Hey guys, firstly let me start of by saying sorry if there are any misinformation here.
This is my first time writing a PSU review, and i hope there will be many more to come
here goes

SilverStone Decathlon SST - DA850 850W Power Supply Unit

Introduction:
SilverStone has a new lineup of power supplies to cater for the enthusiast users, the Decathlon series. Currently SilverStone exhibits numerous models for the Decathlon series ranging from 700W all the way to an enormous 1200W unit. This range boasts a monster single +12V rail with a rating of 70A. As you know, many other power supplies feature a dual or quadruple rail configuration with an average of only 20A per rail. SilverStone choose to be different and produced the Decathlon series. One of the many advantages of a single rail power supply is that you don't have to worry about overloading the rail. Today, we shall be looking at the badass DA 850W.

Lets take a look at the specs :

Class-leading single +12V rail with 70A @ 50℃
100% modular cables
Dual PCI-E 8 pin connector or quad PCI-E 6 pin connectors
Quiet running 120mm fan
Support for ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V
Active PFC
Efficiency greater than 80%
Japanese primary capacitor

The main attraction here is the Efficiency, more than 80%! now thats efficient.

The big Question
IS 850W OVERKILL?
The answer is actually very subjective. To keep things short and sweet, if you're a gamer with plans to build an uber high-end overclocked quad-core system with a Crossfire 2900XT setup, you might just scrape through with this power supply. If you are running an office pc, and plan to use this, that is overkill.



This post has been edited by DaRkSyThE: Nov 11 2007, 07:18 PM

First Look
The SilverStone DA850W is, like many other high-end power supplies, a few centimeters longer than that of an average power supply. This might be a tad of a problem for certain cases, especially when size comes into play.



The DA 850W arrived well-paced in this nicely designed box. When i first opened this box, i found a manual with even more details, and a small plastic bag with some zip ties, four black screws and a pouch for unused cables.

The manual



The pouch really comes in handy so you don't lose those cables.



Zip ties for those messy cables not to mention some nice new black screws to add to the bundle.



The back of the unit with the honey-comb shaped ventilation



Of course, lets not leave out the SilverStone logo which is perfectly stamped on the top side of the unit. the whole power supply is matt black, and is prone to finger prints.This does not pose to be a problem since the power supply unit can hardly be seen in the case.
On the left side, a large sticker with some basic information like the max output voltage of each rail and some safety warnings.





This post has been edited by DaRkSyThE: Nov 11 2007, 07:52 PM

The Cables
The Decathlon series features a modular cable system, this means you can disconnect all the cables that you don't need. May i remind you, some engineers from PC Power & Cooling have concerns for the modular system. They claim plugs add as much electrical resistance as would occur in an additional 2 feet of standard wire. But this is yet to be proven mind you.

al mighty cables.



Now we can see how it is like with all the cables unplugged. The DA 850 has lots of cables; 4-pin, 8-pin and 2-pin motherboard connectors, then we have two 6-pin PCI Express connectors and a 8-pin PCI Express connector, 2 regular 4-pin molex connectors and 2 Serial ATA connectors. If you are wondering which goes where, a sticker is there to indicate where each cables goes.



24-pin motherboard connector, 4-pin ATX connector and the 8-pin EPS connector. These cables are sleeved black and we have the two 6-pin PCI Express cables. these cables branch out into 2 PCI Express connectors each allowing users for a Quad SLI setup.
the 8-pin PCI express connector is included too. in fact we have two of them. this is essential for those with a Crossfire 2900 setup.



Six Serial ATA power connectors included and last but not least six 4-pin molex connectors. more than what is needed naturally.





This post has been edited by DaRkSyThE: Nov 11 2007, 07:55 PM

The test bed :

Processor: Intel C2D X6800 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard: Asus Maximus Formula Special Edition
RAM Module: Team Xtreem DDR2 Special OPB Edition (Micron D9GMH)
Graphic Card: Galaxy 7300GT
Heat Sink : Thermalright IFX 14
Hard Disk: Western Digital 36Gb Raptor
Operating System : Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2


Testing Methods.
1.Orthos is used to put the setup under load. Digital Multimeters with up to an accuracy of .00 is used to monitor the voltage fluctuations.
2. Voltage fluctuation readings are taken one every 30 seconds, the average is taken
Cool down of 1 minute is given between each stress test.



This post has been edited by DaRkSyThE: Nov 11 2007, 07:55 PM

Results :



Conclusion
During the test I noticed that there was very minimal fluctuations of voltages, this is normally because the PSU automatically corrects the voltage fluctuations.

The only thing that bugged me was that small whining sound I heard. its not there the entire time. it can only be heard when my system is turned off.

The Good Stuff
-Very powerful
-Loads of Amps on the single +12V rail.
-Plenty of cables for all your needs.
-Comes with a very trendy pouch to keep all the cables in
-Crossfire added support with the dual 8-pin connectors.

The Bad stuff
-Occasional whining sound
-Not all cables are nicely sleeved black

Overall, i award this PSU with a 8.5/10

thank you to InterAsia to supplying this Power Supply unit so graciously.

here is a PDF version.

This post has been edited by DaRkSyThE: Nov 12 2007, 09:35 PM


Attached File(s)
 SilverStone_Dechathlon_850W.pdf ( 18.73mb ) Number of downloads: 7

I don't have the chance to use this GodLike PSU because I have no extra money to play Crossfire or SLI.
Well, this is new choice for hardcore overclocker

better than mine psu review million times good psu there

TS, pin this thread !

btw, whats the MSRP for this baby? just wanna compare the cost/performance ratio with other sli/cf psu.

Pin this thread for ??
note that im not jealous with him.

I have a question.

850W PSU, does it mean it run at full 850W or Watt consuming is depend on how many devices you plug into it?

it depends on what you plug in
the MSRP is Rm 899

SLi 8800GT might be coming in soon.
hopefully i can get it on time before i leave

This post has been edited by DaRkSyThE: Nov 11 2007, 08:45 PM

Before I thought every PSU is fully provide the power like 850w PSU run at 850w at all the time. Now I know the real concept. Thanks for darksythe's explanation.

You forgot to thanks me for the question, hehe.. Interesting, thanks darksythe's.

extra note, even you use all the power, the psu isn't produce 100% 850W. which is 80 to 85% only. Every machine got their efficiency, where higher is better. Like TS PSU 80% plus.
edit typo

This post has been edited by 168257061: Nov 11 2007, 09:19 PM

gotta correct you there.
if im not wrong, this provides a 850W cotinuous output when there is need for it

nice review here,
but u just tested it with 7300GT?
didnt test it with high power consume GC like 8800ultra?

i lent my 8800GTs to a friend

Nice reviews..
ST56F also have whinning sound on it...maybe is a just common issue for silverstone psu

amazing little review.....

hmm...
quite a good psu for the specs...

price wise abit high...
but it's value for the $$$

Nice review here DaRkSyThE.

Seriously, Silverstone do produce one of the best looking modular PSUs around. The cables are really complete and the design is good. Not to mention the performance

Well, IIRC and please do correct me if i am wrong, the 80% efficiency thingy is regarding the heat and power draw that the PSU is going to use. For example, if a PSU is going to use 200W for performance, it is actually drawing 250W from the wall plug where the extra 50W is generated as excess heat. 80% * 250W = 200W.

In this case, when the efficiency is higher, the heat produces is less and thus, saving power at the same time.

Correct me if i am wrong..

You are correct. My ST56F do have whinning sound and sometimes, some electricity sound which is said by Silverstone to be normal..

Darksythe koko,one thing to ask ah.


Modular psu,if the cable (let's say 24 pin ATX power) ,plugged into the psu and the other way plugged into the mobo.

if we unpurposely shaked/moved the modular at the psu there (not the 24 pin on mobo),will it sparks?

i know that PCP&C is not recommend modular psu even it has better cable management,but this is a serious problem cause modular psu is easier to have spark than eternity cable design.

so,i wanna share with u this,is it true that it sparks easier than ordinary psu?and is it has more voltage lost than ordinary psu?

**and for previous question,if let's say the psu is 80% efficiency when load,that's mean it needs 1020W in order to provide 850W

i wudnt say it needs 1020Wbut rather only 170W is lost

well, i did try to shake the cables around, but i didnt hear any spark sounds.
i guess its because the cables are on pretty tight.

but it does make sense for those cheap modular power supplies to produce spark sounds.
Mushkin is one of them. anyone wanna confirm this?

continuous 850W ? sure ke ? hm...the box got 100%+ efficiency sticker or label ?

well its stated on the box
i obviously cant test it since i dont have those huge ass machines

, the sound only when your system turned off? is it because of the fan?

... NO, it'll run on 850W (if...) when the system require it...

DA vs OP, i'd go for OP

yalo.

OP

No need avg with 5 seconds and stuff. Use Fluke multimeter got built in AVG MIN MAX feature with trendplot.

erks shi fu ><
yet to get a Fluke