Do you run your PSU in "eco" or fanless mode?

[tracerit]

I have an EVGA 750W G2 that's serving me quite well. It has a toggle for eco mode on or off. With eco mode on, The fan doesn't spin until it hits a certain load or temperature. Off, it spins at 700rpm and ramps up from there.

But at 700rpm it makes a certain click noise that bothers me. So I keep the eco fan mode on. Average load is just 75W idle, 110W when using it to browse the web and 300W when gaming. Just curious if going fanless is safe or not. I'm guessing it should be since the feature is there lol.

I'm considering attaching a small 80mm Noctua fan at the rear vent to exhaust the air out.

 

[ylin0811]

Components produce heat = degrades the component in the power supply over time. It is better to keep the fan on the eco mode instead of fanless mode.

 

[tracerit]

Components produce heat = degrades the component in the power supply over time. It is better to keep the fan on the eco mode instead of fanless mode.

The EVGA has a 10 year warranty so I figured maybe just run it fanless, but yeah the thought of heat degrading is worrying. Actually just found a quiet 92mm fan I had laying around and taped it to the back of the case exhausting air out.

 

[nerp]

Run it on eco mode for sure. The unit is rated to run without issue at temperatures you'll never experience. If the fan is clicking, contact EVGA. It shouldn't.

There's no harm in using ECO mode. It will run the fan when it needs to. It will never not run the fan when it should be running it.

I would for sure clean up the inside of your case, make sure you have airflow and ventilation, etc. Consider swapping your parts into a new case optimized for cooling. Many cases now come with basements to hide the PSU and cables and isolate the PSU in its own little ecosystem.

My case, a Phanteks Eclipse 400p, has such a basement. And the PSU is actually mounted upside down so when the fan does run, it's drawing fresh cool air from the bottom of the case through an opening that has a dust filter. It then blows out the back, keeping the heat away from the rest of the components and its fresh air is from outside the case instead of the inside of the case. This works well with this case because its feet raise the case up about an inch or so, giving the PSU fan plenty of air to come from under the case. I also keep it on my desk on a hard wood desktop. On a thick carpet this setup might not work.

This case allows you to mount the PSU the other way if you want. The basement has venting holes so it will just draw warm air from the bottom rear corner of the case and exhaust it.