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Product:
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Scythe Stealth Semi-Fanless Power Supply |
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Price:
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$176 (CDN) / $159 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Scythe USA
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Author:
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Hi-TEK
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Date:
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July 8th, 2006
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Rating:
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The Scythe Stealth Semi-Fanless Power Supply is equipped with the standard ATX motherboard configuration and is both
AMD and P4 certified. The overall cable layout includes a 20-pin ATX connector, P4 12v connector, 6-pin AUX P4 connector,
1 x 6-pin PCI Express connector, 2 x 15-pin SATA connectors, 8 x 4-pin Molex connectors, and 1 x floppy connector.
The all the connectors in the Stealth have been sleeved with braided tubing and black heat shrink wrap in order keep
cable management to a minimum.
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Gaining access to the Stealth Semi-Fanless Power Supply is somewhat difficult due to the design of the anodized aluminum housing. There
are 4 screws that can be removed from the front and rear in order to get a glimpse of the PCB design. Each component is neatly
packaged together with two big aluminum heatsinks running in parallel. Closer inspection of the heatsinks reveals the amount of
thermal paste that has been pre-applied to the unit. Amperage ratings for the +3.3, +5 and +12 lines should be sufficient to handle
any type of computer configuration. There is no indication whether or not the Stealth supports Short Circuit Protection, Over Voltage
and Over Current Protection.
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Testing:
The installation procedure for the Stealth follows the same method for any standard PSU unit. For this installation I will be testing
this unit one on my main HTPC systems which is assembled with the following system components:
- ABIT NF7-S Rev2 Motherboard
- AMD Sempron 3000+ CPU w/Vantec Aeroflow VA4-C7040 CPU Cooler
- ASUS V9520 GeForce FX5200 Video card
- 2 x Kingmax 512MB PC-3200 DDR400 SDRAM
- 1 x 80GB DiamondMax 9 Hard Drive
- 2 x 200GB DiamondMax 10 Hard Drives
- 2 x Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250 Tuner Cards
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card
- Linksys WMP54GS Wireless G PCI adapter
- LG GSA-4163 DVD +/-R/RW Drive
In order to simulate a full load cycle this HTPC system was tasked with recording multiple television programs while streaming audio and video
samples over a wireless network connection.
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Voltage "low" and "high" readings were recorded using Motherboard Monitor 5.3.7.0 for over a 60 minute period and later confirmed
using a digital multimeter. In this testing scenario no overclocking performance results were taken. For the most part the +3.3 volt
lines were steady at 3.18 volts with the 5+/- and 12+/- volt lines at 4.95/-3.55 volts and 11.67/-12.03 volts respectively. Most standard PSU units
allow at least a 5% to 10% tolerance level in terms of operation and stability. If you plan on installing power hungry components it is
strongly recommended that you compensate by moving towards a PSU unit, which provides more wattage to meet your system requirements.
When examining the acoustic levels the Scythe, I was extremely impressed with this unit since the fan noise was barely audible in
Auto mode. Overall system and case temperatures remained consistent at 32°C for case and 43°C for CPU.
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Conclusion:
The Scythe Stealth Semi-Fanless Power Supply can be considered a decent unit for those consumers looking to expand into
HTPC applications or quiet computing environments. Out of the box the unit offers solid anodized aluminum chassis
construction that adds several benefits in terms of acting as a heatsink and supporting a front mounted 80mm cooling
fan. The unit by default introduces Scythe's Flexible Fan Control System (FFCS) that provides six different temperature
configuration modes as well as the ability to adjust fan RPM levels. It is debatable as to which mode provides the most
effective cooling configuration leaving users to experiment with their own personal systems. All cable components are
professionally sleeved eliminating cable clutter and simplifying system maintenance. I would have loved to have seen a
modular cable format adapted for this unit instead of a secured internal cable format. While the Scythe Stealth provides
support for PCI-Express, consumers considering dual video card or SLI configurations will be disappointed that only one
6-pin adapter is available with this unit. Finally, the lack of instructions for this unit will leave a few people in
the dark as to whether or not the Stealth provides any sort of built-in support for Short Circuit Protection, Over Voltage
and Over Current Protection. Overall, I'm awarding the Scythe Stealth Semi-Fanless Power Supply a final rating of
8 out of 10. If you have any questions regarding this
review, be sure to visit the Scythe USA
website for more information or discuss them in our forums.
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Pros:
- Anodized aluminum chassis
- Professionally sleeved cables
- Flexible Fan Control System (FFCS)
- Excellent acoustic levels
- Certified for the AMD and Intel platform
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Cons:
- No documentation included in package
- Single PCI-Express connector support
- Support for Short Circuit Protection, Over Voltage and Over Current Protection?
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