SilverStone Zeus ZM1350W PSU Review

Today we are looking at a monster power supply, the Zeus 1350W from Silverstone. This is one of the highest wattage power supplies that money can buy. SilverStone claim exceptionally tight voltage regulation of 1%, low ripple noise on the rails and high efficiency, achieving 80 Plus Silver Certification. The icing on the cake? A pure modular design and accessible voltage adjustment pots on the three major rails. It has been a while since we looked at a SilverStone power supply and the 1350W unit dropped out of the blue at our offices. The weight of the box alone is certainly enough to raise an eyebrow. Product features: 1350W continuous output and 1500W peak power at 50°C (60℃ with 1080W continuous). Low ripple & noise with strict ±1% voltage regulation. Patented six / single +12V rails adjustable switch. User-accessible +3.3V / +5V / +12V rails voltage adjustment pots. 80 PLUS Silver certification with 80 PLUS Gold level efficiency at 230Vac. Class-leading +12V rails combined loading up to 105A. Industrial grade components. Advanced 100% full cable management. Long life dual ball bearing 80mm fan with speed control switch. Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening, me! The box shows a picture of an angry looking ZEUS - the greek god. Yes, they managed to fit in a picture of the power supply, bottom right. The box is very heavy and contains two separate compartments - one for the power supply itself, and the other for the accessories. A black box contains all the modular cables. Along with this is a user manual, product overview and some screws, zip ties and Velcro straps to complete the build. Cable (modular) Connectors MB ATX 20+4 pin x1 (500mm) 6+2 pin PCIe x4 / x4 (500mm+ 150mm) 4+4 pin EPS12V/ATX12V x2 (700mm / 500mm) SATA x16 (500mm + 150mm + 150mm) MOLEX x2 (460mm+100mm) MOLEX FDD x6 (500mm+150mm) x2 (+150mm) The Silverstone Zeus ZM1350W power supply has plenty of cables, especially for high end gaming systems - there are no less than 8 PCI e 6+2 cables for Quad Crossfire and SLi rigs. The main ATX cable seems very short however, measuring only 500 mm. We have seen some recently with 700mm ATX cables. The cables are all high grade, sleeved. The Zeus ZM1350W power supply is extremely well protected, sandwiched between two thick foam pads. The power supply is massive, and very heavy. The finish is a matt black and it is almost impossible to scratch. It passed our screwdriver surface test with flying colours (we simulate a rough system build by running the head of a Philips screwdriver down the side with low to moderate force). The finish was also very resistant to fingerprints, thanks to the mottled paint implementation. I do wish all power supplies used the same finish. The modular cables all connect on one side of the chassis. They are colour coded for ease of installation and there is a little diagram above, on the top of the supply. This diagram explains the +12V rail distribution on the modular ports when configured to a multi rail setup. No giant fan on this power supply, just a tiny 80mm fan at the front, next to the power connector and switch. There is also a button here which can be used to set the fan to full speed if you are trying to achieve the lowest possible temperatures. This does get noisy however, and we will measure the emissions later in the review. There are only a few venting holes on the sides of the chassis to help improve airflow. The shape of the power supply ensures that cool air is driven in by the fan, across the length and then outwards on the other side. You can configure the power supply to use a single +12V Rail, or six +12V rails, as shown in the diagram above. There is a small LED indicator which details the operational state: orange for standby, green for normal or red, indicating a problem. Silverstone Zeus ZM1350W Power Supply DC Output +3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +12V3 +12V4 +12V5 +12V6 -12V +5Vsb Max Output 25A 25A 30A 30A 30A 30A 30A 30A 0.5A 4A Total Power 170W 1260W 6W 20W 1350W Technically the power supply can deliver 1260W to the +12V rails. Both +3.3V and +5V rails can deliver 25A. Due to the shape of the SilverStone Zeus ZM1350W power supply, they have adopted a 80mm Sunon PF80251B3-0000-A99 which is rated to spin at up to 4,200 rpm while producing 54cfm. This is a double ball bearing fan (12v, 2.7W) and is likely to be quite loud at higher speeds, especially given the small size. This is a Seventeam OEM design. The main PCB is long and there are two very large heatsinks installed on either side. The design uses a full bridge topology on the primary side. There is synchronous rectification for the +12V rail with two DC-DC converters for production of the minor rails on the secondary side. Build quality is acceptable in parts, although not close to the level of Seasonic. Behind the AC Receptacle is a PCB which houses a mains fuse, two Y caps, a single X Cap and a CM choke. On the main PCB are another X cap, two Y Caps, an MOV and two CM chokes. Primary capacitors are supplied by Hitachi rated at 560 μF each (1120 μF combined) 400V @ 105c. We noticed that two smaller chokes are used, possibly due to physical spacing restrictions. The 12+v rail is predominately filtered by Lelon. We noticed soldering quality was not great, especially on the modular PCB. Taking a look up closer we can see that some of the wires are naked close to the connectors. Not often we see this on such a high end power supply. On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the 24.5MP Nikon D3X camera and 24-70mm ED lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source. Additional technical assistance: Peter McFarland and Jeremy Price. Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. Due to public requests we have changed our temperature settings – previously we rated with ambient temperatures at 25C, we have increased ambient temperatures by 10c (to 35c) in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions. We use combinations of the following hardware: • SunMoon SM-268 • CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs) • CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4) • Extech Power Analyzer • Extech MultiMaster MM570 digital multimeter • SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa) • Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC) • Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA DC Output Load Regulation Combined DC Load +3.3V +5V +12V +5VSB -12V A V A V A V A V A V 135W 1.55 3.33 1.80 5.02 9.60 12.21 0.50 5.02 0.20 -12.02 275W 3.00 3.33 3.60 5.02 19.45 12.18 1.00 5.02 0.30 -12.03 675W 6.55 3.32 7.10 5.02 51.72 12.16 1.50 5.01 0.30 -12.04 1015W 9.65 3.32 10.20 5.01 77.14 12.14 2.00 5.01 0.50 -12.04 1350W 13.09 3.32 12.45 5.00 104.33 12.08 3.00 5.01 0.80 -12.05 Load regulation is very good, with most of the major rails holding close to reference results. There is some deviation on the +12V rail, however it is a minor issue considering the overall results. SilverStone Zeus ZM1350W Maximum Load 1512W We managed to get another 162W from the power supply before the protection circuitry kicked in. The protection circuitry worked well and the unit restarted with a lower demand. Next we want to try Cross Loading. This basically means loads which are not balanced. If a PC for instance needs 500W on the +12V outputs but something like 30W via the combined 3.3V and +5V outputs then the voltage regulation can fluctuate badly. Cross Load Testing +3.3V +5V +12V -12V +5VSB A V A V A V A V A V 1230W 1.0 3.33 1.0 5.02 102.0 12.09 0.2 -12.02 0.50 5.01 180W 18.0 3.31 18.0 4.98 2.0 12.22 0.2 -12.01 0.50 5.00 We placed a very heavy load on the +12V and it held well, delivering 102amps without an issue. We then used an oscilloscope to measure AC ripple and noise present on the DC outputs. We set the oscilloscope time base to check for AC ripple at both high and low ends of the spectrum. ATX12V V2.2 specification for DC output ripple and noise is defined in the ATX 12V power supply design guide. ATX12V Ver 2.2 Noise/Ripple Tolerance Output Ripple (mV p-p) +3.3V 50 +5V 50 +12V1 120 +12V2 120 -12V 120 +5VSB 50 Obviously when measuring AC noise and ripple on the DC outputs the cleaner (less recorded) means we have a better end result. We measured this AC signal amplitude to see how closely the unit complied with the ATX standard. AC Ripple (mV p-p) DC Load +3.3V +5V +12V 5VSB 135W 5 5 10 5 275W 10 10 10 10 675W 15 10 15 15 1015W 25 15 15 15 1350W 35 20 20 20 Ripple suppression is unquestionably superb, holding at 20mV on the +12V at full load - one of the best results you are ever likely to see. Other rails fell well within expected parameters. Excellent results all round. Efficiency (%) 135W 78.97 275W 88.24 675W 91.66 1015W 90.98 1350W 89.03 The efficiency results are very good, peaking at 91.66 percent at 50 percent load. This drops to around 89 percent at full load. We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635. Today to test the Power Supply we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa) one meter away from the unit. We have no other fans running so we can effectively measure just the noise from the unit itself. As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels. KitGuru noise guide 10dBA - Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves 20-25dBA – Whisper 30dBA - High Quality Computer fan 40dBA - A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator 50dBA - Normal Conversation 60dBA - Laughter 70dBA - Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer 80dBA - City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal 90dBA - Motorcycle or Lawnmower 100dBA - MP3 Player at maximum output 110dBA - Orchestra 120dBA - Front row rock concert/Jet Engine 130dBA - Threshold of Pain 140dBA - Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range) 160dBA - Instant Perforation of eardrum Noise (dBA) 135W 30.2 275W 35.8 675W 38.9 1015W 43.5 1350W 48.3 This is sadly one of the loudest power supplies we have tested and I found the 'tone' of the fan was slightly irritating as well. We were initially concerned due to the small size of the fan and sadly our concerns were validated. The fan is always audible and at 700W load is quite loud. It rises considerably in the last 300W of power output and I am not sure I could live with it in my main system. Pressing the fan button for full speed (4,200rpm) raises noise levels to over 50dBa. Temperature (c) Intake Exhaust 135W 35 37 275W 36 43 675W 39 48 1015W 43 53 1350W 47 57 The fan is always quite active, pushing air through the chassis and out the other side. The internal temperatures are maintained well, but it isn't surprising considering the fan speeds. Maximum load Efficiency 1512W 87.6 Pushing the power supply above its rated limits generates an efficiency level of around 87.6%. This is not a viable ‘real world’ situation, but its interesting nonetheless. The SilverStone Zeus ZM1350W is certainly a very capable power supply, delivering stable watts for the most demanding high end gaming system running 3 or more graphics cards. First impressions are positive, we love the finish on the surface as it seems almost indestructible, even with careless handling. The cabling quality is excellent and the pure modular design will ensure that the unit will target those people wanting to build an expensive system with side windows and lighting. There are no hardwired cables so you can select perfectly what you want to deal with during the system build. That said, they could have made the main ATX cable a little longer however, especially when compared against competitor products. Internally the power supply does raise a few concerns. The soldering is not at the same level as we would expect from the likes of Seasonic and we spotted a few naked wires. Not dangerous, but a little disappointing to see in a flagship product such as this. Technically the unit is very strong, the Seventeam design delivers very strong ripple suppression and efficiency is also very good, peaking over 91 percent at around 50 percent load. My biggest issue with this power supply is the noise. Including an 80mm fan with such a high output power supply is questionable and it has to spin fast when the unit is loaded above 650W. It is always audible, but it can get rather intrusive in the upper 40% of power output. Due to the shape of the chassis this is almost unavoidable, but it does drive home the point that bigger fans are always better. This is certainly a power supply designed for a small audience, and on a technical level power regulation, noise suppression and efficiency are all excellent. It even coped extremely well with intensive cross loading test. If the noise levels weren't so high I would be more open to scoring the unit higher, but I did find it slightly difficult to deal with beside me for long periods of time. I tested the power supply with two AMD HD7990's in Quad Crossfire, paired up with an overclocked, liquid cooled Core i7 3960X @ 4.8ghz and 16GB of 2,400mhz memory. With 5 hard drives and 2 Solid State Drives it was handling 900W of power under load without a hitch. The 12V+ rail is immensely strong and I am positive it will cope with anything you could throw at it. If only I could dial the fan noise down a little! In the United Kingdom today, you can pick this up from Scan for £256.72 inc vat. It faces stiff competition from the likes of the Seasonic Platinum 1000W Modular (£195) and the Corsair AX1200i (£260), both of which are comparable technically and much quieter. Unless you need a design specifically to fit into a high end server based system chassis, there are a handful of quieter alternatives. Pros: we love the external finish. plenty of cables, all of which are high quality. great ripple suppression. load regulation is tight. Cons: Build quality internally is a little sloppy in places. very loud under load. some cables are a bit short. Kitguru says: Technically a very proficient power supply, but be prepared to deal with fan noise.