Silverstone Strider 850w ST85F PSU

Conclusion

The ST85F is a very capable power supply that benefits from the quietness of a 135mm fan, has a fully modular cabling system and support for the very latest and upcoming PCI-E 8-Pin graphics cards. Voltage stability and Efficiency are good and Silverstone have also rectified the issue with faulty power switches found on some of the previous Strider series units.

On the down side, it’s a shame to see that Silverstone decided to get rid of the adjustable pots (for fine-tuning voltages) on the ST85F as this is a highly desireable feature many enthusiasts will miss. Internal packaging (or lack of) still seems to be a problem, with the Strider falling behind PSU’s from other manufacturers at same price point, who manage to use styrofoam inserts at the very least.

Pro’s
• Fully modular design.
• Quieter than predecessors thanks to 135mm fan.
• Support for very latest graphics cards.
• Dual rail design for better distribution of available power.
• Reasonable voltage stability and efficiency.

Con’s
• Missing the adjustable pots found on previous modular Strider units.
• Voltage stability not quite on-par with the ST75F (possibly due to dual vs. quad rail).
• Packaging still needs work. Some foam inserts make all the difference!

Thanks to Silverstone for providing this unit for review.

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