Test Setup and Methodology

When we received the unit there was some reason for doubts, because who really needs 750W, we had an Antec 550W unit lying around that had served us well for several years, it powered countless test systems without issue. Surely it could power an ATI Crossfire setup with a modest ?mobile? CPU as the brains of the system.

We were in for a surprise, as shortly after assembling the system and trying to install a fresh copy of Windows XP we ran into random reboots and system crashes. We had a power monitor plugged in between the wall outlet and the PC, at idle it showed 142 Watts, not too bad, but under load the number quickly climbed over 400 Watts, overclocking the system even got the meter as high as 500, quite a staggering total. It was clear that the Antec couldn?t cope and so we installed the Silverstone ZEUS, from then on the system was rock solid.

Yonah Test Setup
CPU	Intel T2600 Core Duo @ 2.6Ghz Cooled by Thermalright XP-90C
Mainboard	Aopen i975X a-YDG
Memory	2*512 Mb DDR2 OCZ PC6400
Other	Connect 3D X1900XTX Connect 3D X1900 Crossfire Master Card Silverstone Zeus 750 Watt PSU Nec 2050 DVD writer Western Digital 36Gb Raptor SATA 2x Seagate 200Gb SATA

We decided to compare the performance of the ZEUS to a very fordable unit from Zippy (reviewed here), the PSL-6701P is an industry standard 700 Watt unit which has proven to be quite popular with the enthusiast crowd for its solid voltage rails.

Using a multi meter we measured the voltages of the 3.3, 5 and 12v rails under idle and 100% system load, these were the results:



?Impressive? is the word, this high end Crossfire system could not to fluctuate the different voltage rails; they remained almost unaffected and well within tolerance levels. The performance of the ZEUS was on par with the Zippy unit.

Noise

This is where the Silverstone unit really shines; in a test room with ambient noise at 38,7dBA we measured ~40dBA@60cm at full load, less than 2dBA over ambient, whisper quiet. The Zippy on the other hand measured ~60dBA@60cm and was easily the loudest component of the system!

Conclusive Thoughts

Priced around ~?/$170 it?s certainly not overpriced for such a high rated power supply, it?s about $100 less than the similarly spec?d Zippy unit. The ZEUS 750W doesn?t fail to impress delivering solid voltage rails and enough amperage for very high end systems. The icing on the cake is its silent operation which is really impressive for such a high rated unit.

If you?re in the market for a high end power supply, the ZEUS 750W unit should be on your shortlist. If you desire even more power than the latest from Silverstone, the ST85ZF rated at 850W should suffice.

Questions/Comments: forum thread