Conclusion
The SilverStone DA1650 is the sixth SilverStone power supply we have seen here at TheFPSReview and it is the largest capacity unit we have seen to date. SilverStone has been a major player when it comes to doing unique or interesting things with form factors of PSUs. Today is no different as the DA1650 is, for a 1650W unit, a very small PSU. SilverStone is once more putting out a very high energy density design in hopes of catching the eye of users and swallowing an entire niche. The question for us today is; do they shallow the niche or chock on it? Let’s see.
Build Quality
Today’s SilverStone DA1650 starts things off with a build quality that is very good overall. The exterior is a bit of a bland affair overall with the unit having a big sticker for the branding and the same old same old slightly textured black finish. However, it does also feature FlexForce style cables and comes in a very short (for 1650W units) ~7 inches long.
Moving to the interior, the integration is remarkably clean for how small this 1650W unit is and it is also remarkably open. The component selection features Nippon Chemi-con standard electrolytics paired with FPCAP and Nippon Chemi-con solid capacitors. There is also a FDB fan today which will be of interest to our quiet cooling enthusiasts out there (though how many of them will buy a 1650W is a bit suspect). The documentation with this unit is via QR code and the 3-year warranty is a bit less than excellent.
Load Testing
Today’s SilverStone DA1650 did very well in our load testing. We saw voltage regulation of up to 0.14v on the 12v rail, 0.07v on the 5v rail, and 0.08v on the 3.3v rail. In addition to that, we saw efficiency values that ranged from 89.05% to 94.04% at 120v AC input and 87.03% to 91.18% at 100v AC input. These numbers would be very good for any unit, but this is not just any unit it is a 1650W monster that is seeing a huge range of loads placed on it! Unfortunately, we have not seen any comparable units, to date, but these are very good absolute figures. So, this unit should be extremely competitive.
When we look at the Transient Load Tests results for the SilverStone DA1650 today, we see that the results are very good just like our regular load test results. When directly loaded, the 12v rail showed a peak change of ~250mV, and the 5v rail had a peak change of ~45mV. During the 12v load, the unloaded 5v rail saw a peak change of ~40mV. In absolute terms, these results are very good. Now, the one thing we can say is that, in relative terms, they probably could be a bit better as the transient loads represent such a small percentage of this unit’s capacity. However, we don’t have any other 1600W+ units to compare to that would let us know how the general market is doing in this regard.
DC Output Quality
The DC Output Quality results for the SilverStone DA1650 were, like everything else today but maybe a touch better, very good/excellent. We saw peak ripple/noise values of just ~20mV of ripple/noise on the 12v rail, ~15mV on the 5v rail, and ~20mV on the 3.3v rail. These values are well within specification limits and that means, at a minimum, very good in absolute terms. In relative terms, these results occur over a massive power output range so that is impressive in its own way!
Noise
Today’s SilverStone DA1650 is just a phenomenally huge power supply when it comes to capacity and SilverStone is trying to shove it into as small a housing as they can. Those two things together should be a recipe for disaster when it comes to noise output. However, this unit also has a FDB fan and it has a remarkably open interior. The 80 Plus Gold level of efficiency that is advertised (though not on the 80 Plus website) thankfully turned out to be conservative in our testing otherwise that too would be a question mark.
However, as it turns out, the DA1650 was not as terrible as it could have been. Indeed, due to the semi-fanless mode in the fan controller, the majority of the unit’s output that will be used by most users is dead silent. After ~500W the fan does turn on, but it is very quiet until the full 1650W is being extracted from the unit. However, with a fan speed of around ~1800 RPM and the fan being a 135mm FDB the noise it produced was very low frequency. In the end, you should not expect a 1650W power supply to be quiet but the SilverStone DA1650 does a decent imitation of it.
Final Points
The SilverStone DA1650 is a very good/excellent power supply that is pumping out some serious power. The DA1650 gave us very good build quality, very good voltage regulation, very good DC Output Quality, and very good/excellent Transient Load results while also being surprisingly quiet. Certainly, this unit could do a bit better in some respects but, realistically, we are looking at such a huge range of output that it is going to a very tall order to do significantly better than what we see here.
So, what is this very good/excellent sort of niche 1650W monster going to cost us? Today, we find that the DA1650 is being advertised by SilverStone as having around a $330 MSRP. Right now, however, it does cost a bit of a premium above that at $374.18 at Amazon. If this unit can stay around the MSRP number, then this will be an outstanding value in addition to an excellent unit. Right now there aren’t other places this is available, so perhaps in time once other stores have in-stock hardware, prices will be more competitive.
One thing is for sure if you have a GeForce RTX 3090 or GeForce RTX 3080 this power supply will facilitate plenty of power for overclocking! You don’t often say that when you are talking about halo tier products, but it looks like that may be the case today!
Discussion
