The SilverStone Nightjar NJ450-SXL 450W SFX PSU Review: Passive Excellence
by E. Fylladitakis on April 4, 2019 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- SilverStone
- Passive Cooling
- SFX
- SFX-L
- Passive
Conclusion
SilverStone's PSU division places a lot of their R&D efforts into the advancement of small form factor systems, and the Nightjar NJ450-SXL is testament to that fact. The Nightjar NJ450-SXL is the first (and currently only) advanced fully passively cooled PSU in SFX form factor, designed to power truly quiet SFF PCs.
The electrical performance of the Nightjar NJ450-SXL is impressive, especially for a passively cooled PSU of this size. We recorded excellent power quality figures, with the PSU showing outstanding voltage line stability. There is very low voltage ripple on all lines, with Enhance designing the platform so as to perform best when it's normally loaded. The PSU easily meets its 80Plus Platinum efficiency requirements at both common input voltages and, as we expected from a passively cooled unit, it is measurably more efficient than the average 80Plus Platinum-certified PSU.
SilverStone backs the NJ450-SXL with a three-year warranty, which is acceptable but not really impressive by today’s standards. Nevertheless, the design and overall quality of the PSU appears to be excellent. Enhance did not cut any corners, performing an exceptional assembly job and using top quality parts all around. We do not foresee any quality-related issues, except perhaps from cases where the PSU may remain significantly and continuously loaded for long periods of time at high ambient temperatures.
When using a passively cooled PSU, there are certain implications. The major point that requires consideration is the fact that the heat generated by the PSU (i.e. its thermal losses) will be released inside the system itself, whereas typical PSUs would actively vent most of that heat to the outside of the case. This means that the system itself will get hotter and may require better cooling in order to sustain its overall performance. Even the PSU’s overall performance will degrade if the ambient temperatures inside the case rise, impacting its own efficiency and longevity. This will probably not be a problem with modern systems that are built with efficiency in mind, but the specifics of this must be considered and weighted by the system’s builder in building a balanced system. After all, it would not make any sense to use a passively cooled PSU only to replace it by another noise source, such as additional case fans.
With the Nightjar NJ450-SXL SilverStone is seeking to satisfy the craving of those who are obsessed with absolute silence, allowing experts to design truly tranquil living room entertainment systems. The performance of the Nightjar NJ450-SXL is excellent and will leave nobody disappointed. However, the design of a truly silent PC requires expertise and the PSU alone is but a small factor. For example, the noise coming from typical gaming GPU will greatly exceed that of the PSU, making its purchase pointless to begin with. The Nightjar NJ450-SXL is a specialized product meant to offer advanced users and experts the ability to design near or fully silent systems, but buyers will want to keep in mind that making the most of the passive PSU will require a bit more than a basic level of user/builder experience.
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Death666Angel - Monday, April 8, 2019 - link
I have 2 monitors with interal power supplies that are caged by metal sheets and the only gap in that sheet are the power and display plugs. I can hear the whining noise very easily, once I move my head behind the monitor. In front of it, there is no noticeable noise (likely blocked by the display itself). But it is not that cut and dry.nagi603 - Monday, April 8, 2019 - link
Yeah, metal sheets are not good noise dampeners :DIcehawk - Thursday, April 4, 2019 - link
I have had one of these running 24-7 in my rig for about 7 years with no problems, have a higher wattage passive in my new box too. My PCs are very quiet with no PSU fans or mech HDDs. These are built to a high quality compared to a typical $50 PSU and is reflected in their cost.R3MF - Thursday, April 4, 2019 - link
i have a ~13 year old Nightjar 300W still running fine.Samus - Friday, April 5, 2019 - link
I've used a Seasonic X400 passive cooled PSU in my media PC (Silverstone ML03 case) for around 10 years. No problems at all. It started as an Intel i5-650 with a GeForce 430, then graduated to an AMD A10-9700, and is currently an i3-8100 still with the same GeForce 430 I used a decade ago because to me it makes a virtually perfect HTPC video card.The entire PC has always been passively cooled. A voltmod and BIOS flash to the EVGA GeForce 430 reduced its clock speed to 500MHz (1000MHz shader) and basically cut its TDP in half, allowing for a passive heatsink to be more than effective, and the CPU has used a NoFan CR-80eh cooler for most of this units life. The old Lynnfield CPU I used a Scythe Kozuti that needed modification to fit the motherboard\case by bending some heatpipes and the attached fins, which I broke removing it from the CPU when I upgraded (technically downgraded lol) the platform to an AMD A10. The A10 was a slower CPU but had much better thermal efficiency than the old i5, and the GPU was pretty good. The i3-8100 is absolutely perfect and the system has never run cooler. Total wall power draw during 1080p 24.976hz h264 video playback is 66 watts measured from a kill-a-watt and there are TWO SSD's and a 10TB HDD inside the case!
It's worth mentioning this is also my torrent PC so it is 24/7 albeit pretty low constant load.
All that said, the PSU and case have been through multiple generations of components.
DanNeely - Thursday, April 4, 2019 - link
As a general question, I'm wondering when we might start to see PSUs ship with only sata connector strings and a sata-molex adapter or two in the package similar to how the berg connector originally for the 3.5" floppy drive has been mostly done over the last decade.b1ghen - Thursday, April 4, 2019 - link
Probably never since the SATA connector isn't rated for enough current (1.5A I believe) and might melt if you hook up anything power hungry to the Molex in such a setup. A Molex can supply up to 13A i think. So a single Molex can supply 8x the current as a single SATA.daniel78R - Thursday, April 4, 2019 - link
I think S-ATA is 1.5A per pin, and if I remember well there are 3 pins for 3.3V, 3 for 5V and 3 for 12V, that would be 9.9w + 15w + 36w = 60.9V. Molex is 11A i think for 12V, 132w. However, the cables themselves are more important, also the specs of the PSU itself. I've seen PSUs with much less Amps per Molex or SATA rails. Also, I think some of my modular PSUs have the same port for SATA and Molex use on the PSU side.While Molex and Floppy connector might be needed for powering fans and such, I doubt you will ever use for powering anything close to 130w. AFAIK the most power hungry HDDs were about 10-12w
29a - Thursday, April 4, 2019 - link
Hopefully never. I'd much rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them.flyingpants265 - Tuesday, April 9, 2019 - link
What if they made them modular and let you select your own cables?