Introduction

We would like to thank Silverstone for supplying the review sample.

We have tested many Silverstone PSUs in the past, but most of them belonged to the middle or high-end category and were, as such, nowhere near the "budget" region. The time has now come to take a look at one of their truly affordable PSU offerings providing only the essentials without any extra bells and whistles, like modular or fully sleeved cables or a high efficiency rating. The Silverstone Strider Essential ST50F-ES, which will be the main subject of today’s review, was built with only one thing in mind: to deliver the best possible performance while keeping production costs low for an equally low retail price.

Most users unfortunately focus on the price factor over overlook performance and build quality matters when it comes time to pick their next PSU, so the companies have to offer real budget units to cover this significant market segment. There are, naturally, cases were a budget PSU comes without basic characteristics that are nowadays a part of the standard (e.g. sleeved cables) for small systems that are used in office environments, download stations (PCs) etc., but the general trend has most users ask for at least fully sleeved cables and, in most cases, a modular system, and most users will take their chances by picking a generic PSU for 20$-40$ if it does offer the above, which will often result in a fried system after a brown-out or power surge. So, better buy a branded budget PSU that may not have modular or sleeved cables while still performing fairly well instead of one with all the bells and whistles and really poor performance.

Silverstone’s Strider Essential line consists of five members with capacities ranging from 400 W to 700 W. All are 80 Plus certified and don’t feature any modular cables, but they have compact dimensions and can output their full power continuously at up to 40°C. The ATX spec does recommend 50°C, but many of today's PSUs, even some out of the high-end category, are restricted to 40°C.

Specifications

Efficiency is 80 Plus certified, the lowest available certification, and the unit can deliver its full power up to 40°C. Given the budget price, we didn't expect much more out of these areas (ok, maybe for the slightly higher Bronze efficiency certification). Thankfully, most protection features are present; however, OTP is (Over Temperature Protection) missing. We also doubt OCP is present since this is a single rail unit. Also, the low budget didn't allow for a high-quality fan so a sleeve-bearing one was used.

The dimensions of the PSU are compact and fully compatible with the ATX spec recommendation, and its weight is low as well. Finally, the warranty is very small at only one year (It is, strangely enough, three times as long for the EU and Australia), and the price is a little above 50 bucks, making it a good deal if it manages to perform decently throughout our tough tests.

The single +12V rail can deliver a little over 400 W of power, so it will easily feed a small system. The minor rails have sufficient power for almost any system, and the 5VSB rail has the standard maximum current output of 2.5 A.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The PSU features a small number of connectors since it mostly addresses mainstream systems with only a few components. A few more SATA connectors would be very welcome nonetheless, in case of a download station/PC. Also, the length of all cables is adequate considering the unit will be installed into a small- to medium-sized enclosure, and the distance among connectors is ideal. Finally, all wires are of 18AWG size, which is the minimum that the ATX spec recommends for almost all connectors/cases.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail, we do not have anything to comment on about its power distribution.

Packaging

The small box has a rather nice design, with a variety of blue shades dominating the background. We also found a brief features description and the 80 Plus- and ATX spec badge on the front, besides Silverstone's logo and the series- and model number. Another badge here also lets users know that this PSU includes an APFC (Active Power Factor Correction) circuit, which means that it takes universal input (103.5V-253VAC).


One of two sides has the power specifications of all Strider Essential units, while the other has a description of the available connectors. Silverstone should also include cable lengths, but you won't have to worry about finding such information since we have already done so for you on the previous page, at least for the ST50F-ES.


This side has two graphs showing the efficiency curve of the plain 80 Plus certification and the fan's speed and noise output. According to Silverstone, the fan only generates 32 dBA of noise when the PSU delivers its full load. This sounds very optimistic unless they placed the dB meter really far away from the PSU. Finally, a scheme depicts the unit's small footprint.


The rear has a brief multilingual features description, so this is your side if you don't speak English! That being the case, you probably won't understand most of this review or this paragraph.