Test – Silverstone Nightjar 520 : Specs | CPU | Hashrate | Review | Config

Hi all!

Today I am going to present you a power supply from Silverstone, and not just any one because it is a passive power supply of 520 Watts, the NightJar 520!
The passive power supply market grew little by little thanks to the increase in efficiency and therefore an increasingly reduced heat release. With the 80Plus Platinum certification and its efficiency of 94% maximum at 50% load, the heat release is very contained, Seasonic is a key player in the market with its FL Platinum series (like the 460 Watts version tested by me here) , power supplies that are simply excellent both in terms of stability and build quality, and that’s good because Silverstone has entrusted the manufacture of its NightJar 520 to Seaonic so the power supply should in no way disappoint. Let’s see it more ready!

The box is sober, mixing gray and black presenting the model of the power supply, the power as well as the main characteristics such as passive operation, 80Plus Platinum certification, complete modularity etc.
Note the passage of the marketing here with the mention “Ultimate passive diet”, hmm … this is a Seasonic base diet so it will undoubtedly be excellent, but still, a little restraint! 🙂
The presence of a QR Code also refers to the food page on the Silverstone site.

On the sides we find on one side the distribution of the connectors, there is also an error because it is marked that the number of PCIe connector is 2 while there are in fact 2 cables of 2 connectors provided . On the other side are various technical information, such as dimensions, MTBF of 100,000 hours, weight and power distribution on each rail.

At the opening of the box we find the different manuals and the bag of accessories, a strange feeling of déjà vu seizes me that said, I will remove all that to be clear.

Yep, this feeling was indeed well founded, here we are in the presence of the packaging of the Seasonic Nightjar 520 which is in every way identical to that of the Seasonic FL Platinum, why change something that works anyway!
The power supply is therefore surrounded by a protective foam and the modular cables are in a bag with 2 compartments.

The power supply is therefore in a bag to protect it from scratches and the bag contains the modular cables. It’s time to unbox all these beautiful little people!

Here is the beast at last! The first thing that strikes here is that it is not black! Finally, a power supply that changes from this eternal black, it is a brilliant gray with the most beautiful effect and will not fail to raise questions if it is installed in a glass case, the change does not hurt! Let’s take a tour of the owner.

From above, there is a honeycomb grid that covers almost all of the power supply, passive power requires the more ventilation there is, the better it is!

On the sides again and again ventilation, you need what you need!

In terms of connectivity there are 4 slots for modular peripheral cables, 4 slots for the CPU and PCIe as well as the 2 connectors for the 24-pin of the motherboard. A small message at the top indicates that it is of course necessary to place the power supply with the ventilation grid upwards, for more information on passive power supplies do not hesitate to read my article here.

Below is a label with the model of the power supply, the eternal message indicating that the power supply should not be opened as well as the power distribution table.
Now let’s move on to the bundle.

The bundle consists of:

• 2 manuals
• 1 power cord
• 4 vis
• 4 plastic cable ties
• 4 scratchs

We are therefore in the presence of a classic bundle, sufficient and the presence of cable ties will help the arrangement of the cables in the tower.

Cables

The cables are all flat, black and glued apart from the 24-pin which benefits from a very classic black sheath. The quality is very good and you can tell they are made to last. Let’s take a look at the available connectors:

The number of cables and connectors is more than sufficient for 99% of the configurations, the presence of 4 PCIe connectors will allow a Crossfire / SLI and the number of Sata connectors is sufficient, on the other hand with the slow disappearance of peripherals using molex connectors there could be only one cable and replace the second with a Sata cable, no one would complain!

Silverstone NightJar 520 Watts
Power	516 Watts for the + 12V 100 Watts for + 3.3V and +5 V combined 12.5 Watts on the + 5Vsb 6 Watts on -12V
Certification
Maximum efficiency (manufacturer)	90% / 94% / 91% at 20% / 50% / 100% load
Fan	Non
Sound level	0 dB
Modular	100% modular
Protections	OCP, OVP, UVP, SCP, OPP, OTP
Number of 12v rails	1 rail unique
Capacitors	100% Japanese
Dimensions	150 x 160 x 86 mm
Weight	2.3 kg with cables 1.7 kg without cables
Guarantee	3 years
Price	~ 140 €

The NightJar 520 offers all the best in terms of power supply (for the moment!) With an 80Plus Platinum certification ensuring excellent performance, all the protections are of course required and the Japanese capacitors ensure durability. increased. Of course, the power supply is passive and therefore supposed to generate no noise.
The power for which the power supply is sold (520 Watts), and like all high-end power supplies is entirely calculated in relation to the power available on the 12V, point of deceit here! The single 516 Watts rail will power a huge majority of the market configurations without worry.
The only downside here and unlike its counterpart at Seasonic is the warranty which is only 3 years compared to the 7 years of the Seasonic, it is a shame knowing the qualities of these power supplies. The price of 140 € is about 10 € higher than the original from Seasonic.

The test platform

The Silverstone NightJar 520 power supply has been tested on the configuration below:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 875K @ 3,2 Ghz
• Motherboard: Asus P7P55D
• Memory: Kingston HyperX 4 x 2 Go 1600Mhz
• Hard disk: WD Raptor 150 Go
• Graphic card: Sapphire Toxic 5850

The test protocol

The core i7 875K has been slightly overclocked to 3.2Ghz. The readings in charge were taken during an OCCT Power Supply test, the readings at rest were taken after 15mins on the desk.

The power supply has been tested against the Seasonic S12 600 (from 2006), Seasonic G550 (tested here), Seasonic X650, Seasonic P660 (tested here), Seasonic Platinum 460FL (tested here), Corsair CS450M (tested here), be quiet E9 580CM (tested here) and the be quiet! L8 Pure Power 500 (tested here).

The consumption

Before starting, let’s take a look at the performance of the power supplies compared to the Silverstone NightJar 520, in fact the different 80Plus certifications will directly influence the consumption, so this will be a good way to have concrete results. Only the S12 600 does not have an 80Plus certification because it did not yet exist at the time of purchase (but the following versions of this power supply had the classic 80Plus certification, so 80% / 80% / 80% to 20% respectively / 50% / 100% load).

Thanks to its 80Plus Platinum certification the Silverstone NightJar 520 therefore has an excellent performance and ranks among the head power supplies here, at the same level as the other 80Plus Platinum power supplies. It manages to take the lead in standby consumption with only 2 Watts for the test configuration, with 77 Watts and 344 Watts respectively at rest and under load consumption is really very good.

The tensions

What to say, the Nightjar 520 is simply excellent at the level of voltage stability, with the 3.3V which goes from 3.39V at rest to 3.38V under load, the 5V which does not move from 5.09V and the 12V which goes from 12.06V to 12.05V! There is no need to say that it can be charged, the voltages are of a foolproof stability and it is on par with all the other platinum power supplies in the comparison.

Noise pollution

Attention : Part to be taken with a grain of salt, unfortunately not having access to the appropriate equipment and using an android application to take the readings the measurements below are only indicative! The readings were taken 15cm from the feed.

Passive power forces the Silverstone Nightjar 520 to not emit any sound either at rest or under load, so it is an ideal candidate for a very quiet setup, as long as the rest of the setup follows.
Note that the internal temperature of the feed is not really a problem here, the carcass becomes very slightly warm to the touch even after 30mins of charging, thank you for the high efficiency of the certification 🙂

Here we are at the conclusion of this test, what to say about this Silverstone NightJar 520?
80Plus Platinum certification and therefore a high level, passive performance, a fabulous look, very stable voltages, total modularity as well as an exceptional quality of manufacture and finish here is how I could sum up this power supply in a few words.
There are however a minimum of precautions to be taken at the level of the air flow and the position of the power supply, you will need to have at least one fan in the box to have a small air flow (a 100% system passive is not really viable anyway) and be careful if you place it at the top of the case.

Offered at a price of around 140 € it is however a little more expensive than its counterpart the Seasonic FL520 Platinum, the look is however different with a shiny gray paint of the most beautiful effect which will not fail to finally highlight the power supply in a PC with a window. On the other hand the warranty is only 3 years, an effort should have been made at this level and it’s really the only thing I can fault this Silverstone NightJar 520, if the 3 year warranty does not bother you then it will be perfect for a silent oriented gamer config.

A big thank you to Marie from Silverstone who allowed me to do this test.