The SilverStone SX700-LPT SFX 700W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on September 30, 2016 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- SilverStone
- SFX
Conclusion
SilverStone is a company that is strongly focused on the design and marketing of SFF cases and related parts; therefore, it was only natural that they would strive to have the most powerful SFX PSU on the market. It is true that they might have “cheated” a little by extending the chassis by 25 mm and marketing it as an “SFX-L” unit, but it still is the most powerful 80Plus Platinum certified SFX PSU in existence up to this date.
The quality of the SX700-LPT is excellent, with Sirfa outdoing themselves building this model. The design is very clean and there were no manufacturing/assembling errors that we could notice. SilverStone is using top quality components, which is of critical importance in a design that it is expected to operate with relatively high internal temperatures. Poor quality products would cause a massive performance degradation in a very hot environment, but the SX700-LPT kept delivering a good quality output regardless of the very high ambient temperatures.
Meanwhile, the overall performance of the SX700-LPT is a slightly complicated matter. Compared to common ATX PSUs, the SX700-LPT's power quality is admittedly uninteresting and the noise output is too high. However by SFX standards, these are actually by far the best performance figures that we have ever recorded from a SFX PSU. Simply put, no other SFX PSU that we've tested has matched what SilverStone has done with the SX700-LPT. Further adding to the PSU's impressiveness, the SX700-LPT easily meets its 80Plus Platinum efficiency certification and works very well in room temperature. The only drawback to the design that we can find is that it will get stressed and end up being very loud inside a very hot environment; yet the PSU would be the least of one’s worries if an SFF gaming PC is this poorly cooled.
Interesting as it may be, it is clear that the SilverStone SX700-LPT SFX-L PSU is a very narrowly focused product. It has been designed for a very specific group of users, requiring a very high power output inside an SFF case while, at the same time, they own one of the few SFF cases that can support the extra length of the SX700-LPT. The retail price of $150 is high, but not unreasonable considering that this is the only SFX PSU that combines an output of 700 Watts with an 80Plus Platinum certification. This makes it a very niche product – gamers who want a high-performance SLI/CrossFire setup inside of a SFF case – which limits its market potential. But at least within that market, the SX700-LPT should easily excel.
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JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, October 3, 2016 - link
I don't believe you realize that the FTZ01, ML07, and RVZ01 cases are all designed to have one intake case fan over the CPU and two in the GPU compartment. It's a 13 liter case, half of which is sectioned off to the GPU. The GPU takes up some volume and the fans take up some volume of that 6.5 liters of GPU compartment air. With an open air cooler, it's not unreasonable for it to be suffocating of fresh air when the compartment probably has less than 2 liters of open space.Ej24 - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
Agreed. Also take in to account increasing efficiencies. My gtx 1080 at 180w demolishes top cards from previous generations that used to be in the 250-300w range. And my cpu is a 65w i7. Going by tdp, while not the best, that's less than 250w at full load. Power supply requirements will only continue to drop.ImSpartacus - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
I think the bigger issue is that a cramped case that demands an sfx psu quite possibly won't have the extra space for this non-standard "sfx-l" design.That starts to defeat the purpose of having a compact psu in the first place...
But I suppose if Silverstone made a case or two that used the sfx-l standard, then it might be worth it to them.
JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
They have plenty of SFX-L compatible cases.ML07: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=503
ML08: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=607
RVZ01: http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index...
RVZ01-E: www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index.php?model=RVZ01-E
RVZ02: http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index...
FTZ01: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=533
Samus - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
Don't forget the legendary FT03-Mini. Liquid cooling, 3 drives, 10.5" videocard, X99 ITX, optical drive, integrated cable management, in less than 18 liters.ImSpartacus - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
Really? The FT03 Mini supports it?Ok, that, alone, justifies the existence of this psu.
Honestly, while writing my comment, I was literally thinking, "if it doesn't fit in something like the ft03 mini, then why bother?"
Velocialume - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
Hmm. I've always been under the impression that case didn't support SFX-L .. I just got that 600w corsair to power my new 1080.Samus - Saturday, October 1, 2016 - link
I just checked the clearances, and it will fit only because it's modular. Most of the space behind my PSU in the FT03-mini is taken for cable management of the PSU sources.However, it's going to be hell running the "bottom row" of power from this PSU without losing the DVD cage, something I refuse to do with my case. I mean, there are hacks to get a full ATX PSU to fit if you are willing to sacrifice the DVD tray and the 3.5"\2.5" bay (leaving you a single 2.5" tray at the bottom) and at that point the case is ruined for functionality.
Again, not impossible, but let's just say you will need to install the PSU with cables already installed and routed, there is no way to manage/add/remove them once it's mounted and they are smashed against the DVD tray.
It has never been a user friendly case to work inside. It isn't like my hands get cut up or anything but simple tasks like removing the video card requires removing the PSU, DVD, 2.5" SSD, 3.5" HDD, memory DIMMS and depending on where the PCIe connectors go on the video card (such as out the rear instead of the top) you may even have to remove the radiator. Shorter 10" or less video cards are a cinch in comparison to twist and pull but when you are running an out of spec 10.85" card like I am, you go to hell to make it work.
Wouldn't give the case up for anything else though.
piroroadkill - Saturday, October 1, 2016 - link
Even the smallest case that can fit decent hardware (Dan Case A4-SFX) can fit an SFX-L PSU.TheinsanegamerN - Monday, October 3, 2016 - link
There are many SFX class cases that cant take SFX-L.