The SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT & ST1200-PT PSU Review: Tenured

External Appearance

Externally, the SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT and ST1200-PT are almost identical, with the sole exception being the stickers on the left side of the units. Both units are 180 mm deep, which is relatively short for units with that kind of power output, yet certainly longer than what the ATX standard dictates. Their depth will increase the compatibility with compact cases but they will certainly not fit in every ATX-compliant case.

The chassis of both units is sprayed with a textured black paint that is slightly rough to the touch but is also smudge and scratch resistant. The sticker with the PSU's electrical specifications is on the left side of the chassis, while the right side is almost completely plain, with just small version and serial number stickers present. SilverStone's logo is engraved at the top side of the PSU. There is also a black sticker at the top, featuring the legend of the PSU's connectors, as it would not fit at the front side of the unit. A metallic badge with the company's logo also covers the center of the cooling fan.

The front side of the unit is almost completely covered by the huge number of cable connectors. With the exception of the ATX plug, the connectors feature plastic caps. The CPU and PCIe do not share the same connectors, with the former being blue and the latter black. These connectors look the same but they are keyed so, for example, the PCIe cables will not fit in the CPU connectors. The rear of the PSUs is uninteresting, with only the AC cable receptacle and a small switch to be found.

Internal Design

Both the ST1000-PT and the ST1200-PT are using the same cooling fan, which is the customized flow version of the HA1425H12B-Z made by Hong Hua. The fancy-looking grill is not just for show, as it is supposed to focus airflow directly in front of the fan rather than allowing it to chaotically spread to all directions. It sports a dual ball bearing engine. The fan has a maximum rotational speed of about 2400 RPM.

The ST1000-PT and ST1200-PT are not identical only on the outside but on the inside as well. Both units are based on the exact same platform and even many of their components are the same. The only difference between the two units is that the 1200 Watts version has some higher-spec components that allow it to reach a higher power output.

The OEM behind the creation of these two units is Enhance, a company that SilverStone entrusts most of their PSUs. The platform design is relatively simple and clean, as Enhance is focused on quality and stability more than anything else.

 
The SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT (up) and ST1200-PT (down)

The filtering stage of both units is identical, consisting of four Y capacitors, four X capacitors and two filtering inductors. Surges are suppressed by a MOV and inrush current is limited via a NTC thermistor/relay configuration. Moving forward, we find two input rectifier bridges sandwiched together on a small heatsink that can be found beneath the main heatsink of the PSU.

 
The SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT (left) and ST1200-PT (right)

The main heatsink of the PSU is physically large but has thick and short fins, resulting to a relatively small heat dissipation surface. It holds the active components of the PFC and also the MOSFETs of the primary inversion stage. A large filtering PFC choke can be seen beneath its longer fins, followed by two APFC capacitors. The PFC capacitors differ between the two models, with two Nippon Chemi-Con 450V/540μF in the ST1000-PT and two Rubycon 420V/390μF in the ST1200-PT.

 
The SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT (left) and ST1200-PT (right)

The primary inversion circuit consist of four MOSFETs that form a LLC resonant full-bridge converter design. A single 12V line is generated at the secondary side of the PSUs by a massive rectifier configuration formed by twelve MOSFETs. The minor 3.3V/5V lines are generated via DC-to-DC converters, which can be seen on their own small PCBs. The filtering capacitors are a chaos, with both units using a mix of electrolytic capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con, Rubycon, and Unicon, as well as solid-state capacitors from Nippon Chemi-Con, Nichicon, and Unicon.