Silverstone Nightjar 520W Passive Power Supply Review

Ryan Martin / 10 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Silverstone Nightjar 520W power supply costs £99.95 at Overclockers here in the UK while stateside it can be had for $140 at Newegg and for the same price at Amazon.

Conclusion

Silverstone’s Nightjar 520W is the cheapest iteration of Seasonic’s 520W Platinum passive platform we can find. Yet it performs the same, if not slightly better based on our own test results, so it seems you’d be crazy to buy any other version. It has superb efficiency making it ideal for anyone who has a close to 24/7 operation PC, it should help you save some money in the long term and if you were already due a PSU upgrade then it is certainly a smart idea. If you’re protective about your system you’ll also be pleased to know that the Silverstone Nightjar delivers exceptional voltage stability and ripple suppression which will prolong the life of all your system components as well as keeping them running at the highest level of stability and reliability. The Nightjar also boasts a fully modular design making cable management a breeze, this is certainly a nice inclusion given the relatively steep price for its wattage.

On the down-side Silverstone’s Nightjar unit drops 2 years off the standard Seasonic warranty for this product. It also comes in only silver so if you want a black version you’re going to have to spend 15% more for Seasonic’s own version or get a can of black spray paint out. That aside we cannot recommend this PSU highly enough if you’re looking for something passive and a fairly high wattage.

Pros

Exceptional efficiency, voltage regulation and ripple suppression
Cheaper than the same product offered by other brands
Silent operation
High PFC
Fully modular cables and all black

Cons

3 year warranty, should be 5
Only available in Silver

“Silverstone offer the best value way to get a silent high performance system based off a quality Seasonic unit. If you’re in the market for a passive power supply this is worth strong consideration.”