Sharkoon silentstorm cool zero 750w review in Spanish (complete analysis)

The German brand Sharkoon has, for years, been well known in markets such as boxes, peripherals or, more recently, gaming chairs. Another market where it has a significant presence is that of power sources . Today we will thoroughly analyze its new premium range, the Sharkoon Silentstorm Cool Zero in its 750W model.

This is their latest bet on the upper-middle range, with an 80 Plus Gold certificate, fully modular cabling and promises of quiet operation. Will it meet expectations? Let's see it!

Sharkoon Silentstorm Cool Zero technical characteristics

External analysis

We start, as always, by taking a look at the front of the box, which gives us one of its most distinctive features, the "customizable cooling", which we will discuss later.

In the back, more of these characteristics are detailed. During the review we will break them down little by little.

The source's warranty period is 3 years, one above the period imposed by the Law, but which is undoubtedly below its competitors in the same price range, where we usually see sources with 5, 7 or even 10 year guarantee.

After opening the box we appreciate an excellent protection of the source, which comes in a case surrounded by foam (the upper part of this does not appear in the photo). It also includes a user manual, and a wonderful case with all the necessary cables and screws.

Cabling management

The wiring used by this Silentstorm Cool Zero is mainly flat, except for the ATX. The preference for flat or meshed cables is something that is basically the responsibility of the buyer, since we believe that it is something very subjective.

On the other hand, one aspect in which we do express a clear position is in the use of capacitors in cable terminations, something that is present in most sources that directly compete with this Sharkoon, and which in this case we lack. This is good news as these capacitors are only used today to improve source ripple data from "very good" to "excellent" levels, an imperceptible improvement in real life and in practice only translates into greater difficulties to mount the PSU (because the terminations of the wiring are much more rigid).

The number of cables is expected in a power supply of this power and price. The two 8-pin CPU connectors will be appreciated for those who mount equipment on maximum performance platforms such as the Intel X299 or AMD X399, where it is recommended to use 2 of these connectors in their most consuming processors. The length of the same is also within the common and suitable for any equipment in a semi-tower or Full Tower.

It positively highlights the use of 16AWG thick wiring in the PCIe connectors, which supports more current than the 18AWG that we see in most sources, even those that like this Sharkoon use two 8-pin PCIe connectors in each cable.

Regarding SATA cables, 12 connectors are included, which is more than expected. In addition, its distribution in 3 strips of cables of 1 meter in length allows great flexibility when making connections. We remember that, although we are only going to use a few SATA connectors in our equipment, if they are in opposite positions of the box, we may need to use all the cable strips that our source offers.

It should be noted, however, that the 2 Molex connectors are included in the form of adapters to connect to a SATA. This brings the advantage that we have even greater length if necessary, and the disadvantage that if we use 2 Molex we will be left with 10 and not 12 SATA.

We now turn to see the external appearance of the power supply, very elegant and without extravagances, so there will be no problems in any assembly. As always, the beauty is inside, which we will soon check.

As we said before, the source is totally modular, and should not cause any problems during assembly since, although the PCIe and CPU connectors have the same number of pins, they are incompatible so we cannot mount one in the wrong place.

Zero RPM mode and fan delay

Now we go with two very special switches that the source has. The first will sound to all of us, "Zero RPM Fan Mode", which allows us to enable or disable semi-passive mode. When in the “ON” position, the fan is kept off at low loads, while in the “OFF” position it is always on to maximize cooling.

On the other hand, the “Fan Delay Mode” switch is especially interesting, since when it is activated it makes the source keep the fan on for approximately one minute after turning it off, in order to minimize the residual heat that remains inside..

Our recommendation is: Zero RPM OFF and Fan Delay ON, for maximum cooling… In the fan speed section we will explain everything.

Internal analisis

The manufacturer of this font is Sirtec, also called Sirfa or High Power. It is a company that is seen less than others like CWT or FSP, but like these it has an unquestionable ability to manufacture quality power supplies. Obviously, everything depends on the specific model to be analyzed, so let's see if they have done a good job or not.

The primary filter is made up of the expected, 4 Y capacitors, 2 X capacitors and 2 coils. We also have a varistor or MOV to give basic coverage against fluctuations in the input voltage.

This being the case, we very much miss an NTC thermistor accompanied by a relay. These two components serve to minimize the current spikes that occur when turning on the source, and are essential and very common in sources of all price ranges (at least the NTC). Therefore, we cannot understand why Sirtec engineers have decided to omit them. We do not believe that it is an economic question, since reducing costs by removing the NTC is absurd and there are many other avenues of savings, so maybe they have their reasons, but it is still shocking and a clear disadvantage compared to the competition.

Although there are two holes to install two primary capacitors, in this 750W version we only have one. However, its 820uF capacity is even higher than that used by other sources in this range with two capacitors in parallel. It is specifically a Japanese Rubycon at 105ºC.

The use of a main capacitor of these capacities is one more reason to include, at least, an NTC thermistor, and therefore it continues to be surprising that Sirtec has opted not to include it.

On the secondary side, all the capacitors are Japanese, also from Rubycon, and their distribution inspires a lot of confidence in us, as there are no cables around them that make cooling difficult.

The chip in charge of the protections is the SITI PS224. It should be noted that it is prepared for 2 channels of OCP in 12V (that is, 2 rails), but as it is a single-rail source, our assumption is that, like the vast majority of sources with a single 12V rail, it does not it has OCP in 12V.

The welding quality is very good. We already said that Sirtec is a good manufacturer. ?

The 12V rail MOSFETs, a component as critical or more than secondary capacitors, are from the renowned German brand Infineon. They are cooled thanks to the chassis (unfortunately without a thermal pad to help with the process) and two metal heatsinks found on the other side of the PCB.

The fan Sharkoon has chosen is a Globe Fan S1352512H with dynamic fluid bearings. Globe fans are undoubtedly the most used by Sirtec, their quality is high and their noise level is quite low, so we are facing a very good option worth lasting.

Test bench and performance tests

We have performed consumption and fan speed tests. To do this, we have been helped by the following team:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	AMD Ryzen 7 1700 (OC)
Base plate:	MSI X370 Xpower Gaming Titanium.
Memory:	16GB DDR4
Heatsink	Corsair H100i Platinum RGB
HDD	Samsung 850 EVO SSD. Seagate Barracuda HDD
Graphic card	Gigabyte R9 390
Reference Power Supply	Riotoro Onyx 750W

For consumption we have a Brennenstuhl meter of proven reliability and a laser tachometer for fan speed.

In order to maintain the reliability of the tests, especially the consumer one (the most sensitive), and taking into account the changing nature of the loads on a device, the sources shown here have been tested the same day and in the same situations, so we always retest the source that we use as a reference, so that the results are comparable within the same review. Between different reviews there may be variations due to this so they are not comparable.

In addition, in each review the test conditions can change, we generally try to apply more severe overclocks and therefore increase the load on the PSUs.

Consumption

The consumption that we have observed fits perfectly to what was expected, with all the differences within the proper margins of this way of measuring.

Fan speed and semi-passive mode

When the equipment is turned on, the source is around 640 revolutions per minute. At this speed, the fan is quiet but could be heard slightly if no other fan were running. Curiously, with the use time these revolutions drop below 600rpm, that's why in our scenario 2 lower values ​​are reflected. Finally, as soon as we put a load on the source, it increases the fan speed considerably to keep it cool, up to around 1000rpm, the loudness of which will be nothing compared to the rest of the equipment (because here we are applying maximum CPU and GPU load).

With the semi-passive mode activated, the truth is that we have observed anomalous behavior typical of sources that do not use digital MCUs for their control, as is the case with this Sharkoon and most of its competitors.

Basically, the problem is that the control system can cause the fan to turn on and off repeatedly in certain situations . This is a problem since fans with dynamic fluid bearings (and derivatives) like this one suffer more during start-up and shutdown than in continuous operation.

Because of this, we strongly recommend using the source with the semi-passive mode disabled, since without it the fan works very well, quietly and at low revs.

Final words and conclusion

Sharkoon has renewed its mid-range PSU with a solid and quality commitment, for which they have had the confidence of Sirtec, a reputable manufacturer that leaves us a source with excellent internal quality, with everything we can ask for (to exception of an NTC thermistor and relay that we talked about earlier) and

A particularly noteworthy aspect is the management of the cabling, since the cables are quite generous in length, especially in the case of the three included SATA strips of one meter in length, with a total of 12 of these connectors, 10 if we consider that To use any 4-pin Molex, a SATA-Molex adapter is required (included with the source). We also have 4 PCIe connectors, unsurprisingly, and 2 8-pin CPUs, missing from some sources that directly compete with this Sharkoon.

After commenting on all these benefits, the truth is that there is an aspect with which we have been quite disappointed. This is the warranty period, since it is only 3 years considering that among its competitors we can find sources with much longer periods of 5, 7 or 10 years.

This aspect disappoints us because we are dealing with a source that, due to its quality, is perfectly prepared to carry a longer guarantee period. In fact, one of the key factors for the durability of the sources in this range is the fan, and in the case of this PSU we have a model of excellent durability.

Many users attach importance to the warranty period, which is why we are concerned as it affects the competitiveness of the PSU. However, for all those who give less importance to this aspect, this is a high quality font made to last.

We recommend reading our guide to the best PC power supplies

The price of this source is 100 euros for the 650W model, 110 euros for the one analyzed here (750W) and 120 euros for the 850W model. Apparently, they all have the same number of connectors, so in the 650 model they are quite generous, in the adequate 750 and in the insufficient 850. Regarding the prices themselves, they are

Finally, the loudness of the power supply is more than decent, thanks to the use of a very high-quality fan with minimal motor noise. In any case, our recommendation is to use the equipment with the “Zero RPM” mode disabled, as this is how we have observed better fan behavior. Fortunately, we have the power to choose whether or not to activate the semi-passive mode, and additionally another mode that keeps the fan on for a minute after turning off the equipment, with the intention of eliminating all residual heat remaining in the source.

Advantage

• Excellent internal quality “Fan delay” mode to give additional cooling to the source after it is switched offAn adequate number of connectors in the case of PCIe and CPU, and generous in the case of SATA with cable strips of no less than 1 meter long16AWG wiring for PCIe connectors Quiet operation even without semi-passive mode High quality fan made to last

Disadvantages

• Only 3 years warranty Unwarranted absence of NTC thermistor and relay Semi-passive mode malfunction, which also occurs in most competing sources. We recommend using it with this mode disabled (Zero RPM Fan mode: OFF)

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal.

Sharkoon Silentstorm Cool Zero

INTERNAL QUALITY - 93%

SOUNDNESS - 85%

WIRING MANAGEMENT - 95%

PROTECTION SYSTEMS - 88%

PRICE - 85%

89%

Sharkoon bets heavily with a product of solid quality, excellent performance and reduced noise, although it comes with a shorter warranty period than a product with these characteristics deserves.