Power supply with a 1000W rating is pretty much common these days. But 1000W on an SFX or SFX-L form factor is quite uncommon. Today, we are going to check out the SilverStone SX1000 Platinum SFX-L power supply. This PSU is specifically made for small form factor builds or SFF PCs. In this review, let’s discuss some of its features, take a closer look at the product and share my personal experience from using it. If you’re in the market for an SFX or SFX-L PSU, and perhaps you’re building small but powerful gaming or content creation machine, please continue reading our SilverStone SX1000 Platinum review below.
SilverStone SX1000 Platinum SFX-L Power Supply Review
When someone asks me what PSU do I recommend; usually, I would recommend an 80 Plus certified power supply from a reputable brand. The SilverStone SX1000 Platinum SFX-L is an 80 Plus Platinum certified power supply. But what does this (actually) mean? Why do we recommend 80 Plus certified PSUs and not just any other PSUs?
What is 80 Plus Certification?
According to Wikipedia, 80 Plus is a voluntary certification program that aims to promote efficient energy use in computer power supply units or PSU. It was first launched way back in 2004 by Ecos Consulting. They certify PSUs that have more than 80% energy efficiency at 20%, 50%, and 100% of rated load, and a power factor of 0.9 or greater at 100% load.
There are 6 levels of 80 Plus certification: 80 Plus, 80 Plus Bronze, 80 Plus Silver, 80 Plus Gold, 80 Plus Platinum, and 80 Plus Titanium. The Platinum and Titanium certified PSUs are the most efficient, but they are also quite expensive. The most common are 80 Plus Bronze and 80 Plus Gold and I think 80 Plus Gold is the sweet spot when it comes to price/efficiency.
80 PLUS Certification – 115V Internal Non-Redundant
| % of Rated Load | 10% | 20% | 50% | 100% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 PLUS | --- | 80% | 80% | 80% / PFC .90 |
| 80 PLUS Bronze | --- | 82% | 85% / PFC .90 | 82% |
| 80 PLUS Silver | --- | 85% | 88% / PFC .90 | 85% |
| 80 PLUS Gold | --- | 87% | 90% / PFC .90 | 87% |
| 80 PLUS Platinum | --- | 90% | 92% / PFC .95 | 89% |
| 80 PLUS Titanium | 90% | 92% / PFC .95 | 94% | 90% |
The 80 Plus certification is just one aspect that you should look for in a power supply. It tells the efficiency of the PSU, but it doesn’t translate to the quality of the power supply as a whole. In short, not all 80 Plus certified PSUs are guaranteed to last long or will work without fail. Just like any other electrical components, these are not immune to quality issues, poor manufacturing or engineering faults, and other issues.
That is why, aside from the 80 Plus certification, it is important to buy a power supply from a reputable manufacturer; like SilverStone, Seasonic, Corsair, or EVGA. Honestly, there are cases where a PSU from a top manufacturer sometimes has issues or usually “dead on arrival”. Luckily, these well-known PSU manufacturers offer a long warranty period, and claiming a warranty or replacement unit is usually not that difficult.
SilverStone SX1000-LPT SFX-L Features
The SilverStone SX1000 Platinum is a fully modular SFX-L power supply and is primarily marketed towards small form factor build. While it functions just like any other ATX power supply, the SX1000 has a smaller body, and the included cables are shorter as well. It might not work well for mid-tower, and especially full-tower cases due to the shorter cables. Not to mention, there are only a limited number of ports available.
For example, the SilverStone ST1000-PT we previously reviewed, also a 1000W Platinum PSU, has 8 PCIe 8-pin ports. This means it can accommodate multiple graphics cards and other PCIe-based components. Meanwhile, the SX1000 only has 5 PCIe 8-pin ports and it’s also being shared to the CPU power connector. So, yes, even if it can supply 1000W of power, it’s quite limited on the available ports.
The SX1000 Platinum also offers “class-leading” single +12V rail with 83.3A. It also features a strict ±3% voltage regulation and low ripple and noise; and SilverStone is using high-quality Japanese capacitors. There’s a 120mm dual ball bearing fan that features a “semi-fanless” operation. SilverStone also claims that the fan in this PSU is “silent-running”. Let me share with you my experience in the latter part of this review.
Below are more details about the power supply, including its complete specifications. After that, let’s take a closer look at the PSU.
SilverStone SX1000-LPT SFX-L Specifications
| Product No. | SST-SX1000-LPT |
|---|---|
| Max. DC Output | 1000W |
| Power density | 969W per liter |
| Color | Black（Lead-Free Paint） |
| Combined +3.3V & +5V | 125W |
| Combined +12V | 999.6W |
| Input Voltage | 90V ~ 264V |
| Input Frequency Range | 47Hz ~ 63Hz |
| PFC | Active PFC（PF>0.9 at full load） |
| Efficiency | 89% ~ 92% at 20% ~ 100% loading |
| MTBF | 100,000 hours |
| Operating temperature | 0°C ~ 50°C |
| Protection | Over current protection Over power protection Over voltage protection Short circuit protection Over temperature protection |
| Connectors | 1x 24 / 20-Pin motherboard connector (300mm) 2x 8 / 4-Pin EPS / ATX 12V connector ("400mm" x 2) 6x 8 / 6-Pin PCIE connector ("400mm / 150mm" x 3) 8x SATA connector ("300mm / 200mm / 100mm / 100mm" x 2) 3x 4-Pin Peripheral connector (300mm / 200mm / 200mm) 1x 4-Pin Floppy adapter connector (100mm) |
| Cooling System | Single 120mm dual ball bearing fan |
| Form factor | SFX-L |
| Noise Level | 0 ~ 36 dBA |
| Dimension | 125 mm (W) x 63.5 mm (H) x 130 mm (D) 4.92" (W) x 2.5" (H) x 5.12" (D) |
| Weight | 1.39 Kg |
| Certification | 80 PLUS Platinum |
| Other | GPU Support list Compatible with ATX12V v2.4 |
| Load Range | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | +5VSB | -12V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max.(Amps) | 25A | 25A | 83.3A | 3.0A | 0.3A |
| Peak (Amps) | / | / | / | / | / |
| Min.(Amps) | 0A | 0A | 0A | 0A | 0A |
| Range (%) | ±3% | ±3% | ±3% | ±5% | ±10% |
| Line Reg.(%) | ±1% | ±1% | ±1% | ±1% | ±1% |
| Ripple(mVp-p) | 40mV | 40mV | 100mV | 40mV | 80mV |
SilverStone SX1000 Platinum 1000W SFX-L PSU latest pricing and availability:
Available on Amazon.com here or Newegg.com here
Packaging and Closer Look
Unlike other 1000W ATX PSU, the SilverStone SX1000 SFX-L came with a slightly smaller box. The packaging is compact and sturdy in general. You can read some of its features on one side and additional details including its specifications at the back-side of the box.
There are also reading materials included in the box. And like any other quality product, the user manual and other written materials are well-written.
The Cables
The package includes two types of mounting screws; several cable ties and Velcro straps; and a thick power cable. As for the connectors, the SX1000 Platinum includes one 24/20-pin motherboard cable; two 4+4pin CPU cables; three 6+2pin PCIe cables; two SATA cables; one 4-pin molex cable, and a 4-pin floppy connector.
The available number of connectors on each cable, including the length of each cable, is already listed in the specifications table above.
I noticed that although the cables are flat, they are quite stiff. But they do feel that they are made of quality cables/materials. Another thing is that I am not a fan where a single 6+2 pin PCIe power connector (for graphics cards) is split into two. I guess it’s okay if the graphics card is just an entry-level or lower-powered GPU. But for a high-end graphics card, I would use one cable for each power connector.
Above you can see how the individual connector looks like. It’s pretty much standard.
Right out of the box, there’s a big (attention) yellow sleeve on the SX1000. This is just to inform the user that the PSU’s fan will not spin during idle to light load operation. And you should remove the yellow sleeve before installing it on the casing/chassis.
Although the fan-stop operation is quite common these days, especially on graphics cards, there are a lot of users who are not aware of such a feature. I can see posts on forums or Facebook groups where users would ask why their graphics card’s fans are not spinning. They are simply not familiar or not aware that their hardware has that kind of feature. Or perhaps they didn’t understand that kind of feature; thus the warning.
At the back of the SX1000 Platinum, there are more details about the PSU’s input and output power. And more warning or caution labels from the manufacturer.
Dimensions and Ports
Above you can see the top-front view of the SilverStone SX1000, this is quite a small PSU. It measures 125mm in width, 63.5mm in height, and 130mm in length; just slightly larger than a 120mm case fan. Speaking of the fan, the SX1000 has a 120mm slim-type fan.
You can see the name of the PSU on the side and at the back or rear-end you can see the power socket and the power switch. There’s no control for the fan since it adjusts the fan speed automatically.
On the other side, are the ports for the power cables. Again, despite being a 1000W PSU, the number of PCIe and peripheral ports are quite limited compared to a full-sized 1000W ATX power supply. If you’re using a high-end ATX motherboard, or an E-ATX motherboard, all these ports can get easily populated and sometimes maybe not enough depending on your build.
So before getting this PSU or any SFX(-L), you really need to plan first or consider the other components that you are going to use.
I didn’t open my SX1000 since I am still using it for an O11 Dynamic Mini build. But above you can see a photo of what’s inside the SX1000 and the fan used to cool the PSU.
SilverStone SX1000-LPT SFX-L User / Build Experience
Testing power supplies is not my expertise and I don’t have the necessary equipment to properly test a power supply. However, I have been using the SX1000 Platinum in my Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini build. And I’ll be adding the video build in this review once the edit is finished.
Aside from the O11 Dynamic Mini and SX1000, the build also includes MSI’s MEG Z590 ACE motherboard powered by an Intel Core i7-10700K and paired with Corsair’s Vengeance RGB PRO SL DDR4 memory. The CPU is cooled by a Corsair iCUE H100i Elite Capellix 240mm AIO liquid cooler. And for the graphics card, I threw in the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti SUPRIM X.
The motherboard requires two 8-pin CPU power connectors and the graphics card requires three 8-pin GPU power connectors. This means that all of the (8-pin) PCIe power connectors will be populated and there’s no extra left. Like I mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of using the split 8-pin power connector for the GPU; especially for a high-end graphics card. However, I encountered a problem.
The cable was a bit short since the SUPRIM X is big, and the split 8-pin part would get in the way of the fan’s graphics card. So I have no choice but to use only two 8-pin cables and use the split 8-pin for the third GPU power connector. Yes, there are custom cables that can easily fix this, but I’m testing all stock here.
However, if I was using a smaller case, for example, the Cooler Master NR200(P); I’m pretty sure cable length wouldn’t be an issue. Though due to the size of that chassis, there’s not much you can install inside and I don’t think you need a 1000W SFX-L for that kind of build.
Noise During Operation
SilverStone claims that the fan they used on the SX1000 Platinum is a “silent-running” fan with an advanced semi-fanless operation. This means that the fans will stop during idle to light load situations. And during these times, the PSU is dead silent. I didn’t observe any humming, static noise, or coil whine during normal desktop operation.
When I benchmarked and tested the CPU and GPU, the fan of the SX1000 kicks in; since the system is running at 95%-100% load. My review unit didn’t produce any unwanted noise or coil whine during full load, and the fan is relatively silent as well. With the O11 Dynamic Mini’s side panel closed, I don’t hear any loud or obnoxious fan noise.
In fact, the fans of the Corsair iCUE H100i, cooling the 240mm radiator, were more audible. I was a bit disappointed with SilverStone’s ST1000-PT since the fans can get loud during heavy load. But I’m glad that is not the case with this SFX-L PSU despite its size.
Experience While Testing and Benchmarking CPUs/GPUs
This past couple of months, I have been testing several components in this build. That includes the Intel Core i5-11400F, Core i7-10700K, MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X, MSI RTX 3080 Ti Suprim X, and GALAX’s GeForce RTX 3070 Ti SG. I did not observe any instability or sudden power failure or drop in power.
While I don’t have the necessary tools to accurately measure or test the SX1000 Platinum; but I didn’t observe any kind of issues at all. The experience was just like using a full-sized ATX PSU; like the Seasonic TX-1000 or the SilverStone ST1000-PT. The system was pretty stable and was running smoothly.
I think that’s about it and I don’t have anything additional to report regarding my experience when using this PSU. I will update this later to add the build video. Perhaps in the future, if I observe anything worth adding, I’ll update this review.
Price and Availability
The SilverStone SX1000 Platinum SFX-L PSU is now available. I’m not sure what’s the exact manufacturer’s suggested retail price for this power supply. But it currently retails north of $300 USD. SilverStone also offers a 5-year warranty for the said PSU. For the latest pricing and availability, kindly check out the link(s) below.
SilverStone SX1000 Platinum 1000W SFX-L PSU latest pricing and availability:
Available on Amazon.com here or Newegg.com here
SilverStone SX1000 Platinum SFX-L PSU Review Conclusion
I think the SilverStone SX1000 Platinum is one rock-solid SFX-L PSU. It’s well built and can provide clean and stable power in small form factor builds. The unit itself feels robust, built quality is top-notch and even the cables feel high quality, although a bit stiff. I didn’t observe any coil whine or weird (vibrating) noise coming from the components inside the power supply itself.
Depending on the type and the components involved in your SFF build; you may or may not need a 1000W power supply. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s best to plan and check the chassis that you are going to use; including the components that you also plan to install in your build.
Remember that this is an SFX-L power supply and the cables are shorter compared to a full-sized ATX power supply. You can’t use this on full tower chassis due to the length of the cable. You may be able to get away with some smaller ATX chassis. But this PSU is primarily geared towards small form factor builds.
At the end of the day, I think the SilverStone SX1000 Platinum is an excellent 1000W SFX-L power supply. It would be a great choice for a top-of-the-line gaming rig, or for an editing and content creator system that is housed in a small form factor build.
