100_1702-lanocsmI'm not used to being spoiled when it comes to power supplies, being still somewhat new in the world of hardware I usually settle with what'll get me by. Lian-Li is a company that has had her share of the spotlight in our News section, so I jumped at the opportunity to test out one of the products I hear so much about. After seeing first-hand the quality Lian-Li invests in their products, especially power supplies in this case, I am beyond impressed. Heres how things broke down:

Product Name: Silent Force 850w

Review Sample Provided by: Lian-Li

Review by: Adam

Pictures by: Adam

PACKAGING

The Silent Force's box has anything and everything you could ever want: a realisitic product photo, voltage listings for individual cables (also with photos), a nice table detailing what's inside, wattage, input and output ratings, a sticker to assure you that this is the U.S. model, a listing of features broken down by category (performance, flexibility, and silence), and that nice carrying handle we all love. Inside, we find the power supply tucked securely away with strong Styrofoam and cushioned by a mesh bag that holds peripheral, floppy, sata, and PCI-E extensions, along with the mounting screws.

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Between the Styrofoam and mesh casing, the power supply has no room to shift during transportation. Since Lian-Li is based overseas, this is a great reassurance that there won't be any damage in the shipping process. It should also be noted that the shipping box itself is also made of a thicker cardboard.

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Underneath the mesh bag we find the included power cord and the attached power cables for the motherboard.

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INSTALLATION

The Silent Force is standard size, so in fit right in with no problems. The included screws did their job, and since the peripheral, etc. cords are seperate from the motherboard power pins, cable management is fairly simple, especially since cords can be excluded if they're not needed. The pin casings include a clasp that can be a little hard to fit, but the assurance that they won't pull out is a worthy benefit.

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Fits nice and snug right where it should, and mounts with no problems. This seems like it should be a given, but I've experienced a few situations of companies including poor quality screws with poor metal enclosures.

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The peripheral connections are made of higher-than-average plastic, with grips that act as clasps to hold  the connectors together.

FEATURES

verbatim Lian-Li

1.       SILENT Force complies with the newest Intel standard ATX 12V V2.3

2.       SILENT Force complies with the newest EPS 12V 2.91

3.       Environment friendly design for energy saving by Active PFC (>.9) / High efficiency (>80%)

4.       Power Failure Detector with OVP/OCP/OLP/SCP/UVP/OTP

5.       Support multi-core CPU and Multi GPU/graphics cards system

6.       Support over-clocked CPU ,GPU, and RAM System hardware, best stability power outpit.

7.       PCI-E connector with bead core protection to minimized EMI for clean output

8.       Modular Cable Management

9.       Deliver FULL rated power output

10.    Universal Input, automatically adjusts for 100V to 240V power grids

11.    135mm silent-bearing Silent fan and Japanese main capacitors ensure best product  reliability.

12.    D connector for easy connector-removal

13.   External case coated with unique paint finishing

PERFORMANCE

A certain expectation is created with a name like Silent Force, and Lian-Li delivers. Even after stressing my system, I had to turn off all my case fans, including the fan on the heatsink, and even then I had to really try to hear it running. Perhaps more impressive is how cool the power supply stays; there was little, if any, heat coming off of it even after it was under load. The Silent Force is also modestly advertised as a 3% stable voltage, a range that barely made it that far. Using a multimeter, two results were recorded; the first from a simple idle run, and the second from a stress test, obtained by running Prime95, Rthdribl, and Starcraft Brood War.

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OVERALL

Obviously packaged with care and consideration for the customer, and the mesh bag to hold the cable extensions is a nice touch. Lian-Li isn't shy from the get go about advertising their product, and with good reason. The Silent Force installs smoothly, and with a simple black finish it pretty much fits with any theme. As far as performance is concerned, there's not much more that could be asked for. Wattage and voltage are consistent, even under load, and the power supply stays cool and does so quietly. The Silent Force is, indeed, silent, efficient, and quite the steal considering the quality Lian Li has invested.

testdefalt-final9Gold Award

Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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