Silverstone SX500-LG 500W Gold SFX-L

Tony Ou said:
You have to realize that the majority of happy users will not bother to report their experience and if you look at the comments posted on sites like Newegg and Amazon, there are many more satisfied users.
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^This
Not only with this particular power supply but for almost anything you buy online. Most people buy things and get them, then don't bother to review/rate them. On the other hand anyone unlucky enough to get a not-so-good product (or he might just not like it) would leave a review complaining about it.
 
Tony Ou said:
Noise perception is very subjective so you will not really know for sure until you try.
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I hope you've understood it's not the noise that's the issue, it's the irregularity of it and that doesn't need to be tried, it's annoying to all.
 
Tony Ou said:
*Update 2015/5/14*
Sorry guys, looks like I was too quick to post about this info. Apparently, our US office still have V1.0 in stock, hence there are no price increases at many of the stores as they continue to sell them out. Some of you may still get lucky to have received V1.1 in the mix though.
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Just got mine in from Amazon. Glad its a V1.1.

Pq9hmDN.jpg
 
Doesn't sound like like they are planning on that. It doesn't even sound like they are acknowledging an issue with the current fanless feature.
 
BlinkHD said:
Are there any plans of this PSU from Silverstone without the semi-fanless feature?
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None at this time, but I wouldn't completely rule it out.

Hanakuso said:
Doesn't sound like like they are planning on that. It doesn't even sound like they are acknowledging an issue with the current fanless feature.
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We have been monitoring the number of feedbacks since the very first report here, and like I've mentioned multiple times in this thread, we made our best effort with the SX500-LG (resulting in 3 month delay in product launch) so if it still isn't good enough for some of you, then there is very little we can do. We welcome that you return the PSU if you are not satisfied for another unit. There is always the chance that the one you receive initially may cross the threshold of annoyance while the second unit could be below that. Power supplies are still analog devices so there is always variances even within the same production batch. And if this is still not enough, then SX500-LG is obviously not for you and we will try to win you back as a customer with our next SFX-L release!
 
Aibohphobia said:
What about a switch like some other semi-fanless units to toggle the fan between "always on" and "semi-passive" mode?
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That's certainly something we can look into adding in future models. However, Seasonic holds the patent for this so we'd have to ask them very nicely for it or they have to be the OEM for the models we want to implement this feature on.
 
Thanks Tony for being so upfront with the community, I'm sure that's why there is so much love for Silverstone (except maybe the SX500 and SX600 topics ;)) in this forum.

It is indeed a highly critical bunch of people here, here but this also leads to many marvelous things being created.

Tony Ou said:
However, Seasonic holds the patent for this so we'd have to ask them very nicely for it or they have to be the OEM for the models we want to implement this feature on.
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They patented an On/Off switch on a feature ?! Wow that's beyond sense.

Tony Ou said:
Power supplies are still analog devices...
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About that, how about digital SFX PSU's ? The Corsair AX***i series seem to do very well because of it, is any of the OEMs planning these ?
Or to put it more NDA-friendly: "if you'd guess an OEM would create a digital SFX PSU, would Silverstone be very eager to jump in as soon as they can ?"
 
Tony Ou said:
That's certainly something we can look into adding in future models. However, Seasonic holds the patent for this so we'd have to ask them very nicely for it or they have to be the OEM for the models we want to implement this feature on.
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Seasonic is well-regarded so I'm sure nobody would complain if you had them as OEM, especially since they seem so uninterested in SFF PSUs.
 
Doesn't fit with Asrock x99e-itx and reference 970 (atleast without bending the slot considerably). Sheeeeet. Guess this thing is going back to amazon. :(
 
That is a full size ATX PSU - 150x140x86, So it's in a different class to the silverstone which is 125x130x64
 
Phuncz said:
Thanks Tony for being so upfront with the community, I'm sure that's why there is so much love for Silverstone (except maybe the SX500 and SX600 topics ;)) in this forum.

It is indeed a highly critical bunch of people here, here but this also leads to many marvelous things being created.
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I agree and that's why I am here on the forum. Hope you enjoyed that Sharkoon unit, without SilverStone's involvement (spurred on by the feedbacks received here and elsewhere after SX600-G's release) while developing the SX500-LG, Sharkoon wouldn't have had that quieter fan in their PSU now.


Phuncz said:
About that, how about digital SFX PSU's ? The Corsair AX***i series seem to do very well because of it, is any of the OEMs planning these ?
Or to put it more NDA-friendly: "if you'd guess an OEM would create a digital SFX PSU, would Silverstone be very eager to jump in as soon as they can ?"
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Power supply can have digital sensors or some mechanisms controlled digitally, but they will always be analog devices at their core. So it's technically incorrect to say Corsair's AXi series (or any PSUs) as digital PSUs.

With that said, having digital control in a PSU does not make it automatically less susceptible to electrical noises (the PSU is still analog after all). In fact, way back in 2007 when we had high performance PWM in one of our Olympia/Decathlon models, it resulted in higher pitch (more noticeable to human ears) electrical noise. And if you do a quick Google search on "Corsair AX1200i whine" you would see plenty of examples of people complaining about these noises too.


Aibohphobia said:
Seasonic is well-regarded so I'm sure nobody would complain if you had them as OEM, especially since they seem so uninterested in SFF PSUs.
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I think together with the SFF community, our efforts in growing this segment since 2009 is beginning to make a difference this year. There seem to be much more interest now than ever.
 
I'm glad we have silverstone in the NA market to serve us SSF people. I just feel like silverstone almost hits a home run with the 500 SFX-L and 600 SFX but just 1-2 issues with them keep me from loving them. The 450 SFX gold is still my favorite even though it has a somewhat noisy fan.
 
Tony Ou said:
I agree and that's why I am here on the forum. Hope you enjoyed that Sharkoon unit, without SilverStone's involvement (spurred on by the feedbacks received here and elsewhere after SX600-G's release) while developing the SX500-LG, Sharkoon wouldn't have had that quieter fan in their PSU now.
...
I think together with the SFF community, our efforts in growing this segment since 2009 is beginning to make a difference this year. There seem to be much more interest now than ever.
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Without that specific fan, that the SX500-LG proved to be quiet (when running ;)), I wouldn't have bothered. The GlobeFan one was so ridiculous with it's giant hub and flimsy blades, I would never have believed it to be adequate.

But it must indeed be recognized how much SilverStone's involvement has meant for the SFF community and industry. The next step would be to cooperate with this SFF community into producing community-inspired products. With gems like the Ncase M1 and Kimera Nova, why not have a "SilverStone Projects" Case 01 designed by the community, observed with the mechanical engineers of SilverStone and then produced and distributed online-only with SilverStone as the platform ?

It's obvious a lot of talent is to be found here and on a few other boards, with a few people thinking about an SFF colaborating platform or even starting their own companies, maybe this can benefit SilverStone and the consumer as well.

Tony Ou said:
Power supply can have digital sensors or some mechanisms controlled digitally, but they will always be analog devices at their core. So it's technically incorrect to say Corsair's AXi series (or any PSUs) as digital PSUs.

With that said, having digital control in a PSU does not make it automatically less susceptible to electrical noises (the PSU is still analog after all). In fact, way back in 2007 when we had high performance PWM in one of our Olympia/Decathlon models, it resulted in higher pitch (more noticeable to human ears) electrical noise. And if you do a quick Google search on "Corsair AX1200i whine" you would see plenty of examples of people complaining about these noises too.
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Ah I thought it would be possible for solid-state power supplies to exist these days. I should have been more clearly I was thinking about solid-state, but apparently the AX-i series is also not using that.
 
Tony Ou said:
*Update 2015/5/14*
Thanks! Although some may beat me up by saying this, but I would encourage you to give SX500-LG a try. Noise perception is very subjective so you will not really know for sure until you try. You have to realize that the majority of happy users will not bother to report their experience and if you look at the comments posted on sites like Newegg and Amazon, there are many more satisfied users. I am not discrediting those who aren't satisfied with our SX500-LG here, but just want to give a different perspective. We will of course continue to improve and try to make our next SFX PSU better of course based on the feedbacks received here.
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First off, I am not a typical customer/user of the 500W SFX-L and it's fine if you aren't spending 99% of your time catering ot 1% of customers. I have read all kinds of reviews on all kinds of sites inclding newegg. The issue with those reviews are the fact their opinions are unverified. The reviews do not indicate distance to case, case used or materials between user and PSU fan, usage situation (HTPC in lounge room vs quiet room) and so on.

It seems like those who have taken a closer look or ear to the PSU have come to a unanimous conclusion about the PSU noise when turning on and off. I actually don't care about the fan noise levels or fan curve because that noise can be managed through case design.

Irregular noises are much harder to mitigate or redirect. It's simply a variable that should not exist in the first place.

I asked if there was an official response on this exact issue from Silverstone a few pages back. Has silverstone acknowledged it? Can the cause be explained or revealed to the public?

And lastly, the track record of previous SFX power supplies does not instill me with confidence in trying this product out.

As many have already said - fixing this seemingly small issue would make me buy and recommend this PSU but at the moment, I do not recommend any SFX PSUs.

Having clarification on the cause of the issue (parts quality, OEM manufacturer tolerances, design flaw etc). The first step is to acknowledge the issue, then state what could or will be done about it and then maybe i'll buy a future SFX PSU.
 
yolostrats said:
First off, I am not a typical customer/user of the 500W SFX-L and it's fine if you aren't spending 99% of your time catering ot 1% of customers. I have read all kinds of reviews on all kinds of sites inclding newegg. The issue with those reviews are the fact their opinions are unverified. The reviews do not indicate distance to case, case used or materials between user and PSU fan, usage situation (HTPC in lounge room vs quiet room) and so on.

It seems like those who have taken a closer look or ear to the PSU have come to a unanimous conclusion about the PSU noise when turning on and off. I actually don't care about the fan noise levels or fan curve because that noise can be managed through case design.

Irregular noises are much harder to mitigate or redirect. It's simply a variable that should not exist in the first place.

I asked if there was an official response on this exact issue from Silverstone a few pages back. Has silverstone acknowledged it? Can the cause be explained or revealed to the public?

And lastly, the track record of previous SFX power supplies does not instill me with confidence in trying this product out.

As many have already said - fixing this seemingly small issue would make me buy and recommend this PSU but at the moment, I do not recommend any SFX PSUs.

Having clarification on the cause of the issue (parts quality, OEM manufacturer tolerances, design flaw etc). The first step is to acknowledge the issue, then state what could or will be done about it and then maybe i'll buy a future SFX PSU.
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yolostrats, I have stated quite a few times here on Hardforum (including this very thread) that we acknowledge our PSUs may still not be quiet enough for everyone. The SX500-LG represent our current best effort in high powered SFX/SFX-L PSU, it is quieter than both ST45SF-G and SX600-G, the two previous benchmarks. We also acknowledged that PSU variances could result in slight sound variances so that if any customer is unsatisfied with their SilverStone power supply's noise level, he/she may return it for a replacement. Short of a redesign and changing the PSU feature, there is nothing more we can do to the SX500-LG at this moment.

We appreciate the 1% customers that push us to do better (thanks everyone!) and we are thankful for that. 5 years ago, probably no one could imagine the progress that SFX PSUs have made thus far and we are going to make them better because of SFF enthusiasts like yourself. I know you are anxious to see improvements right away, but you have to keep in mind the greater challenge of SFX/SFX-L form factors and as I've mentioned in the SX600-G thread, you can't expect SFX PSUs to deliver the same experience as ATX PSUs yet. Brand new PSU designs takes approximately 1 year to develop from concept to production and with more companies joining in. We should see lots of cool options soon!
 
I've been reading this thread, but is there any evidence that the noise is due to the semi-fanless feature and not poor fan choice or the fan's inability to run quietly at a certain speed? Correlation != causation and just because the semi-fanless feature is the oddball doesn't mean it's definitely the cause of the rattling.
 
cowsgomoo said:
I've been reading this thread, but is there any evidence that the noise is due to the semi-fanless feature and not poor fan choice or the fan's inability to run quietly at a certain speed? Correlation != causation and just because the semi-fanless feature is the oddball doesn't mean it's definitely the cause of the rattling.
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It's the fan, at certain "low speeds" it rattles.
But if you would remove the semi-passive feature it would rattle at idle 24/7 and silverstone would probably notice that and fixed that.

Silverstone believes it's semi-passive and has developed the unit with that in mind and therefor probably haven't given much thought/tested the fan a certain low rpm (focusing on other things) and maybe missed the rattling.
People have then found out that the unit's "semi-passiveness" is a matter of interpretation and that the rattling is much more prevalent than silverstone believes it to be.

The fan is the problem, but many fans have similar problems unless you pay a lot more
The semi-passiveness is a semi functioning, sorta useless "feature" with causes the fan to rattle.

TLDR, fan is the problem, but the semi-passive feature is the faster, cheaper and easier way to fix the problem.
 
cowsgomoo said:
I've been reading this thread, but is there any evidence that the noise is due to the semi-fanless feature and not poor fan choice or the fan's inability to run quietly at a certain speed? Correlation != causation and just because the semi-fanless feature is the oddball doesn't mean it's definitely the cause of the rattling.
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I'm not sold on the semi-fanless being the culprit for *all* the noise issues in the SX600-G and SX500-LG.

The only noise caused by semi-fanless in my 600W unit was the single birdy chirp (once that happened, my fan kicked on and stayed on). The constant chattering occurred at any RPM, only that it was slightly less noticeable at full load (yet tonally, the noise was still present). On the other hand, if the semi-fanless feature actually worked correctly on my unit, I might be enjoying an additional different type of chattering :p

As a positive note, my chirping noise is pretty much gone (once in a blue moon I'll hear it), and the chattering has decreased noticeably over time (it's definitely still there and annoying at times, but the loudness of the chattering comes and goes from day to day).

Tldr; yeah.. it's the shit fan with shit bearings.
 
Hi guys,

I recently acquired the SilverStone SX500-LG, and I, like many others, also have problems with a strange, irregular sound that the fan seems to be making. I decided to send a mail to SilverStone asking about this issue. Here is the response I received from them:

"
I have discussed this issue with our engineering team.

The sound is normal for a PSU which has got fan stop function.
Once the PSU loading or inside temperature is very close to fan´s start value the sensor will send “start” and “stop” signal frequently.
This will make the fan shake and make out some noise.
But when the loading or inside temperature is over start value the fan will spin up normally.

Should you still think this sound is not normal I suggest you to contact your dealer for RMA service and for exchanging the PSU.
Maybe the fan has got a faulty bearing which causes that strange sound.
"

I will surely return my unit since this irregular sound is very annoying to me and in my case, can be heard from a distance of 5-6 m. I have already ordered a Sharkoon SilentStorm 500W, as soon as I receive it I will be able to compare them to each other.


Cheers,
chill
 
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I'd be happy to read your experience with both the Sharkoon and the Silverstone. I can only speak from my experience with a fan-modded ST45SF-G.
 
Tony Ou said:
yolostrats, I have stated quite a few times here on Hardforum (including this very thread) that we acknowledge our PSUs may still not be quiet enough for everyone. The SX500-LG represent our current best effort in high powered SFX/SFX-L PSU, it is quieter than both ST45SF-G and SX600-G, the two previous benchmarks. We also acknowledged that PSU variances could result in slight sound variances so that if any customer is unsatisfied with their SilverStone power supply's noise level, he/she may return it for a replacement. Short of a redesign and changing the PSU feature, there is nothing more we can do to the SX500-LG at this moment.
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At this point, I don't even care about the noise level, it's the reports of unusual sounds that would have any normal fan sent back as defective. And another one has come up since you posted (by user chillmode).

I have never experienced any extra noises from turning a fan on and off and I have tested many fans on many fan controllers and switches. In fact, I have a fan controller permanently on my desk as I test and use fans (and other gear) so often.



Tony Ou said:
I know you are anxious to see improvements right away, but you have to keep in mind the greater challenge of SFX/SFX-L form factors and as I've mentioned in the SX600-G thread, you can't expect SFX PSUs to deliver the same experience as ATX PSUs yet. Brand new PSU designs takes approximately 1 year to develop from concept to production and with more companies joining in. We should see lots of cool options soon!
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I understand all of that. I don't expect ATX levels of performance but as I said, noise is no longer the issue. No good ATX psu with a hybrid fan mode will have *any* discernible noise when switching the fan on or off.

I don't expect a whole brand new PSU made just for me. But this issue seems like such a small one.

Is it the thermosistor?
Power to the fan?
Fan mounting?
Fan design?
Fan QC?
QC in the components that form the hybrid mode feature?
Combination of things?

The ideal conclusion to this whole situation would be for Silverstone to acknowledge that they have identified the exact cause of the issue and have steps in place to ensure this does not occur in future implementations of a hybrid fan mode.
 
Hey guys,

I've read through the thread but didn't find a precise answer, would it fit the M1 V1 without any modification? If so, with any video card length?

Thanks
 
You have less clearance on the V1 for the GPU, so I would recommend orienting it with the fan on the inside of the case. That way the 24pin motherboard cable can be routed underneath/behind the GPU so that it does not press down on it.
 
I've been using a SX500-LG V1.1 for the past 2-3 days and I haven't heard any abnormal noises yet. I also notice the fan does turn on and off. I thought people said once it turns on it stays on until you power down? Maybe that was the 600 SFX version.

My only complaint is the actual power supply casing isn't 100% flush. There some gaps that are pretty big for a power supply.
 
So far I've been very happy with my SX500-LG v1.0.

However, one thing I was wondering is that since the SX500-LG already contains most of the PP05-E Short Cable Set, I was wondering if it was possible to obtain 1 of the extra cables contained in that PP05-E set instead of having to buy the whole thing.

Specifically, the "two (2) SATA 180˚connectors (300+150mm)" cable.
This one: http://www.silverstonetek.com/images/products/pp05-e/pp05-e-2sata-180-34.jpg
 
Cpuroast said:
So far I've been very happy with my SX500-LG v1.0.

However, one thing I was wondering is that since the SX500-LG already contains most of the PP05-E Short Cable Set, I was wondering if it was possible to obtain 1 of the extra cables contained in that PP05-E set instead of having to buy the whole thing.

Specifically, the "two (2) SATA 180˚connectors (300+150mm)" cable.
This one: http://www.silverstonetek.com/images/products/pp05-e/pp05-e-2sata-180-34.jpg
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Try emailing them. I remember asking about a few small parts for my TJ07 and they were able to sell me the parts I needed
 
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