Hardware Bistro

Product: Silencer MK III 600W
Manufacturer: PC Power & Cooling
Supplied by: PC Power & Cooling
Price: 100USD/RM300
Launch Date: Nov 2011

 

Today we are pleased to introduce Silencer Mk III PSU from a world leading PSU vendor; PC Power & Cooling. PC Power & Cooling was founded in 1985 and it is specializing in power supply but it was bought over by OCZ in year 2007 to bring both of the PSUs (OCZ & PC Power & Cooling) to another level of achievement where OCZ focuses in gaming while enthusiast and enterprise class solutions for PC Power & Cooling.

 

Company Profile

Over the last 25 years, PC Power & Cooling has produced many innovative products including: the first CPU cooler, the first PC heat alarm, the first independently-regulated PC power supply, the first redundant power system, the first NVIDIA-certified SLI supply, the first One Kilowatt computer power supply, and the first power supply with its own certified test report (Turbo-Cool 1KW). PC Power & Cooling takes pride in its loyal and knowledgeable customer base, its ultra-reliable product line, its professional and friendly staff, and its financial strength.

 

Features

• 600W Continuous @ 50C
• Dual-GPU Ready
• 80-Plus Bronze Certified (85% Efficiency); .98 Active PFC
• 120mm double ball-bearing fan
• Up to 90% (10dB) Less Noise per Watt
• +12VDC @46A (Powerful Single Rail)
• Premium Components with 100% Japanese 105°C Capacitors
• Modular Cabling Design
• Automatic Fan Speed Control Circuit
• 5-Year Warranty and Tech Support

 

Specifications

Package & Content

 

PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W comes with a white packaging box which looks classy and sexy. The packaging is pretty plain and simple but plenty of information is loaded on it and most importatnt is its 5-year warranty and tech support which are given for all the Silencer Mk III PSUs. 

 

Same with other performance PSUs, PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W comes with set of modular cables, power cord, user manual, wire ties, screws and a PC Power & Cooling sticker. Both of the PSU and all the modular cables are kept inside a cotton bags for better protection.

 

A Closer Look on PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W

It was our first time we heard about PC Power & Cooling couple years ago and it was their Turbo-Cool PSU which already gained pretty good reputation in the market. Today PC Power & Cooling is still focusing on PSU where they have four series of PSU at this moment; Silencer, Silencer Mk II, Silencer Mk III and Turbo-Cool. 

 

PC Power & Cooling Silencer PSU is third version now (ATX12V & EPS12V); Silencer Mk III while Silencer and Silencer Mk II are still being sold for different demands and markets. One of the obvious differences between Silencer Mk III and previous versions is the chassis color; charming white instead of fierce black; both colors looks pretty cool. 

 

PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III has three models at this moment; 400W, 500W and 600W but higher wattage is still available with Silencer Mk II 950W or maximum performance series Turbo-Cool 1200W. Silencer Mk III comes with standard chassis dimension and layout; 120mm fan, honeycomb air vents become norm for performance PSU nowadays. 

All PC Power & Cooling's PSU come with single rail even for the Turbo-Cool 1200W so Silencer Mk III 600W is also equipped with a 46A +12V single rail. Only quality components can provide reliable single rail but there are other benefits for having multiple rails like giving better protection against any failure or better load balancing. 

 

Another new feature of Silencer Mk III compares with its siblings is its modular cable management. Modular cable management is pretty "hot" in consumer PSU industry as it is not only reducing unnecessary cabling but also improving the inner case airflow. Besides that all the cables are well sleeved for protection against any accidentally cutting.

 

The fixed cables from Silencer Mk III are 20+4 motherboard, 4+4 ATX and 2+6 PCI express card which are standard for normal setup. In additional there are total five modular cables for Silencer Mk III 600W; 2 for SATA power (6 connectors), 1 for Molex (3 connectors) + floppy (1 connector), 1 for 4+4 ATX and 1 for 2+6 PCI express card (for dual graphic cards). 

Here are the details of the PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W PSU. The cable length of the fixed and modular cables are important for certain of users especially who is going to install this in a full ATX chassis. Overall it should not have any issue with most of the chassis since Silencer Mk III comes with standard design and suitable for most of the setup. 

 

Premium components are required to produce reliable single +12V rail and Silencer Mk III meets the server-class and IT professional standards. 100% Japanese 105°C capacitors has continuous output and heavy-duty protection circuitries deliver reliable performance. Silencer Mk III is also having 100,000 Hours MTBF which is equal to 11-year of lifespan for continous 24x7 operation. 

 

Besides that a well regulated electrical noise & ripple circuit and 80-Plus Bronze-level efficiency up to 85% at typical loads are another promising performance for Silencer Mk III. In term of cooling, Silencer Mk III is also powered up with a 120mm variable RPM fan (auto fan speed) which provides quiet operation (10dB) according to the PSU loading.

 

Installation, Testing & Performance

PSU installation is pretty simple but it could be awful for certain of people due to messy cable management. However this can be solved with proper of planning and installation guide. This is even better with modular cable management where unnecessary cables can be ignored. No other physical installation roadblock with PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III since it comes standard PSU dimension and size; unlike those 1200W and above PSU which comes with longer PSU chassis in order to accommodate more components. 

 

Test Bed:

Desktop
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/Gigabyte G31M-ES2L
Heatsink: Noctua NH-C14
Memory: Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR2 8500
Hard Drive: 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Seagate
Graphic Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX260+
PCIe: Aten IC320U USB 3.0
Casing: BitFenix Colossus Venom
HDD Cage: Icy Dock MB994SP-4S
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MkIII 600W
Optical Drive: HLDS DVD RW +/-
Controller: Aerocool Touch 2000
Monitor: Dell 22" Wide Screen LCD
Speaker: Edifier R501
Mouse: SteelSeries Ikari Laser
Mouse Pad: SteelSeries QcK+
HeadSet: SteelSeries 3H
Router: TRENDnet TEW-639GR
Operating System: Window XP Pro SP2/Win 7 HP
Ambient Temperature: 27 Degree Celsius

Here are the test results of PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W which was conducted with laboratory electrical testing equipment in order to have more accurate results. Most of the voltage rails of Silencer Mk III 600W were slightly dropped when the loading was being increased and this is pretty common for most of the PSU including those performance and expensive PSUs. However the voltage variances are quite minimal and it doesn't affect the PSU's reliability and stability hence we are pretty satisfied with its performance throughtout the entire test period; running about 2 weeks continously and heavily. In term of noise, Silencer Mk III 600W is doing pretty good in low and mid loading but slightly noisy when it is being heavily loaded. Bronze energy efficiency is verified with our tests as it meets the minimum requirements for 80-Plus Bronze energy efficiency certified during the specific power loading; 85% at 50% loading and 81% at 20% & 100% loadings.

 

Verdicts

If you looking for a performance yet affordable PSU then you may really look into PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W as it is not only delivering quality performance, high energy efficiency but also comes with other awesome features like modular cable management, 5-year warranty, stylish white enclosure and etc. The powerful single +12V rail and dual graphic card supportability are definitely enough for most of the decent machines or you may consider Silencer Mk II 950W or Turbo-Cool 1200W for greater power demand. Last but no least we believe the reliablility of PC Power & Cooling's product will not let us down since they have been in the PSU industry for so many years, 

 

Pros:

+ Modular cable management
+ Powerful single +12V rail
+ Reliable performance
+ Affordable
+ 5-year warranty
+ 80-Plus Bronze certified

Cons:

- Lack of quad SLI supportability
- Could be even quieter

 

 

Thanks to PC Power & Cooling for providing this sample for us to review.

 

 

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