Silverstone ST50EF

[Icepick]

Does anyone know anything about this power supply? All I've been able to find is that it's manufactured by ETASIS (I think). (Note: this is not the ST50EF-Plus model.)

I don't know about ETASIS. Who else rebrands their power supplies and are they any good?

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817256001

It's a 500 Watt power supply that is supposedly greater than 80% efficient. It's less expensive than the "80 plus" model. Is it worth getting instead of a more expensive Seasonic S12 500W?

I'm looking for an 80% (or better) efficient power supply that will comfortably power a quad-core and g80 (maybe ).

This is what I'll be powering.
e6300 @2.8-3.2GHz
2GB Geil DDR2 667 RAM
Asus P5B-E
EVGA 7900GTO --> might upgrade to G80 series some time next summer
2 SATA hard drives
1 Optical drive

 

[Operandi]

That particular Silverstone is made by Enhance, their upper-end units are made by Etasis and are very good, as is Enhance.

eWiz.com sells the original Enhance units for quite a bit less so I would just go that route. Here is the 80 Plus Enhance equivalent of the Silverstone you are looking at.

 

[Icepick]

The thing is, I saw a quote from Jonny Guru over at HardForum that the older non-plus model is made by Etasis and the newer "plus" model is made by Enhance. I'm going to see if I can find some more info on Etasis.

 

[acegazda]

The only difference really between the + and non+ version is that the + is 80+ certified. Both are 80% efficiancy, so I don't know why you would buy the plus... I think both are made by enhance in any case. The fact remains that you can get the same psu, from enhance (and w/o sleaved cables) from ewiz for $15 less.

 

[Effect]

I believe IcePick is right, the ST50EF is different internally to the ST50EF-Plus; jonnyGURU apparently spoke to someone at Silverstone who confirmed that the ST50EF is in fact based on an Etasis unit. In any case, Etasis is an excellent manufacturer, the ST50EF is bound to be an excellent PSU; just the reviews on the ST50EF-Plus don't apply to the non-Plus version. What i'm wondering is whether or not both units have the same casing/fan; if so, i think we can conclude it's a high quality and quiet PSU. I'd like to see a decent review of the non-plus variant though, especially since i've got the ST50EF on order (i've had it on order for weeks, it's just taking forever to come into stock =S).

What confused me was that the 80+ listing makes no mention of it being the "Plus" model, and yet the Plus model is supposed to be the one with the 80+ certification. Also note that the ST50EF has no EPS12V connector and has 35A (instead of 36A on the Plus) on the 12V rails.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Icepick
The thing is, I saw a quote from Jonny Guru over at HardForum that the older non-plus model is made by Etasis and the newer "plus" model is made by Enhance. I'm going to see if I can find some more info on Etasis.

I doubt it. You can compare the Enhance and Silverstone 80+ units in this SPCR review. You'll notice that they both look identical to the non 80 +Silverstone at Newegg.