Silverstone Zeus 560w ST56ZF ATX PSU
Introduction
Published: 7th June 2006 | Source: Silverstone | Price: |
Only a few weeks ago I took a look at Silverstone's 560w Strider series power supply. In testing this unit faired very well, and actually managed to score a respectable 8/10 in our review.
You would think that Silverstone couldn't do much to improve on this score, however, today I'll be taking a look at their highly acclaimed Zeus series power supply. With the same output rating of 560w, can this unit actually be any better than the Strider?
Packaging
On removing this unit from its cardboard shipping box, the first thing I noticed was how much bigger the Zeus's box was compared to the Strider. With one box in each hand I could also clearly feel the weight difference between the two boxes. Maybe this is a sign of some extra quality components inside the Zeus? We'll soon find out!
The ST56ZF follows the same packaging design as all previous power supplies from Silverstone, and many of their other products. The packaging gives plenty of information regarding the power supplies specification as we can see above.
Most interesting of all features listed on the top of the box is that the Zeus ST56ZF actually has only a single +12v rail. This is indeed a surprise, considering that the Strider 560w featured 2x +12v rails.
No mention of efficiency nor noise (dBA) ratings has been made on the packaging, which may be slightly worrying for those of us who enjoy silence or want to keep our energy bills low - but we'll find out for sure later on in the review.
Most interesting of all features listed on the top of the box is that the Zeus ST56ZF actually has only a single +12v rail. This is indeed a surprise, considering that the Strider 560w featured 2x +12v rails.
No mention of efficiency nor noise (dBA) ratings has been made on the packaging, which may be slightly worrying for those of us who enjoy silence or want to keep our energy bills low - but we'll find out for sure later on in the review.
Flip around to the other sides of the packaging, and we can see that Silverstone have included some information regarding the rail layout, incorporated protection features and the power supplies supported standards (EPS, SSI..).
Included in the box are the following items:
- ST56ZF Manual
- Power Cord
- 4x ATX Screw
- 1x EPS12v to ATX12v (8pin-4pin) Converter
- 1x Power Supply
- PSU Mounting Rail
As with our previously reviewed 750w Zeus power supply, the ST56ZF is very well packaged. The unit is protected by a two styrofoam layers that cover all corners of the PSU. Also included is a small cardboard box containing the power cord, screws, cable ties, Mounting rail and an 8-pin to 4-pin PV-12v converter.
The bundle of cables are contained within a bubble-wrap sleeve and tied together with a large cable-tie.
Most Recent Comments
Nice job XMS. Im liking the efficency test! Dam good idea and original.
Nice job XMS. Im liking the efficency test! Dam good idea and original.
Cheers mate. We're aiming to come up with new kinds of testing procedures for all our reviews, so if there is something you'd like to see tested in any of our future reviews, let us know :)
Most notable of the specifications, is the fact that the ST56ZF only has a single +12v rail rated at 32a which is quite rare in modern day power supplies.
saw this on page 2.
the Zeus 560w is actually 10m longer than its brother the Strider, but should still pose no problems fitting in any ATX case.
yikes a powersupply over 10m long ;)
saw it on page 3.
otherwise it looked good.
liked th enew efficiency testing.
Cheers for pointing that out Raven - now corrected :)
Yet another fine XMS review :D
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Check out the review here