SilverStone ST1200-PTS Platinum PSU Review

Performance & Efficiency

What does platinum efficiency mean? A PSU rated 80 Plus Platinum is certified to deliver no less than 90% efficiency at 20% load,  92% efficiency at 50% load, and 89% efficiency at 100% load. The ST1200-PTS is well built with quality components and has no trouble holding it’s platinum efficiency rating across its load range. Even at 10% load, which is not counted on the 80 Plus scale, the PSU remains extremely efficient at 89%. The fan on the ST1200-PTS is set to only kick on at 20%+ load. This means when the PSU is below 20% load users can expect 0dB (silent) operation. At 20% load the fan kicks on to 600RPM and scales RPM in relation to PSU load up to approx 2200RPM. I personally would choose to have some RPM at all times as noise is generally not a factor for me.

Due to the extremely small design and crowded PCB of the ST1200-PTS we note that it does not have the best performance available. Similar PSU’s do a better job at ripple suppression. Third party testing outlets have also shown this PSU to have a little trouble delivering proper power at 100A.  However, no other PSU on the market can deliver this much power in such a small package.

Testing shows the ST1200-PTS is unable to deliver a full 1200W of power at full load. While the PSU’s output isn’t far off, it is not rated spec. Real-world everyday users will not generally push the PSU to this ragged edge of its capability, so efficiency is really the largest factor to the average consumer. For the overclocking community small variances in spec of this nature could turn some buyers away. It’s not that the PSU isn’t producing impressive results, but that when a product is advertised at certain spec, users expect that output to the T.

The ST1200-PTS is extremely efficient and has no trouble hitting its platinum efficiency target across its entire output capability.