be quiet! SFX Power 2 300W Power Supply Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

be quiet!’s SFX Power 2 300W power supply is available in the UK at Scan Computers for £41, it comes with a 2 year warranty. We could not find the product for sale in the USA.

Conclusion

If you’re in the market right now for an SFX form factor power supply your options are very limited to a handful of brands. Despite these limitations be quiet! have not been complacent at all: their SFX Power 2 300W is a high quality power supply unit that delivers excellent performance for its size. Voltage regulation is strong, efficiency is better than certified and the unit provides quiet operation up to about 60% load. be quiet! have also equipped a modest but wattage-sensible number of cables and connectors. Furthermore, considering the limited availability of SFX power supplies in general the price is pretty good too.

A few things could do with improvement though. While PFC at 60-100% load was good, it needs improving at lower loads. I also felt that the fan profile was a bit steep with it not changing much until 80% load where it made a big jump in RPM, this makes the unit very noisy at higher loads. Minus 12 volt regulation was a little sloppy too but as we’ve said the minus 12 volt rail is insignificant and I’m not even sure why modern PSUs continue to equip it.

Pros

• Competitive pricing
• Compact size – ideal for SFF builds
• Strong efficiency, voltage regulation and ripple supression

Cons

• Sudden fan profile – noisy at 80/100% load but quiet below that
• PFC at low loads not the best

“When small just isn’t small enough be quiet!’s SFX Power 2 300W power supply offers a great solution to the space problem. If you’re building an ultra compact system you can be rest assured the SFX Power 2 300W will still provide you with high quality power, just in a smaller package.”

Thank you to be quiet! for providing this review sample.