Silverstone ST45NF Nightjar
by Christoph Katzer on August 25, 2008 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Conclusion
The Silverstone ST45NF Nightjar definitely raises the bar for fanless power supplies, as it delivers one of the best performances from a fanless unit we have seen to date. It even manages to surpass some of the lower quality fan-cooled power supplies. The build quality also sets new standards, as it is excellent. Only a few power supplies have had such high-grade workmanship. The choice of components is generally good, with the important 12V rail using Nippon Chemi-Con and solid state caps and the lower voltage rails getting by with Teapo. The three main capacitors also come from Nippon Chemi-Con and have to fit under the large heatsinks, which is why there are three instead of only one large capacitor. Given the lack of space, Silverstone's internal layout makes sense.
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Thinking back on previous fanless power supplies, there's usually a very limited number of cables and connectors. The Nightjar offers a wide range of connectors, which we would expect from a normal 450W unit. There are six SATA and Molex connectors and two PEG connectors, one of which is a hybrid 6/8-pin connector. The length of the cables is good as well, as we measured a minimum of 50cm.
Moving on to voltage regulation, Silverstone achieved very good results, particularly with the 1% regulation from the 12V rail. Even with a higher ambient temperature of 50°C applied for about 20 minutes the 12V rail remained stable and never dropped under 12.00V. Silverstone states clearly that this PSU is rated at 30°C ambient temperature, which is why we primarily confined our testing to such an environment. The internal heatsinks don't exceed 70°C, and while that's very hot it's still remarkable for a fanless unit. After all, last year we tested several fan-cooled models that had similar heatsink temperatures.
It goes without saying that throughout testing we never heard any noises from this power supply -- and that includes noise caused by electronic components. If you're looking to put together an HTPC that makes as much noise as your stereo amplifier (i.e., none), the Silverstone Nightjar would be a good place to start.
Finally, let's talk about efficiency since this tends to be one of the major selling points of modern power supplies. Even here the Silverstone Nightjar can set new heights and tops most other competitors. 88% efficiency is very high, and it even manages to stay at that level from 225W to 375W. There's no need to panic even at higher loads, since it stays above 86%. All this of course is with an input voltage of 230V; things aren't quite as good with 120VAC or 90VAC, but the efficiency is still high even if the PSU doesn't manage to stay at maximum efficiency over as larger range.
Considering all of the above factors, we certainly don't expect the price to be all that great; the performance and quality delivered will cost more to manufacture. $170 to $190 isn't the most expensive power supply we tested, but it is quite a lot of money for a 450W unit. On the other hand, if you want to run a truly silent HTPC without having to skimp on performance in order to keep power requirements in check, the Nightjar appears to be an ideal PSU. Prices in Europe start at 140€ to 150€, including the 19% tax. Whether or not these prices are acceptable isn't for us to decide, but rather for the people who are interested in this sort of power supply. Not only is the Nightjar completely silent, but it manages to outperform many fan-cooled power supplies with stable rails and high efficiency. At least for the price you won't be purchasing a lemon.
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JonnyDough - Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - link
See subject.Why do I want them to sell well?
Because more sales of high quality components = lower cost on great components due to economies of scale = better PSUs for everyone.
MLTodd - Monday, August 25, 2008 - link
The power supply looks great, but nightjar is another name for chamber pot, something that you urinate in at night in order to avoid the long cold walk to the outhouse. What was the marketing department thinking???aos007 - Saturday, September 6, 2008 - link
That was the first thing I thought about as well (chamber pot), and English even isn't my first language. On the other hand I have certainly never heard of a bird named Nightjar nor would I think a bird name is appropriate for a PSU anyway. Not sure why would anyone think only "history buffs" would know this. Does anyone read or go to museums any more? I thought schools are supposed to have mandatory reading materials to make you read classics and have school trips to learn about history. Do they teach anything in school these days?AmberClad - Monday, August 25, 2008 - link
Looking at Wikipedia, it's apparently a type of bird too. Which I didn't know until now -- I've always understood it to mean "chamberpot" as well. Surprisingly, Wiki doesn't have that definition...Being a Taiwanese company, one would assume that they're not familiar with the unsavory alternate meaning of the word.
strikeback03 - Monday, August 25, 2008 - link
When was the last time anyone who might be considering one of these used an outhouse, a chamberpot, or a nightjar? Other than history buffs, don't think many would know it isn't a bird or just a made up name.JarredWalton - Monday, August 25, 2008 - link
I actually thought it was a term for a chamber pot as well, but it seems very few places on the web still list that meaning. I was happy to know that there's a bird called a Nightjar, as that sort of makes the name sensible (inasmuch as naming a PSU after a bird can make sense).AmberClad - Monday, August 25, 2008 - link
Aha, so I'm far from the only person who immediately thought of a chamber pot when I saw that name. I actually went and Googled the term "night jar" too, and I was also surprised at the relatively few references to it being a piss pot (there were some though, so at least I knew I wasn't going crazy).Btw, have you guys mentioned this to the Silverstone people? I'm not sticking a nightjar into my case. Everytime I see that product name, I get unpleasant mental images that I can't get out of my head.
nubie - Monday, August 25, 2008 - link
I don't think it matters. Look at Nintendo and their "Wii Play" ads, if creepy men bringing their "Wii" over to play with your family doesn't hurt sales how will the merest hint of urine hurt a product practically no-one will notice?JonnyDough - Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - link
All the above comments make me wish AnandTech had a rating system on the comments. However, I've found that on sites like Tom's Hardware, the "authors" who never seem to preread their "work" (copying) before posting seem to rate each other up. Then they downrate anyone who opposes them. So I guess it's better if I just sit here and smile and agree in silence. Oops, I've said too much.emboss - Monday, August 25, 2008 - link
You're running the scope way too fast. The switching speeds of most modern PSUs is around 100 KHz, which means you want a timebase of ~10 us, give or take. At 40 ns, you're not going to see anything below a MHz or so, which is almost certainly going to be noise coming from outside the PSU (as opposed to PSU ripple). Also, if you're using AC coupling, make sure the cutoff frequency is well below the 100 KHz mark. One of the scopes I work with has a 250 KHz cutoff (-3 dB) when in AC coupling mode, which would hide any 100 KHz ripple.The main periodic signal in the traces you have is in the order of 100 MHz, and there's no way that's coming from inside the PSU.
Apart from that, good article :)