SilverStone Strider Gold 650W
Overview
Hardware: Cases & PSUWHAT WE LIKED:
Wonderfully sleek aesthetic; Fully modular; Small footprint for HTPC setup; Great performance; Strong feature set; Long cablesWHAT WE DISLIKED:
Expensive; Noisy fan at load
Introduction
While premium kilowatt power supplies may garner much of the attention and buzz in the marketplace, it is the more affordable, mid-range units that quietly bring in the profits. After all, most consumers don’t have the budgets to spring for a $349 power supply, particularly when faced with the prospect of a graphics card upgrade to play the latest and greatest games on the market. Besides, you don’t really need the most leet gaming rig out there to play Call of Duty, let’s face it.
We’ve also noted a general trend for improved efficiency, to offer better power supplies to consumers that are more frugal, saving money and better for the environment at the same time. 80PLUS Bronze used to the be the standard, but that’s now the minimum we can expect from modern power supplies. 80PLUS Gold is certainly preferred, but we don’t want to spend a fortune in the process. And that’s where the SilverStone Strider Gold 650W might offer a solution.
SilverStone is a respected name in the component industry, and we’ve seen some behemoth power supplies from the company in the past. Although this one isn’t a monster premium power supply like some we’ve seen of late, the Strider Gold 650W is 80PLUS Gold certified and comes with a price of $125. It’s also the smallest 650W unit on the market with fully modular cables, so if you’re specifically looking for an HTPC power supply, this might be a very strong option.
Seems good so far, so let’s take a closer look at this SilverStone power supply and see how it fares.
