As we have mentioned in other articles and reviews, the first place we look when opening a power supply for a hint about its quality, is its filtering stage. The recommended components for this stage are two ferrite coils, two ceramic capacitors (Y capacitors, usually blue), one metalized polyester capacitor (X capacitor), and one MOV (Metal-Oxide Varistor). Very low-end power supplies use fewer components, usually removing the MOV and the first coil. 

This power supply has one X capacitor and two Y capacitors more than the minimum required, but it lacks an MOV, which is the component in charge of removing spikes coming from the power grid. If you pay close attention, you will see the place where this component should have been installed, in front of the fuse.

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Figure 8: Transient filtering stage (part 1)

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Figure 9: Transient filtering stage (part 2)

In the next page, we will have a more detailed discussion about the components used in the SilverStone Strider Plus 500 W.