| SilenX 400w Pro iXtrema PSU - Page 2 of 2 |
Quality (continued):
The front has all of the obvious cables for powering your system, noted in earlier in the review. Most cables provided in this unit were approximately 18" in length and although not particularly long, these cables easily reached in our large server case.
The most innovative feature of this power supply is the SilenX molex connectors. They are much easier to insert and remove than the typical connectors because the plastic loops give you something to grip. This is a great improvement over the typical molex that I find myself time and time again wiggling back and forth, other power supply manufacturers should take note.
 
The below left image shows the manual and AC power cord included, while the below right image shows the two Serial ATA power connections integrated with the power supply.
 
When the top of the device is removed it reveals a tightly packed assortment of circuit boards, wires, and resistors – just as you could expect with any other power supply today. On closer inspection you might notice this device comes with a small thermal diode designed to read the ambient case temperatures and adjust the cooling fan accordingly. A nice touch for the computer user with a nearly silent computer in mind.
 
Test System:
The SilenX 400W power supply was benchmarked in two stages, testing the voltages at idle and load. The power supply was connected to the test computer and voltages were taken directly from the 20-pin motherboard connector. A Cen-Tech (model P30756) multimeter was used to test the power supply with the black lead touching a black wire on the motherboard connector and the red lead moved to the respective voltage line. (yellow being the 12.0v line, red the 5.0v line, and orange the 3.3v). It is worth noting, every molex connector (all six of them) was utilized to hook up the assortment of power hungry components in this system. A few more molex connectors will be necessary for someone with more than 3 hard disks and 2 optical drives.
System Specs:
• AMD Athlon XP2000+ Processor w/ Thermaltake TR2-M4 cooler
• ASUS A7V333-R Motherboard
• 2x Maxtor 80GB Hard disks in RAID-0
• 1x Maxtor 60GB Hard disk
• 2x Optical devices (cdrw, dvd-rom)
• nVidia GeForce 4 Ti-4200 Videocard
• 2 PCI devices (NIC & soundcard)
• Antec Plus 1080 Server Case
• 6x 80mm case fans
 
Performance and Results:
To get an accurate indication of the SilenX 400W power supply's performance, we took the average voltages of the power supply at idle and load. Load was generated by a running a combination SiSoft Sandra Pro 2004 (Burn-in Wizard) and F@H. Load voltages were only taken after stressing the computer for a minimum of one hour. Here are the average idle and load voltages taken directly from the 20-pin motherboard connector. Note, there is little fluctuation between idle and load and all voltages are well within specifications.
For comparison purposes, we put the SilenX power supply up against a reputable Antec 430W power supply with the same test system. Both systems were well within their specifications, but the Antec definitely had less fluctuation. Both though, when graphed are very close and demonstrates the good job both companies have done in staying well within the industry standard of +/- 10%.
Conclusion:
SilenX does a great job at providing exactly what we were promised. This device is very quiet, at 14 dBA it is almost a whisper and won't be heard over other system noise. It's also a good performer, with voltages very close to one of the highest regarded power supply manufacturers in the industry. Users should expect a slightly higher cost associated with a device this quiet and that is indeed the case. This particular model can can be ordered direct from SilenX for a cost of $115. If your serious about having a quiet computing environment, this price tag is very respectable. If you require even more power, SilenX provides other models, raning up to a 600W version.
For its quiet and solid performance the SilenX iXtrema Pro 400W power supply earns 4 out of 5 stars... Recommended!
Final Rating (4 out of 5 stars): 
Pros:
• Quiet as advertised (not audible over case 80mm case fans)
• Little fluctuation in voltages from idle to full load
• 2 SATA connectors
Cons:
• Wires could be a bit longer, maybe ~22" for those extra big cases
• Could use a few more molex connectors for extra optical or hard disk devices
• Could also use an additional exhaust fan at the bottom of the power supply
Special thanks to SilenX for providing the 400W Pro iXtrema PSU to BigBruin.Com for review!
Please drop by the BigBruin.Com forum and feel free to discuss this review!
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