Introduction

We would like to thank Silverstone for supplying the review sample.

Silverstone was founded in 2003 and from the beginning they participated in the PSU market along with the manufacturing of chassis and cooling products. Nowadays they have an extended range of PSU products that address all user categories, from mainstream to high-end. Recently they introduced their new flagship series, named Strider Gold Evolution. The units of this series are based on the previous models of the Strider Gold series but some modifications and various component changes/upgrades were made to provide a minor boost in efficiency and performance.
The most notable differences in the new Striders are the use of Silverstone's Air Penetrator fan and a bundled magnetic fan filter which greatly reduces dust buildup inside the PSU. A simple but clever idea which we see the first time in a PSU.

The new Strider Gold Evolution series consists of four units with capacities ranging from 750W to 1200W. Today we will review the 1000W model (ST1000-G Evolution). Briefly this unit has 80 Plus Gold efficiency, features a fully modular cabling design, utilizes Japan made capacitors in its APFC circuit and has a single +12V rail. Finally this unit, along with the rest of the Strider Evolution series, is compatible with Silverstone's PP05 short cable kit so if you use this PSU in a smaller case you will have the chance to do better and easier cable management.

Specifications

The max operating temperature is restricted to 40°C but since the unit features Over Temperature Protection we will let the ambient inside the hotbox go higher than this. The unit features all modern protections and in addition it has "No Load Protection", which simply turns off the PSU once no load is present on the DC outputs. Silverstone's Air Penetrator fan is running in this unit and promises high performance, long lifespan and low noise output.
Silverstone states that they reprogrammed the fan controller to enable lower fan speed at any given loading condition compared to the predecessor Strider Gold units. The dimensions of the unit are normal for its capacity and the same applies to its weight too. Finally the price tag is good for the particular category but the warranty period is kind of short for a high-end unit since the competition provides five to seven years.

There is a single +12V rail which can deliver almost the full power of the unit. The minor rails are pretty strong, for today's standards, at 150W combined and the 5VSB rail has enough power with 3.5A max.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

All cables are modular and fully sleeved. The PCIe cables are equipped with extra filtering capacitors for even cleaner +12V output to the VGA(s). In total there are four 6+2 pin PCIe connectors and two 6 pin ones. We would prefer all to be 6+2 pin. The number of SATA connectors is sufficient although we have seen 1kW units with more, while the peripheral connectors will easily cover every modern system. Regarding cable length, the 24 pin ATX along with the shorter of the two EPS cables ideally should be 50mm longer. The same goes for all PCIe connectors too, 50mm more length would be highly preferable. Thankfully the distance among all connectors is the right one according to ATX spec. The PCIe and the EPS connectors use thicker 16AWG gauges for decreased resistance in high currents and lower voltage drops. Also the +12V wires on the 24 pin ATX connector have 16AWG size. All other connectors use the standard 18AWG wires.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail we do not have anything to comment about its power distribution.

Packaging

The PSU comes in a nice package which heavily uses the gold color, in order to highlight the efficiency rating of the unit. On the face of the box we find the series and the model description. The 1000W capacity is highlighted in big fonts while in the bottom right corner a brief description of the unit's features is given. This time the rear side of the box doesn't provide any useful info. If you want to learn more about the PSU's technical features, power specifications and available cables/connectors then you should take a look at the remaining sides of the box. Strangely enough Silverstone does not provide any warranty information anywhere on the packaging.