SilverStone is a name that many of you are likely already familiar with. SilverStone was founded in the summer of 2003 with the goal of providing top-shelf aluminum cases to end users. The SilverStone team was easily able to pull off this task and win over the hearts of many aluminum case lovers. This is partly due to the fact that a large portion of the original SilverStone team came from Cooler Master's ATC division, which arguably produced some of the nicest aluminum computer cases ever. SilverStone used their background in case manufacturing as a stepping stone to "bigger and better" things, expanding their ATX case line to include a huge assortment of HTPC cases as well as venturing into the power supply market. SilverStone currently offers over 20 different makes / models of power supplies, ranging from the totally silent, heatpipe-cooled ST30NF 300 watt unit all the way up to the monstrous OP1000 1,000 watt Olympia model, which we will be taking a look at today.





Here we see the retail package for the OP1000. The OP1000 is pictured on the front along with a small features list. The left side panel goes into further detail about these "special features" while the bottom of the box gives us some more information about the specifications of this 1kw PSU. A complete list of specifications and features can be seen below, borrowed from SilverStone's website.



From this list, we immediately see that a few things stand out from most other power supplies. First, the OP1000 features a single +12v rail that is rated at 80A (88A peak). What does this mean exactly? Many other high end power supplies feature multiple (usually 2-4) +12v rails which average 20A per rail. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it does mean that you will need to make use of multiple rails, as to not overload a single rail. With the OP1000, you can make all of the necessary +12v connections during install without worrying about balancing the load across multiple rails.

The other thing that stands out on the specifications list is the weight. SilverStone lists the OP1000 at 3.6 kg, which equates to 7.92 pounds; certainly not a light power supply. This is the heaviest power supply that I have tested to date. Anyway, let's move ahead and put the OP1000 under the microscope...