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  • Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid Power Supplies Revealed

          
    		   
    		   
    by
    Jester
    Published on October 5th, 2011 01:40 PM
    8 Comments Comments
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    Cooler Master has announced a new flagship power supply lineup called the Silent Pro Hybrid. This revolutionary lineup is designed to combine a highly efficient power supply unit with an innovative fan control unit, giving the user more control over their system. Three models were announced - 850W, 1050W, and 1300W.

    Details

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    About a year ago Cooler Master released the Silent Pro Gold series, the first 80 Plus Gold certified power supplies in their arsenal. The Silent Pro Hybrid continues the trend, despite other manufacturers releasing a few 80 Plus Platinum certified units. However, what makes the Silent Pro Hybrid unique is the included fan control system.

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    The fan control device fits into a 5.25" bay, and allows for control over the PSU fan, gives you the ability to make the PSU run in fanless mode, and also allows you to control up to three system fans.

    These power supplies measure 150mm x 180mm x 86mm and feature OVP/UVP/OCP/OPP/OTP/SCP. Here's a shot of each sticker. Unfortunately, over current protection is not done via several outputs. The rated +12v current is high, but can be higher. The 1050W model for example is exceeded by the OCZ ZX1000 (996W/83A), Silverstone ST1000G (996W/83A), and the Corsair HX1050 (1050W/87.5A).
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    The Silent Pro Hybrid power supplies are the first Cooler Master units to be fully modular. They also have a scratch resistant finish, and aluminum frame on the surface for added style. A 135mm "hydraulic" bearing fan is used to cool the unit.
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    Here's a top shot. The brushed aluminum frame is positioned around the 135mm cooling fan. For cooling, this 135mm fan blows air over the PSU heat sinks and components, and heat is exhausted out of the rear by the fan's static pressure.
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    Here is the modular cable interface.
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    Not only are the cables modular, but so is the fan control unit's plug. It is positioned next to the modular interface guide.
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    Here is the fan control unit. The left knob controls the PSU fan speed while the right one controls system fan speed. You can activate a fanless mode, which automatically shuts off when the load reaches 200W or the PSU reaches 50 degrees Celsius. Fans can be controlled from 3v up to 12v.
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    Up to three system fans can be controlled in conjunction with the PSU fan.
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    Here's the fan control unit in a 5.25" bay on their HAF-X case.
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    The OEM appears to be Enhance. They are the manufacturer for many well known power supply units such as the Antec TruePower Quattro series, Cooler Master Real Power 850W/1000W/1250W, Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold series, Silverstone Strider series and much more. Not much is visible under those large aluminum heat sinks, shaped in such a way that heat is routed to the exhaust vent.
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    Several of Cooler Master patented features are found within the PSU, such as Heat Transfer Technology, which is the heat sink design mentioned above. Others include Hybrid Transformer, a design seen in the Silent Pro Gold series in which the main transformer is partially cooled by the heat sink for improved efficiency. Finally we have Hyper Path, which puts the IC close to the transformer for improved efficiency.
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    It is currently unknown if there are any internal differences between the Silent Pro Gold platform and Silent Pro Hybrid platform, although from a first glance they appear to be very similar. Reviews will cover this. The release date is not yet known, although the prices have been given. The Silent Pro Hybrid 850W will retail for $199.99, the 1050W model will be $249.99, and the 1300W model will be $299.99.

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    - GND News Staff
    Categories:
    1. Power Supplies
    Tags : cm silent pro, cm silent pro hybrid, cooler master, cooler master psu, cooler master silent pro, fan controller, hybrid psu, power supply, psu, silent pro, silent pro hybrid
    Comments 8 Comments
    1. Enad's Avatar
      Enad - October 5th, 2011
      I need this to power my single, slightly overclocked 580. Thankfully Coolermaster has me covered with their 1300 Watt Power Supply.
    1. strudinox's Avatar
      strudinox - October 5th, 2011
      I really like how companies are moving away from using multiple rails on their high end units. On paper this pay seems like quite a nice unit!

      Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
    1. Jester's Avatar
      Jester - October 5th, 2011
      Quote Originally Posted by strudinox View Post
      I really like how companies are moving away from using multiple rails on their high end units. On paper this pay seems like quite a nice unit!

      Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
      Why are you in favor of abandoning multi-rail OCP? All it does is offer added protection. If something on a 1000+W PSU fails but not in a short, then there will be nothing to limit all of that current to go straight to your hardware and severely damage it. And as we all know, any PSU will fail eventually.

      The only downside to multi-rail OCP is that people have to think when hooking up all of their video cards. If they hook up two or three high powered GPUs to one 30A rail... that's not good. However diagrams in manuals clearly state rail distribution, modular connections are almost always labeled, and hardwired cables are often labeled although those are set up in such a way that you can't overload one rail (on good PSUs with some modular connections that is). Manufacturers don't always use multi-rail OCP because it costs more, and they see that most people on forums believe one +12v circuit is better for some reason.
    1. strudinox's Avatar
      strudinox - October 5th, 2011
      When it comes down to it, there really isn't much of a difference with the end result. Multi-Rail PSUs can and most of the time do run cooler because of the way power is dispersed, but in some (not all cases) Single rail PSUs have a better track record for providing cleaner power because of how much easier it is to clean the power. The likelihood of encountering power spikes and ripples is more likely to happen on a dual rail over a single rail.

      Also, yes you are correct that multi-rail PSUs do offer some kind of OCP by design, most modern PSUs (especially high end) are so full of fail safes, including OCP and OVP, that you are likely not going to come across a situation where one component inside your computer will cause another to fry because it overloaded the PSU. Also, single rail PSUs are proven to last longer because they are in general less demanding on internals. When you start splitting rails 4-6 times, this can cause high load on one or two of the rails while the other 2-4 just sit there and twittle their thumbs. This causes them to run hotter thus killing the overall lifespan. But like I said, there is no difference in the end result and in 95% of the time, performance, heat and lifespan is identical between the two so either way, you can't go wrong.
    1. Jester's Avatar
      Jester - October 5th, 2011
      The uneven balance on rails is only true if you buy a PSU that is far more than what you need. Definitely true on the fact that it almost never matters. Not sure about single rail PSUs having a better track record though. The best desktop PSUs when it comes to voltage regulation, transient response, and ripple suppression include the Antec HCP 1200 and their Signature series. Some single rail units are in the same level like the AX1200, Seasonic X platform, Seasonic M12D platform, Win-Tact PC P&C units, and others but not quite that good. Of course, those models excel not because of multi-rail OCP but for other reasons.

      When looking at very high wattage units, I do prefer multi-rail OCP just for the safety reasons mentioned in my other post. Under 1000W it doesn't matter really, in fact it only matters if the said failure occurs. The problem with the Silent Pro Gold lineup though was the ripple suppression approaching ATX specs. I can't wait for reviews of the Silent Pro Hybrid to see if this still happens.
    1. Jester's Avatar
      Jester - October 14th, 2011
      Review of the 1050W model!

      http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=259

      So it didn't quite do 80 Plus GOLD since his test environment is more harsh than that of 80 Plus (and different AC current will change that). I don't recall seeing such mediocre +3.3v regulation on the Silent Pro Gold series. That 7v rail is not handled really well but it shouldn't matter. I'm glad to see ripple is well in-spec this time, although still not best in class.
    1. strudinox's Avatar
      strudinox - October 14th, 2011
      Not bad, but not great either. CM is still pretty new into the PSU market, so who knows... maybe they'll get better.
    1. Jester's Avatar
      Jester - October 14th, 2011
      Quote Originally Posted by strudinox View Post
      Not bad, but not great either. CM is still pretty new into the PSU market, so who knows... maybe they'll get better.
      Haha they're not new... they had basic units for well over 5 years (eXtreme power), and the Real Power series were some of the best high end units in their time, being released earlier than the Antec TPQ series if I'm not mistaken (and being much better than Corsair's HX1000). I'm pretty sure they were in the PSU market before Corsair.

      The Enhance-made Real Power series (850W/1000W/1250W) were great after revision, which is funny since Enhance is the OEM for Silent Pro Gold and Silent Pro Hybrid. After those came the UCP series from AcBel, which regulated extremely well, they were some of the first 80 Plus SILVER desktop PSUs (same time as Enermax Revolution85+ series), although ripple was mediocre and worse than the aforementioned Real Power units. Silent Pro M came next, which were group regulated and not all that good. Then came Silent Pro Gold, and now Silent Pro Hybrid. You also can't forget the epic failure "GX" series.

      So CM has only gone downhill in the high end PSU market.