So over the past few years and especially in the past few months I’ve had the chance to take a look at a variety of SFX form factor power supplies from a few different manufacturers. So far all of them have fit the standard SFX form factor, but recently Silverstone introduced a few power supplies that are SFX-L. The SFX-L form factor is the same size as other SFX power supplies in most dimensions, but they are slightly longer. This extra length squares off the SFX form factor and allows for a much larger fan to fit inside. The extra space and cooling also allowed Silverstone to up the power a little up to 700 watts. This is exciting because it finally allows for proper SLI and Crossfire setups in the SFX form factor. So today I’m going to take a look at the SX700-LPT and see what is different than Silverstone’s other SFX power supplies.

Product Name: Silverstone SX700-LPT

Review Sample Provided by: Silverstone

Written by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes

Amazon Link: HERE

**Disclaimer**

LanOC Reviews only covers the features of power supplies due to not having the equipment to test them up to our standards. Because of this, you will not see a performance section, a final verdict, or awards. Therefore, we prefer to call this a preview rather than a review. Thank you for understanding; we keep our standard to the absolute highest for you, our reader.

Packaging

Right from the start, the packaging for the SX700-LPT is significantly different than past Silverstone SFX power supplies. The SX700-LPT’s box is larger and has a bright teal color trim. On the front is a photo of the power supply showing the modular cable connections and the full sized fan. They highlight that this is an SFX-L form factor right away before even showing the wattage. The Silverstone logo is small but up in the top left corner as well. Beyond that, the 80 Plus Platinum logo is up front and visible. On the back, Silverstone has used this space to pack in a lot of information on the power supply. They have a drawing of the modular connections available and they have a photo of the thin and flexible cables. They mention it being a single rail and even have the 80 Plus Platinum efficiency graph. There is also an image showing the ripple and stability as well as a fan profile showing how the cooling fan will act.

When you open the box up the documentation is right up on top. You get a book about the SX700-LPT and then a normal power supply book that comes with every Silverstone PSU.

Inside the power supply comes packed in between two pieces of foam and is wrapped up in a plastic bag as well. All of the modular cables and the power cable are all packed in next to the foam. It’s a little weird not seeing a bag come with a modular power supply for the extra cables. They also include a small baggie with black finished screws. What is missing compared to other SFX power supplies are a few zip ties and there also isn’t an SFX to ATX adapter plate. Silverstone used to include these but they seem to be moving away from it. With the smaller SFX power supplies its less of an issue, but currently, there aren’t a lot of cases options for an SFX-L that also support mATX for SLI or crossfire support. So I have a feeling there are going to be more people looking to this power supply that will need that adapter plate and it's going to run you another $7 to get one.

To be extra careful they also wrap a yellow band around the power supply to warn you that the fan does not turn on under low load.

Photos and Features

Like I said before the SFX-L form factor actually looks just like a normal ATX power supply when you don’t have anything to show scale. This is because while it is smaller, it is actually just scaled down on each dimension. So the SX700-LPT doesn’t really look like anything out of the ordinary in the photo below. We just have your standard all black power supply with every cable being fully modular.

The side profile of the SX700-LPT has the normal model sticker with the required regulatory stickers. It also shows the AC input options and a breakdown of the max power and how much wattage each output has available. Then, of course, there is a Silverstone logo and the wattage in big letters as well.

For a long time, I didn’t mind partial modular power supplies and even now there isn’t a big issue with them. But moving to a fully modular power supply opens up a few options for people who like to customize their PCs. For starters, Silverstone can sell shorter cable packs. The other option is being able to go with custom cables. This includes individually sleeved cables in any color or colors that you prefer and with some of those manufacturers you can even get each cable in the length you need. The SX700-LPT has plugs for each connection that you might not use to keep them clean and then down at the bottom they have included a sticker with labels for what each plug does. The 24-pin is obvious but they did help by making the PCIe connections bright blue so they don’t get confused with the 8-pin CPU power.

The other side panel is a lot less exciting with just a couple basic stickers. I was surprised Silverstone didn’t include a second branding sticker here. Most manufacturers put one on this side as well and flip it over in case you have to use your power supply with the intake facing up.

The back isn’t anything exciting as well. We have the plug for the power cable and a power switch. The switch itself isn’t available on all of the SFX power supplies so I am happy to see that here. Beyond that the rest of the back is cut in a honeycomb mesh to vent the warmed air the intake fan pulls in.

The top of the SX700-LPT best shows the finish on the entire power supply. It is powder coated in a semi gloss black with just a slight texture. The Silverstone logo is stamped into the top as well.

Well here it is, one of the main reasons to go larger than the SFX form factor is to fit a bigger fan. Silverstone fit a 120mm intake fan. It is covered with your standard steel ring grill and it has the Silverstone snowflake logo right in the middle. If we look past the grill we can see that the fan has a glossy finish and 13 curvy blades. I don’t see a fan that matches it on the Silverstone website.

O for a little scale I did bust out the measuring tape. To help give you a better idea of the size. The SX700-LPT is 5.11 deep and 4.9 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall.

Beyond the additional wattage, the SX700-LPT also stands out from the other SFX power supplies in the connections it has available. Beyond the normal 24-pin and 8-pin CPU connection. You end up with two PCI cables, each with two 6+2 connections to cover any variation on the 1 or 2 power plug video cards. This means you can handle two video cards, any other SFX power supply is only going to support one. You get one Molex cable with three connections on it and to go with it a 4-pin floppy adapter. Then the last three cables are all for SATA power connections. Each has three SATA power on it but one of the three cables is twice as long.

Speaking of length, for the most part, the cables included are in line with other SFX cables. The 24-pin, for example, is 13 inches long. This is shorter than a normal ATX case, so if you are planning on using the SX700-LPT as an ATX replacement make sure your cables will reach. In the smaller form factor builds though the shorter cable length is extremely important, if not you will have a complete mess of cables.

I talk about this on almost every power supply because almost all of the have them now. But I’m really happy the SX700-LPT has the thin cables. They are a lot easier to work with, more flexible, and don’t require sleeving to look decent in your PC. The thickness is thick enough that you can even tuck them behind motherboard trays that don’t normally support any cable management as well.

Overall

Just by looking at the hardware there is a lot about the SX700-LPT that is exciting. The small fan in most SFX power supplies has to normally run at a higher RPM to keep things cool when you start to push the limited of the power supply. So moving to a larger fan does mean lower RPMs, more time with the fan turned off, and with that, it should translate to lower noise levels. The wattage bump up to 700 watts is nice, but it's really the additional PCIe connection that sets the SX700-LPT apart from the rest.  Obviously, most SFX builds are going to be ITX, but I’m excited at the possibility of more SFX based mATX cases and to do that the SX700-LPT is providing the power needed for those small SLI/Crossfire builds. Of course, the larger form factor does mean that not every SFX case is going to fit this one.

The feature set for the SX700 is great so really the only issue to consider is the price. For the most part, the SFX power supplies all run about $90 for a 450 watt and $120 for a 600 watt. Currently, they are selling for $190 but the MSRP is actually $150. At that price point, I’m not seeing a lot of people jumping from the 600-watt models to the 700-watt. That said it is the only real option with dual GPU support and the 80 Plus Platinum support does still make it a great power supply. I’m sure I’m going to end up using it in a build soon, I just need to find a way to justify to myself why I need a Small Form Factor dual-GPU build, but that shouldn’t be hard.

Live Pricing: HERE 

Author Bio

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.