Introduction

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



There were 24 PSU models in Silverstone’s portfolio while I was putting together this review. Already a pretty large number to show that they take the PSU market seriously by striving to keep up with user demands and needs, there has lately also been a great interest in high wattage units because of the mining craze. With that said, the interest in budget PSUs is still very high and will remain high as long as the economic crisis continues to belabor all of us, which had Silverstone wisely decide to add two new members to their budget Strider Essential series, the ST60F-ESB and ST70F-ESB, which, as their model numbers show, have respective capacities of 600 W and 700 W. In this review, we will test the smaller of the two in order to figure out what compromises had to be made to lower the production cost and, with it, the final retail price.

The ST60F-ESB is 80 Plus Bronze certified and doesn't feature any modular cables. Silverstone also neglected to sleeve all cables except for the main ATX one to lower the unit's price some more. Offering a PSU with unsleeved cables nowadays is incredibly strange, but Silverstone apparently thought that this product would address users that shop with their wallet instead of such details in mind. The company might be right, but the fact that the competition is a step ahead by offering fully sleeved cables with their units in the same price range can't be denied. This PSU, like most Silverstone units, is also incredibly compact, which will at the very least be of great help during the installation as it makes managing such a large number of native cables easier.

Specifications

The PSU is only 80 Plus Bronze certified, which keeps its retail price low, and it doesn't have any modular cables nor is it, according to our test results, Haswell ready, which may come as a shock to most users that aren't terribly familiar with PSUs; but many affordable units don't meet Intel's strict requirements for Haswell compatibility, so you should pay additional attention to the PSU on your short list if you have a new setup that includes a Haswell CPU. We should also stress that your PSU will still easily pass Intel's Haswell requirements if it isn't compatible with the newest ATX v.2.4 spec but its secondary side uses DC-DC converters. An easy way to figure out whether it does is by looking at the power specifications table. If the +12V rail can deliver nearly the unit's full power alone, it almost always features DC-DC converters, which would allow it to easily cope with Haswell's sleep states.

Continuing on with our analysis of the ST60F-ESB's specifications, we are happy to see that this PSU features a full set of protections. These obviously includes OTP (Over Temperature Protection), a feature we deem essential. Silverstone utilizes a 120 mm sleeve-bearing fan. Nothing fancy qualitatively speaking, it will still get the job done. Like we said in the prologue, the unit is, like most Silverstone PSUs, very compact. You definitely won't run into any compatibility issues with standard ATX cases, and the price Silverstone asks for the unit looks low, though we won't comment on it any further as we still have to calculate the unit's price-to-performance ratio. The warranty for the North American region is only one year long, a very small period that will definitely hamper sales. It is thankfully set to three years in the EU, which is long enough for a budget PSU.

The +12 V's capacity is, in comparison to the unit's full power, relatively low, which shows that this PSU doesn't use DC-DC converters to generate the minor rails. As we discovered later on, it doesn't even feature an independent (indy) regulation design, which makes its performance with unbalanced loads mediocre at best. The minor rails are pretty strong for the category of this PSU, and the 5VSB rail has the minimum capacity generally allotted to the rail in a modern PSU.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

Silverstone has equipped this PSU with an adequate number of connectors, including four PCIe ones, which is rare in the budget category. This also means that it can easily feed two mid-end VGAs and all other system components of a gaming system simultaneously. All cables are long enough given this unit will most likely be installed into a mid-tower or smaller case, while the distance between connectors is fine, although placing the SATA connectors a little closer to one another could prove useful to some of us. Finally, all connectors use the standard AWG18 gauges recommended by the ATX specification.

We have nothing to comment on when it comes to the PSU's power distribution because it features a single +12V rail.

Packaging

The PSU's native cables were photo-shopped out of its photograph on the face of the box since their unsleeved sight would not have left the best first impression on potential buyers. Silverstone placed the 80 Plus badge into the top-right corner and the unit's capacity description is highlighted by a yellowish frame at the bottom of the front. Above the capacity description is a list with the unit's most crucial features. It doesn't include anything exotic.


At the top of the box is a mention of the series this unit belongs to, and Silverstone has also given the capacities of both models comprising the line.


A useful list with all available connectors for both Strider units can be found here, along with the PSU's version number. The only difference to the 700 W model is that the latter has two 6+2 pin PCIe connectors instead of one; however, both have four PCIe connectors in total.


Some specifications of the PSU and the power specifications table are on this side.


The two graphs describing the 80 Plus Bronze efficiency requirements and the unit's fan speed curve that exceeds 2000 RPM under full load are probably the most interesting bits of information on the back of the box. We definitely don't expect the fan to be very quiet under full load.

Contents

No packing foam or bubble wrap protects the unit inside the box, which we disapprove of as the PSU is likely to get damaged if transportation is rough. At least the cardboard box is sturdy enough.


The bundle is, as we expected, pretty poor and only includes the AC power cord and a set of fixing bolts. Silverstone has, on the other hand, as they do with all their PSU products, included two incredibly informative manuals.