SFX-L – SFF.Network

Battle of the Boutiques Part 2: A4-SFX | S1 | SM550 | SM560

The following article is for Part 2 of our multi-part review. If you haven’t already seen it, you can view Battle of the Boutiques Part 1 here. We had originally intended to release the 2nd and final part of this review back in July but due to immature BIOS issues with Ryzen’s latest CPUs, we experienced some questionable voltage results and instability, so we decided to wait it out. Finally, on the 15th of August, ASUS provided a BIOS update(1.0.0.3 Patch AB, still not perfect) to their ROG STRIX X470-I GAMING motherboard, so I decided to crank through this in …

Power Supplies Reviews

An In Depth Look at SilverStone’s Nightjar NJ450-SXL

It’s finally here. SilverStone’s Nightjar NJ450-SXL, the completely passive 450 Watt SFX-L power supply has arrived. SilverStone gave SFF Network the first look (and I mean first!) at this unit at Computex 2017, and our community has waited with bated breath since then. The idea of a passive (or even just a silent) SFX power supply has been on our minds for some time. Somewhat satiated by semi-fanless designs, we nonestheless still desired that final step – completely fanless. In all honesty, I expected the first real foray into fanless SFX(-L) would have been a 300W unit at best, but …

News

Silverstone at Computex 2018

SFF Network’s COMPUTEX 2018 coverage is sponsored by SilverStone, who’s celebrating 15 years of innovation in SFF and beyond. Click here to check out their website and to learn more about their latest products. Silverstone, the ever present producers of SFF wares, is celebrating their 15th birthday this year. With new, updated and well designed products on display at Computex, what a way to celebrate. From a new Sugo, to new USB devices, new power supplies, all the way to server hardware and hotswap bays. Let’s see what the birthday kid has to show! Walking into the Silverstone booth, we …

News

Silverstone’s Passive SFX-L PSU launched !

After our hands-on with a prototype at Computex 2017 almost exactly one year ago, the long awaited NJ450-SXL passively cooled SFX-L PSU from Silverstone is finally ready for its debut ! Silverstone claims 24/7 continuous running @ 40°C ambient on the NJ450-SXL, which they usually qualifies its actively-cooled PSUs for. A beefy aluminium heat-dissipating housing envelops the chassis to allow heat wicking away from some of the more heat-producing components. To top this off, more premium quality components have been selected to maintain the SX800-LTI’s 80 PLUS Titanium rating on this passively cooled power supply as well. The fully modular …

News

Streacom’s Computex Offerings

Unfortunately we were unable to make it to Streacom’s suite at Computex this year, but never fear, Streacom sent me an overview of the new products they have this year. (how kind of them!) In the press release resided 3 products, however due to our innate thirst for a smaller system, only two of the products are relevant to us. First up – An active cooled variant of Streacom’s DB4, released last year. The DA4 changes things up a bit versus the DB4, meaning that this is more inspired by the DB4 than derived from. Gone is the heatsink aesthetic, replaced by …

News

SFX-L Computex 2017 roundup

There sure were SFX-L units all over the exhibit hall at Computex this year! I love this because I truly believe that SFX and SFX-L have the potential to supplant ATX as the standard form factors for PC power supplies (reducing the space the PSU takes up inside the case in the process), and we’re starting to reach an inflection point of SFX and SFX-L PSU availability from multiple companies. The reason I say that is because having more SFF power supply options encourages case manufacturers to design around the form factor, which in turn creates a bigger market for these PSUs, which encourages …

News

Akasa Venom RG prototype ITX case, SFX/SFX-L PSUs, and more

While wandering the floors of Computex this sharp-looking Mini-ITX case immediately caught my eye, especially when I saw whose booth it was in. This is the prototype Venom RG case from Akasa. While Akasa has the Venom line of gaming products, most of their cases though are aimed at the industrial market so I was quite surprised to see this premium-looking Mini-ITX case from them. The exterior design is very clean, with thick silver aluminum panels and a steel frame. In fact, the front is so clean that there isn’t even any front IO present, including the power button! According to …

News

Raijintek shows off SFX-L, SFX, and a PCIe extender

Raijintek had a 450W SFX power supply at their booth last Computex, but as far as I can tell it never came to market. But this year they are showing off two SFX-L units. First is the LSFX-series Gold-rated 500W(?) Raijintek PSU-4550 unit. As can bee seen on the sign, it features all-Japanese capacitors and will include a SFX to ATX bracket. It is fully modular. The sign says 500W, but the label advertises 550W as max load. The 12V only does 41A though so I would personally consider this as more of a 500W units since most modern systems are so …

News

XIGMATEK enters the SFX PSU game

We had the opportunity to visit the XIGMATEK suite and, like so many other companies at Computex this year, they had new SFX-L units. This new SFX 120F series includes two models, the SFX 120F-500W and SFX 120F-600W. They both feature 80 PLUS Gold efficiency, fully modular ribbon cables, slim 120mm fan, single 12V rail, and will come with a SFX to ATX bracket. The modular connectors are slightly recessed for a bit of space savings. The label seems to be a work in progress, since the total power is only 500W on what is supposed to be a 600W PSU. The …

News

be quiet! 500W and 600W SFX-L PSUs

I’m constantly on the lookout for new SFF power supplies (in hopes that in the not too distant future I can gleefully gloat at ATX’s demise) and be quiet! has two SFX-L units in their booth here at Computex 2017. There will be two models, the 500W SFX-L-500W and the 600W SFX-L-600W (gotta love self-explanatory model numbers). They are both Gold-rated, feature a single 12V rail, fully modular, have a 3-year warranty, and they’ll include a SFX to ATX bracket. This unit is not semi-fanless, and the be quiet! gentleman I was talking to said the reason is that it’s already …

Cases Reviews

An In Depth Review of the Enermax SteelWing

We would like to thank Enermax for providing us with a review sample of their Enermax SteelWing chassis. Without their generosity, this case review would not be possible. Originally announced back in May of last year, Enermax released the Enermax SteelWing chassis in October of 2016 with little-to-no fanfare. In fact, a quick search around the net reveals that this case hasn’t even received a proper review – and it probably doesn’t help that the case isn’t listed on the Enermax USA website, either. However, after meeting with Enermax at CES, we are pleased to have the opportunity to review their entire line of small form …

News

SilverStone SX800-LTI now available on Newegg

Like it says on the tin, the SilverStone is now in stock at Newegg! Link here. Edit: It’s now on Amazon for the MSRP of $180. You can read my review for the details but in short, the SX800-LTI is a Titanium-rated (!), fully-modular, semi-fanless, 800W (!!), SFX-L power supply from SilverStone. I think it’s a great unit, with my main complaints being the fan starts a bit earlier and at a higher RPM than I’d like, and the fairly high price compared to the SilverStone SX700-LPT and Lian Li PE-750 alternatives. Unfortunately, Newegg has the 800W listed at an even …