Hardware Review
SilverStone DA750
With the emergence of power hungry hardware such as SLI video card setups and newer processors, one must be very careful on what PSU they would use to power their rigs. We've taken a look at several PSU before, this time we're going to take a look at a very powerful modular PSU from SilverStone. Tonight, we'll be reviewing the SilverStone DA750 PSU. We would like to thank the SilverStone team for helping us with this review.
Many PSU manufacturers these days offer PSUs that have one or more +12v rails. The function of the multi rail designs is to spilt consistent power to the CPU and to the rest of the PC components. However, multiple-rail PSU can run into distribution losses of up to 30% of the PSUs rating. This occurs when power gets trapped on under used rails. For example, if the 12v rail that provides power to the CPU is rated at 20amps and the CPU only uses 7A, the remaining 13A is unusable. Multi-rail PSU also has their limitations as well. Any single rail has a limit of 20A per rail at which point if a component needs power over 20A, components sometimes are subject to over-current shutdowns.
Now with that in mind, let's take a look at SilverStones's DA750 PSU. The DA750 from SilverStone is part of their Decathlon series. It outputs a maximum wattage of 750W and a single +12V rail rated at 60A. The 3.3V and 5V rails are rated at 28A and 30A respectively and is SLI certified PSU. The PSU is cooled by a single 120mm fan and it uses modular cables to connect components to the PSU. Below is a more detailed spec sheet for the DA750 PSU.
| Max. DC Output | 750W |
| combined +3.3, +5V | 180W Max |
| combined +12V | 720W / 60A |
| Input Voltage | 90V ~ 264V ( Auto Range ) |
| Input Frequency Range | 47Hz ~ 63Hz |
| PFC | Active PFC (PF>0.99 at full load) |
| Efficiency | >80% |
| MTBF | 100,000 hours at 25°C , full load |
| Operating temperature | 0 ~ 50°C |
| Protection | Over current protection, Over power protection, Over voltage protection, Short circuit protection |
| Connectors | 1 x 24-pin motherboard connector (550mm) 1 x 8-pin EPS12V connector (550mm) 1 x 4-pin ATX12V connector (550mm) 1 x 8-pin PCI-E connector (550mm) 2 x Dual 6-pin PCI-E connector (550mm) 2 x triple SATA connector (500mm +250mm + 250mm) 2 x triple 4-pin IDE & single floppy power connectors (500mm + 250mm + 250mm + 150mm) |
| Color | black (lead-free paint) |
| Cooling System | Single 120mm ball bearing fan |
| Noise Level | 22 dBA minimum |
| Dimension | 150 mm (W) x 86 mm (H) x 180 mm (D) |
| Weight | 2.6 kg |
| Certification | SLI |
| LOAD RANGE | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | +5VSB | -12V | -5V |
| Max.(Amps) | 28A | 30A | 60A | 4.0A | 0.5A | / |
| Peak (Amps) | / | / | / | / | / | / |
| Min.(Amps) | 0A | 1A | 3A | 0.1A | 0A | / |
| Range (%) | +/-3% | +/-3% | +/-3% | +/-5% | +/-10% | / |
| Line Reg.(%) | ±1% | ±1% | ±1% | ±1% | ±1% | / |
| Ripple(mVp-p) | 50mV | 50mV | 120mV | 50mV | 120mV | / |
Click the images to see the enlarge version
| EVGA 680i SLI |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6750(2.6GHz) |
| 2GB Crucial Ballistix DC Kit PC2-6400 |
| XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB |
| 2 x WD 80GB SATA RAID 0 Configuration |
| 2 x WD 250GB SATA HD |
| LG 16x DVD-RW |
As a CPU load, we used 3DMark2001 for about twenty minutes while the CPU was at stock and at overclocked speed. We were able to attain a very stable 3.6GHz with the CPU thanks in part to the Ballistix Memory. And now here are the results:
Clearly the DA750 was very stable. There were hardly any noticeable changes in any of the voltages even when our E6750 was overclocked to a blazing 3.6GHz. We were very impressed how stable it was. Acoustically, it was very silent throughout our testing. We wish we could've tested the PSU under SLI mode if we had another XFX 8800 GTS on hand. However, we will do a follow up review on the DA750 as soon as we can get our hands on an SLI cards.
Overall, the SilverStone DA750 is a very stable PSU. The modular cables were very easy to connect and it was also very easy to organize inside the case. It's also a very quiet PSU; one can hardly hear the sound of the fan spinning during normal use. Not only it uses high grade parts inside the case, it also spits out a whopping 60amps on a single 12v rail. Enough to power any power hungry SLI setup. With the impressive performance by the SilverStone DA750, it's hard for us not to give the PSU a score of 10 out 10 and an Editor's Choice. Stay tune for the update.I f you want to get more information on this product, please kindly visit SilverStone's website. You can also discuss this review in our forum with our other members.
Pros:
Single +12v rail @ 60A
Modular Cables
High end parts used
Stable voltages
Silent Fan
Cons:
Can't find any...
