Silverstone has just recently updated its Strider Essential Series with new models. They are actually manufactured by Sirfa/High Power (formerly called Sirtec) like the older units, but this time they come with 80 PLUS Bronze (@115 V) certification and higher power on +12 V rail. Their price starts approximately from $85 AUD (or $79 USD) so we are within mainstream according to my definition (based on price per watt). Silverstone themselves call this series essential, so let’s see if it offers essential quality for a reasonable price.
Packing, specifications
The Strider Essential Series is packed in the usual carton box with the whole surface printed. The print itself does not contain any nonsense and unrealistic promises (like many power supply boxes do). The unit inside is packed to a plastic bag and sits in polyethylene foam, but only on the bottom. The top half is more likely if get damaged if you shake with the box. It is possible that someone just forgot to add the second half of the foam in this case. The accessories are four screws and a power cable, along with a manual. This is all that we would usually expect to see from a power supply in this price range.
The SST-ST60F-ESB has only a single strong +12V rail, which can deliver up to 45 A (540 W). We prefer seeing at least two on units of this wattage. The +3.3/+5 V rails provide only 22 A each or 120 W combined, but that is more than enough nowadays so I am intrigued to see how it will work with its group regulation. The 5VSB rail provides up to 2.5 A. The label makes it very clear that we are not supposed to open the power supply. Not that it’s going to stop us, though.
The cover itself is made from 0.9mm steel, with matte black painting on the outside. One of the cover screws is hiding under a warranty void sticker, and a plastic grommet protects the cables.
The ventilation consists of the usual wire grille for the fan and honeycomb exhaust grille. No complaints here.
Cables and Connectors
Only the Main 20+4 pin ATX connector is sleeved. Extras like gold-plating or clips for easier disconnection of Molex connectors are not provided.
The cable configuration is as follows:
- Main ATX (20+4 pin): 52 cm
- ATX/EPS 12 V (4+4 pin): 58 cm
- 1× PCIe (6+2 pin): 52 cm
- 3× PCIe (6-pin): 52 cm, 67 cm and 68 cm
- 6× SATA: 2× 52 cm, 2× 69 cm and 2× 85 cm
- 3× peripheral Molex: 52 cm, 68 cm and 83 cm
- 1× Berg for floppy drive: 99 cm
All the cables use 18AWG wires, even to a pair of 6+2 pin and 6-pin PCIe connectors, which means up to 225 W (by specification) over three wires. That could definitely be better if at least 16AWG wires were used, at least for the first connector. Some users may be tempted to run a single graphics card drawing as much as 250W off the one set of wires, which can cause them to overheat. At least there is an additional connector with its own set of wires. We would highly recommend distributing the load over both sets of PCIe cable groups.
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