PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 400W
by Martin Kaffei on May 19, 2012 2:05 PM ESTDelivery Contents, Power Rating and Fan
The delivery content is very generous and includes the modular connectors in a separate bag. In addition to the power cord and a set of screws, several cable ties are also included, along with the standard installation manual. A small sticker is included as well. The Silencer Mk III series comes with a 5-year warranty—more than expected in this price range.
The +3.3V and +5V rails are rated somewhat lower than we're used to, but there's nothing to worry about since modern systems don't place a huge load on these rails anymore. The +12V rail is rated at 30A, which means you can pull up to 360W—almost the full power. All Mk III power supplies use a single strong +12V rail instead of separate +12V outputs.
The ADDA fan with the model number AD1212MB-A70GL is a ball bearing type. It's a 120mm sized fan with seven fan blades. Nearly half of the cooling intake is blocked by an air guidance foil. PC Power & Cooling tries to guide the down flowing air stream out through the ventilation holes, so no turbulence from additional down streaming air should occur near the EMI-filtering components. This sounds plausible in theory, but practically it is a massive restriction of the cooling potential of the fan. When such a large area is covered, it should be in question why such large fan is used at all.
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Samus - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
I've mailed two of my PCP&C PSU's to Carlsbad, CA for custom recabling (connectors, lengths, sheathing) in the past few years, a service no other manufacture offers. I consider them to be quite alive and well, regardless of their OCZ inheritence.just4U - Friday, May 25, 2012 - link
I found that OCZ bringing PCP&C into their stable helped them a fair amount as they now had that companies expertise for the PSU's. Overall it didn't hurt PCP &C either as their quality didn't really go down..Ofcourse that can be argued here but this is a budget psu. OCZ should make their high end stuff under this brand. That's what we've come to expect from PCP&C
ImSpartacus - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link
"The Silener Mk III provides one"http://www.anandtech.com/show/5844/pc-power-coolin...
Zaathras - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link
Bought the Antec HCG-440M referenced in the article (as "same design") at Fry's, yesterday.$20.00 ($45 - $25 MIR).
Advert says the sale price is good through 5/24; but I don't know if they still have any left.
MrMilli - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link
An excellent (not Seasonic based) PSU that I use a lot is the Chieftec A-80 & A-85 serie. Great power distribution, high efficiency, very silent and most of all, pretty cheap. If you live in Europe, I can highly recommend these PSU's.Pappnaas - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link
I feel that a "seriuos" review cannot afford to omit physical dimensions of the tested psu.Because in that wattage size does matter, pointing at various itx and htpc cases.
buzznut - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
But how many PSU's in this range offer a 5 year warranty? Actually, hardly anyone offers 5 years anymore. Not Corsair, not Antec. This company does, and it was mentioned briefly at the end of the article. But I would be willing to pay a bit more for another two years over what most power supplies offer. Believe me, I've had enough fail just after the 3 year mark to really pay attention to this.