SilentiumPC Supremo M1 Gold 550 W – High Power golden platform second time

Conclusion and evaluation

The SilentiumPC Supremo M1 Gold 550 W passed the combined and crossload testing in accordance with the ATX specification, so according to my evaluation methodology, it deserves its evaluation. The worst thing about this unit is the voltage regulation of the stand-by supply, which uses somewhat cheaper components designed for lower-cost units, and the manufacturer compensated for this by increasing the zero-load voltage so it wouldn’t fall under the advertised nominal rating under a high-load. Consequentially, under no load or with a very light load, the regulation is worse than 3.5 %, which is a poor result for a high-end unit. Also, the −12 V rail performed worse than expected considering that it has a linear −12 V regulator. Again it seems that the winding they used for the −12 V rail is just insufficient to keep up with the advertised 0.3 A rating.

The main flaws of the Silverstone Strider Gold S/Gold V2.0 which are also based on this platform exhibit themselves here as well. The build quality, especially the manual soldering, was also quite poor, having found so many solder balls that I lost count. This could be very dangerous, as the balls could potentially shake lose and short something. But this is common in units with poor workmanship that employ thick layers of solder to reinforce the high-current paths.

The ripple suppression was even slightly worse than in the case of the Strider Gold S/Gold V2.0, most likely thanks to the capacitor choice. Quite poor choice in my opinion. Teapos SC is a series which fails often in power supplies, so their choice to skimp on inherent quality just to implement partially modular cabling and a 135mm fan was a poor choice in my opinion. The 80 PLUS Gold (@115 V) certification was met, with a measured maximum efficiency of over 91 % (with 230 V input), which I must say, is a plus.

So overall, what we have is a high-priced entry 80 PLUS Gold semi-modular unit with bad caps, below average ripple suppression and voltage regulation and bad soldering, covered with a 5 year manufacturer warranty. If I was to choose between the Supremo M1 Gold and the Strider Gold S/Gold V2.0, I would take the Strider any day of the week, considering that the 12cm fan is not necessarily worse, especially if it were installed in a bottom-mounted case with good cooling. And as I always prefer quality, the 16 % difference in price (about 300 CZK) is negated by the fact that the strider has fully modular cabling as well as 100% quality capacitors which which means that the Strider would probably last even longer than SilentiumPC’s five-year warranty. Not to mention that there is another worthy competitor from Cooler Master! The situation would be very much different if the unit cost 16 % less on the other hand, and below 2000 CZK it would have basically no competition. But right now there are better units out there at an equivalent price.

So the value of SilentiumPC Supremo M1 Gold 550 W as high-end unit is as follows:

• components used: -6.5 p. (− for lack of thermistor, − for thinner wires, − for lack of gold-plating on connectors, − for low-quality capacitors, + for working OTP, + for unplugging clips on molex connectors)
• build quality: −12 p. (− for inferior soldering and too many solder balls)
• voltage regulation: −9 p. (− for combined loading, − for crossloading)
• ripple: 1 p. (− for combined loading, − for crossloading)
• efficiency: 13 p. (+ for higher efficiency)
• hold-up time: 16 p. (+ for longer hold-up time)
• others: 7.5 p. (+ for modular cabling, + for funny sticker, + for longer warranty)

Assuming an MSRP of 2300 CZK, the value per price ratio would be 100×10/2300 = 0.43. We already have two units so we can make a comparison table! Now you can compare them based on an actual value per price ratio. The higher the better.

Pros	+ high efficiency + low price + modular cabling
Cons	− worse voltage regulation, esp. of the stand-by supply − higher ripple − bad soldering/too many solder balls − low-quality capacitors
Be aware of…	/?\

Thanks

I thank the SilentiumPC company for providing the SilentiumPC Supremo M1 Gold 550 W unit.

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