SilverStone debuts new PCIe power connector

AFTER OUR OWN CHARLIE broke the story yesterday, it was only a matter of time before a power supply manufacturer came out with the PSU supporting both 6-pin and 8-pin connectors.

This time, honours go to the manufacturer SilverStone. The company brings us the ST85F, a modular 850W power supply which brings support for four 6-pin PCIe power connectors, or two 8-pin PCIe ones. Total current coming from the 12V rail is declared at 64 Amps, giving us a grand total of 768 Watts from the 12V rail alone.

Peak of this Strider is 900W, with 840 being dedicated to 12V rail. If you think that nothing remains for the peripherial devices, SilverStone assures us that 180W is pretty much enough for five hard disks in RAID array and a DVD burner or two.

Power Factor Correction (PFC) is active, with the factor of correction at high 0.95 during full load. This PSU is compliant with latest EPA EnergyStar regulations, because the power efficiency is rated above 80%. To keep this baby silent, company opted for not-so-standard 134mm fan, rated at 20dBA. Weight is 2.9kg, which means this is no light power supply, just the way we like'em.

This massive amount of power is directed to dual-socket motherboards and weirdly enough, mid- to high-end graphics cards of the next generation. Yes, the R600XTX will not require this 8-pin connector, but the honour is reserved for another three, more compact brothers which cannot live with single 6-pin one. Having two would result in a less-compact PCB.

Ready to power R600XT/XL/GT in both single and multi-GPU mode? Ready!

Expect 8-pin to be the standard in next-generation graphics wars. Don't say you havn't been warned. µ