Conclusions
SilverStone has added another great product to their Zeus power supply line. The Zeus ST85ZF 850W power supply delivers solid voltages, with excellent regulation and above average efficiency. It comes with sleeved cables and lots of connectors, which include four hard-wired PCI-e connectors. With 850W of continuous power, this is one power supply that won’t come up short in your next high-end gaming or workstation build.
As PSU output capacities continue to rise, one negative side affect we are seeing is much higher AC ripple on the DC outputs, especially the +3.3V and +5V rails. This only occurs when the power supply is pushed to near its maximum output and isn’t a problem at the mid range outputs where most users will be operating. As I mentioned before, this problem is not unique to SilverStone power supplies. Another potential problem with the new high output PSUs is greater incompatibility with some motherboards and/or system builds that don’t load all the required outputs to the power supplies minimum requirements. For example; you have to have at least a 1A load on the EPS 12V 8-pin connector (or 4-pin 12V ATX adapter) or the PSU will not start up. Again, for the majority of users this won’t be a problem but is something to be aware of.
The Zeus ST85ZF is currently available from NewEgg.com for $278.99 USD.
Strengths:
- Up to 850 watts continuous DC output
- Solid, stable voltages (±3% at full load)
- Excellent build quality with industrial grade components
- Quiet (when operating under a light to moderately heavy load)
- Lots of connectors, including four hardwired PCI-e
- Active PFC and Universal AC input
- Quad +12V outputs up to 70A
- Backed by a 3-year warranty
Weaknesses:
- Longer chassis (180mm) may not fit inside some PC enclosures
- A little noisy at maximum load (AC ripple and fan noise)
I would like to thank our friends at SilverStone for sending us the Zeus 850W PSU to review — thanks! Be sure to use our price checking engine to find the best price for a Zeus 850W PSU or anything else you may want to buy!
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