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- Date:
- Friday , August 03, 2007
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad CrossFire Edition
PC Power & Cooling is back with a product that has just been introduced to the market. This Silencer unit is rated at 750w for powering the neediest CrossFire video card configurations and has the PCIe video card 8-pin power connector for the 2900 XT overclockers.
Overview
The first thing we are going to look at with the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad CrossFire is its packaging, accessories, and documentation. While normally none of these items is a make or break item for a power supply the packaging quite often contains a lot of information about the product we are purchasing. The inclusion of an owner’s manual that provides actual information about our product is also of great help. Accessories are almost unnecessary with a power supply as the unit is self contained, unless it is modular, but there are cases where a manufacturer can include useful accessories to make installation, routing, and use more efficient.
Whereas the Turbo-Cool 1KW-SR came in a single box that served as both a shipping box and packaging the Silencer arrived double boxed with a plain cardboard exterior and the typical white with black text PC Power & Cooling box inside. Even double boxed the overall volume of this was significantly lower than that of the Turbo-Cool. Like the Turbo-Cool packaging the information on the box is exceedingly sparse but unlike the Turbo-Cool packaging the Silencer 750 packaging is crystal clear on its efficiency claims stating 83% efficiency with .99 PFC. Now where that 83% is to be had is vague but is much improved over the Turbo-Cools labeling and advertising which is good to see. Also found on the packaging, we see that the unit is rated at 750w at 40c which is lower than the 50c that the Turbo-Cools are rated but still more realistic than many brands. The 45c we test power supplies at splits this difference evenly so it will be interesting to see if the Silencer can handle the extra 5c or if we run into its derating curve. Other Seasonic built units we have evaluated (whether rated at 50c like the Corsair HX620 or 40c like the Seasonic S12II-500w) have performed well at 45c so we are hopeful the Silencer will as well.
Beyond that the packaging indicates the number of certain connector types, 12v amperage, and that the unit has "up to 90% less noise per watt." 0%-90% is a large spread and while it states “per watt” we have no idea what the baseline is for this comparison. If the unit is being compared to the Turbo-Cool line this could be possible, but if it is being compared to a number of other units on the market it would seem exceedingly doubtful. While we cannot make absolute noise measurements on power supplies in our test setup we will give our subjective impressions of this units noise profile and give an idea where in the overall scheme of power supply noise this unit fits given the "up to 90% less noise per watt" claim.
Finally, the box denotes the units CrossFire certification which we also find on the ATI CrossFire page as being for certified for the HD 2900 XT and while not specifically mentioned the identical Silencer 750 Quad (in Copper trim) is SLI certified for 8800GTX. Needless to say had the unit not been CrossFire certified we would have been baffled to say the least. This is listed along with the units warranty length of 3 years (a full two years shorter than the Turbo-Cool’s warranty). So users familiar with PC Power &Cooling’s Turbo-Cool product line should take note when buying the Silencer 750 that it does not carry the same length warranty as its older sibling.
All the information above comes from the unit itself as neither the box nor the pamphlet that came with unit contain the information. The cable count on this unit, like on the Turbo-Cool 1KW-SR, is representative only of the retail packaged unit. Astute readers will no doubt be aware that PC Power & Cooling offers a service where in a customer can have any wiring harness tacked down on their unit that they chose for an extra fee if they call up PC Power & Cooling and place an order. This service is one of the things that does set PC Power & Cooling apart in the market place and unfortunately is completely missed by a user purchasing their product in retail without returning the unit to PC Power & Cooling to have it refitted. That being said, this revision of the unit does come equipped with Quad PCI-Express connectors and a total of 15 different drive connectors. We think this is very good for an out-of-the box 750w unit and a complement that should keep 99% of users happy in its basic form. Moving on to the power label we see that the unit has 60A or ~96% of its total DC output available on the single 12v rail. This is one of the higher percentages we have seen to date and certainly seems to put the Silencer in the high-end gaming and large disk array arena with ease.
Once we open the white box of the Silencer 750 Quad CrossFire we find a better packaging system than we saw in the Turbo-Cool box. The unit has a custom formed cardboard holder system that is similar but much better than the Turbo-Cool’s, complete with plenty of padding but again no desiccant (silica is cheap). Also included in the box is the unit itself, PC Power & Cooling’s famous test report, mounting screws, a 14AWG cable (maybe a little over the top for a 750w unit but still nice to see), and a user "manual." I use the phrase "manual" a bit loosely as it is only one page front and back and the only useful inclusions are the pinouts for the cables and the warranty information. However, after the Turbo-Cool review something is a whole lot better than nothing. If the unit had included desiccant for corrosion prevention during storage and shipping, dropped the rubber bands, and included a thorough user manual this would have been a complete 180 from the Turbo-Cool. As it stands though it isn’t but it is much better than what was received with the Turbo-Cool and much closer to what would be expected from a premier power supply brand. It would be nice to see these changes as while the Silencer is only $200 compared to the Turbo-Cools $500 the addition of these items would cost little and would provide that touch of confidence that the product enclosed is world class. This isn’t to say the packaging has to be flashy like some brands, but complete documentation would match the expectations instilled by such a premier brand.