Silverstone Decathlon DA700 Super Silent Power Supply
by Christoph Katzer on April 22, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Package and Appearance
Silverstone's package design and the power supply itself always come in black. We would not expect to get a red power supply soon, similar to those from PC Power & Cooling for example. In the box we found the standard stuff like screws, a manual, power cord, and a high quality bag in which the user can store unused cables.
The power supply is quite long for a 700W unit and after opening it up we will see why this is the case. The fan is located quite close to the back, which is unusual for power supplies as now there is a big part of the power supply inside that will not get as much direct airflow. The installed fan is 120mm, which is also common with Silverstone even though many of the competitors have changed to larger fans. The problem is that there are quite a lot of patents on larger fans and Silverstone might not want to pay royalties, especially when a 120mm fan is doing just fine.
The whole rear is covered with small holes which allows for very good air circulation as the exhausted air has plenty of space to get out of the power supply. On the other side - which will be inside of the PC case once the power supply is installed - we find the modular cable system. It sticks out a bit since Silverstone designed it with a small box there. We will see later that the jacks for the cable management are very long, so Silverstone chose to cover the jacks with this small box. A detailed description of the jacks is visible on the bottom of the power, and it will remain visible after installation. This makes sense of course; nobody would be able to see the sticker if it were on top of the casing (except for in cases with a bottom-mounted PSU).
The harnesses are partly sleeved with a black mesh that keeps the mess of cables tidy. All of the cables are detachable, but we have to mention a flaw we noticed at the connection between PSU and cables. The jacks feel quite loose and move around when you attempt to detach cables. You will need to press down on the little lever at the connector, which is not always easily accessible, and this makes it difficult to unplug a harness. Silverstone should try to improve this area in the next version.
There are sufficient connectors on the harnesses, but there could have been maybe one more on each. There are currently three connectors on each SATA and Molex. The distance between the connectors might work in some cases, but normal systems have their hard drives much closer than 10" apart. We cannot see a benefit in having such a large gap between the connectors. There are four 6-pin PEG connectors for a decent SLI/CF setup and an additional 8-pin PEG connector. Only a 3-way 8800 Ultra setup would require additional PEG connectors at present.
The Fan
The installed fan responsible for cooling this unit is a 120mm so called rifle bearing fan from Protechnic with the part number MGA12012HF-025. The fan control keeps this fan at a nice maximum of 1600RPM during operation. Even at maximum speed, the noise from this PSU will be quite low.
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Spacecomber - Sunday, April 27, 2008 - link
Does Silverstone offer any lower wattage Decathlons of the same type as this reviewed model, i.e., with the same very quiet characteristics? 700 watts is just way more power than I can imagine needing for a music server/home theatre PC.And, I didn't understand why Silverstone and Impervio were considered to be unlikely partners. Can anyone shed a bit of light on that remark?
Finally (and least), I think this sentence on the first page is missing a word, "However, with this new Decathlon Silverstone is trying a different approach from what we have previously [seen?]."
Thanks.
Christoph Katzer - Sunday, April 27, 2008 - link
Silverstone does have the ELEMENT series with 400 watts which is very nice as well.The remark on Silverstone and Impervio was made because I said once that Impervio was formed by Silverstone. I then had major complaints from Impervio coming in since there were companies wanting to stop working with them if they belonged to Silverstone.
Clue69Less - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
Based on the review title, I'd expected to see some comparison data. Maybe the PCP&C Silencer 750 and the Zalman HP-700 units would be good to compare if having ample power in a quiet package. Sure, this review has quantitative SPL results but it would be nice to see an actual, real-time comparison. You know, like science typically does.Kanchenjunga - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
Your methodology claims a 4 decimal place accuracy but the graphs aren't even visually accurate to 1 decimal place. The graphs should also reflect identical voltage ranges for equidistant lines but they don't, the first lines above and below nominal are only half or less the voltage range as the equidistant lines in the rest of the graph. As a result the voltage drops beyond a plus or minus 1% range aren't reflected accurately in the shape of the curve.Also the 11.94V line in the 12V graph should be 11.64V and the 3.14V line should be labeled 3.13V if the graphs are supposed to be consistent above and below nominal.
Stefan555 - Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - link
The label on the psu is not more complicated than on any other psu, its very easy to understand, I cant see what makes this label more complicated than any other label.No offence Chris, but are you really sure you know how to read the labels?
whatthehey - Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - link
The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory in full effect (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/">http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/ for the uninformed).The label lists combined 3.3V and 5V, but nothing about the 12V. 58A and 12V works out to 696W, which means you can't count on getting anywhere near 58A from the 12V lines. And there are four 12V rails, but no mention of the breakdown of power distribution. Hell, the label doesn't even let you know there are four rails! Yes, that's so much better than, say, the way Xigmatek did their labels: http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.a...">http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.a...
It's not a huge complaint, but given the parity between power supplies it seems to me that a lame-ass label deserves a mention. Just like your comment deserved a rebuttal. No offense, but are you sure you know how to read technical reviews?
jonnyGURU - Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - link
The label lists combined 3.3V and 5V, but nothing about the 12V. 58A and 12V works out to 696W, which means you can't count on getting anywhere near 58A from the 12V lines.
Since there is bound to be a minimum load requirement on the other rails, it is true that it would be difficult to load the +12V up to 696W without going over 700W, but I fail to see how this makes for an argument that the label is any less comprehensive. When other PSU companies list the +12V capability in watts, I hear people complain that they have to bust out a calculator and divide by 12. Is it really so hard to go from wattage to amperage and vise versa when the voltage is known?
Unless you're using this sentence as a platform for your argument:
Obviously, that load is not possible with the combined power of all three main rails; doing the necessary math, if you put a load of 180W on the 3.3V and 5V rails, that leaves 520W for the 12V rail, or 43A.
I believe if you look at virtually ANY quality power supply on the market you're going to find that if you full load whatever the +3.3V and +5V combined is, that there is significantly less power available to the +12V. I say "quality" because any PSU that gives you a total wattage number that IS the sum of it's +3.3V and +5V and it's +12V is likely lying about it's actual total output capability. This has everything to do with a power supply's capability to convert AC to DC and then the unit's ability to regulate X amount of DC on the secondary side. Never does 3.3V + 5V + 12V = PSU's total capability.
And there are four 12V rails, but no mention of the breakdown of power distribution. Hell, the label doesn't even let you know there are four rails!
I must have missed this because nowhere could I find that this is a PSU with a split +12V rail. In fact, in this review it says: "The DA700 comes with a single 12V rail rated for up to 58A" and on SilverStone's website it says "Class-leading single +12V rail with 58A at 50?" so where are we getting four +12V rails from?
strikeback03 - Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - link
Bottom of page 4: " The more important 12V rail, which is actually four separate rails, has similar good readings and always stays just above the specified 12.00V"Stefan555 - Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - link
Yes, thats a statement in the review. Silverstone sell the psu as a single rail unit. You must prove Silverstone is hiding the truth, not just make a statement out of no-where.Without proof the statement is worth nothing
Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - link
If someone would only look through all of the date before making comments. Please have a look in the gallery added to the Internals page. One might find a picture with the different 12V rails clearly marked on the PCB... additionally one might find the four different color markings on the yellow 12V cables on various kinds of pics from the article.