Final Thoughts and Conclusions

Overall, the SilverStone Strider Titanium Series 1300W power supply produced very good results during our testing, except for one notable issue. We found the efficiency of the power supply to be outstanding and easily meets the rigorous 80 Plus Titanium criteria for high efficiency, even while operating on 120 VAC and at elevated temperatures. The voltage regulation delivered by the ST1300-TI is also very good across the board. All of the main DC outputs stayed well within SilverStone’s claimed ±3% range with the three primary rails measuring ±2%.

Thanks to the semi-fanless operating mode, the power supply starts out silent at low power levels and remains relatively quiet through mid-power operation. But at the higher loads the fan noise really becomes noticeable. The ST1300-TI comes with a very good assortment of all-modular, ribbon-style cables with two ATX12V 4+4 pin/EPS 8-pin, and eight PCI-E connectors, for multiple graphic card support, each on its own dedicated cable.

The main issue we have with the ST1300-TI power supply centers around some erratic behavior we saw with the AC ripple and noise suppression. Overall, the ST1300-TI exhibited good AC ripple and noise suppression when measured at the standard 10%-20%-50%-75%-100% load points. However, at certain higher loads the AC ripple would jump up and then come back down again as the load was increased even more. At one point the AC ripple shot up to 182 mV p-p (~ 85% load) and stayed there (not a transient blip). This was a huge jump and far exceeds the recommended guidelines. However increasing the load a little more (2~3%) caused the AC ripple to drop back down and get under control again. It’s like the power supply circuit resonates at particular loads, which sends the AC ripple on the +12V output out of control. We have notified SilverStone about this and they are looking into the issue.  Excess AC ripple and noise on a PSU’s DC outputs can stress your PCs components and potentially shorten its life. Until this issue is resolved we cannot recommend this power supply, which is a shame because of its other numerous merits.

MSRP for the SilverStone Titanium Series power supplies:

•    SilverStone ST600-TI (600W): $139.99 USD
•    SilverStone ST700-TI (700W): $154.99 USD
•    SilverStone ST800-TI (800W): $169.99 USD
•    SilverStone ST1100-TI (1100W): $279.99 USD
•    SilverStone ST1300-TI (1300W): $299.99 USD
•    SilverStone ST1500-TI (1500W): $359.99 USD

Strengths:
•    1300W 24/7 continuous DC output at 50°C
•    Outstanding efficiency (80 Plus Titanium certified)
•    Very good voltage regulation (±2% confirmed)
•    Relatively clean DC outputs with low AC ripple/noise
•    All Japanese made capacitors
•    Semi-fanless operation with 140mm ball bearing cooling fan
•    Quiet operation below ~50% load
•    All-modular cable design with flat ribbon-style cables
•    (2) ATX12V EPS and (8) PCI-E 6+2 connectors on dedicated cables
•    Universal AC input with Active PFC
•    5-Year warranty

Serious Weakness:
•    Erratic AC ripple and noise suppression at random higher loads

Our thanks to SilverStone for sending us the ST1300-TI power supply to review and we hope they can quickly resolve the issue with the erratic AC ripple.

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