut off.
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Same here. Not really an issue.

Just don't see why they even bothered with semi-fanless at 0RPM, if it only works for 10 minutes after boot or wake from sleep.
 
Because it shuts up all the noise hypochondriacs who have hearing better than my dog has, I guess.
 
I think because the semi-fanless works well in the ST30SF, so it seemed a good idea to use it in the SX600-G. It's also probably a great marketing feature.
 
Phuncz said:
Because it shuts up all the noise hypochondriacs who have hearing better than my dog has, I guess.
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No, it doesn't. I'm not shutting up. :D

The fan starts spinning when the internal temperature reaches 45 deg C, which seems too low a limit to be useful. Wasn't it 55 deg C for the old 300W?
 
backfeed said:
No, it doesn't. I'm not shutting up. :D

The fan starts spinning when the internal temperature reaches 45 deg C, which seems too low a limit to be useful. Wasn't it 55 deg C for the old 300W?
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Yes, now that you say it, ST30SF fan starts at 55C. Also different OEM and she is less than a year old :p
 
So my unit started making a clicky/chattery sound yesterday after being pretty much silent since I installed it. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same sound or if it's just my unit. Vid is here. The sound isn't constant. It goes away and then comes back and the loudness can vary, but when it gets loud it's pretty darn noticeable. And annoying :D.
 
jakuum said:
So my unit started making a clicky/chattery sound yesterday after being pretty much silent since I installed it. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same sound or if it's just my unit. Vid is here. The sound isn't constant. It goes away and then comes back and the loudness can vary, but when it gets loud it's pretty darn noticeable. And annoying :D.
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Sounds like something (a wire) catching the fan slightly, maybe give it a little shake up.
 
jakuum said:
So my unit started making a clicky/chattery sound yesterday after being pretty much silent since I installed it. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same sound or if it's just my unit. Vid is here. The sound isn't constant. It goes away and then comes back and the loudness can vary, but when it gets loud it's pretty darn noticeable. And annoying :D.
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Sounds almost identical to the chatter noise that mine makes (I can only hear it up close, or with my ear directly aimed towards the fan up to 1 to 2 feet away). The volume level of the chatter on mine seems very consistent, though.
 
jakuum said:
So my unit started making a clicky/chattery sound yesterday after being pretty much silent since I installed it. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same sound or if it's just my unit. Vid is here. The sound isn't constant. It goes away and then comes back and the loudness can vary, but when it gets loud it's pretty darn noticeable. And annoying :D.
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I think it sounds like vibrations from the plastic shield that covers the AC inlet PCB.

1408156524DO6MNYS7gs_3_6_l.jpg
 
Came in the mail today from amazon and I'm going to be returning it. :( This is probably more due to my particular hardware combination than anything else: case is an SG05, HSF is NT06-Pro, and I have a 2.5", a 3.5", and an ODD drive.

This PSU simply does not fit for me with my current setup. The PSU supporting crossbar interferes with the modular connectors, and the 3.5" HDD cage is unusable for the same reason. Even without the lower drive cage or ODD tray installed, I had issues with trying to get the atx 24pin cable to the socket on the mainboard. The power sockets for my mainboard are at the top of the board. If I brought the 24 pin cable in front of the NT06-Pro, the cable simply didn't reach. If I went behind the heatsink, the fins could cut into the wires due to the short cable length. Either way, the cable would have to twist 90degrees and plug in between the undermount fan and heatsink. It simply couldn't happen unless I both had the power sockets on the front of the mainboard instead of the top and abandoned the 3.5" drive.

I was surprised how much less flexible the included cables were compared to the non-modular cables of the ST45SF. I was unable to fold the bonded flat cables on themselves widthwise to form a "round cable" that would snake easier between the PSU and the side of the case. An extra inch or two on the 24pin cable might have helped with routing due to my mainboard's unusual power placement. On the other end of the spectrum, the PCI-e cables were a bit on the long side.

I understand mine is a unique situation, but I rather wish I were in the noise complaint department than the strange world of "it doesn't fit".
 
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