fanless seasonic for gaming?

[yoryocor]

Is it totally foolish to use a fanless psu for a gtx780/haswell rig?
How about SS semipassive?
Thanks

 

[sandorski]

As long as the Case has good airflow it should be ok(unless the intake is drawing air directly outside the Case). However, IMO it kinda defeats the purpose as a 120mm or greater cooled power supply is usually near silent anyway. If those particular Power Supplies only come fanless then that's another issue and should be fine.

 

[yoryocor]

Ja, the size i want is just not buyable in x-series here. May go with cheaper series, but the fanless are platinum rated, so that appeals.

 

[thedosbox]

Efficient power supplies in modern cases (i.e. bottom mounted) don't play any meaningful role for system cooling. I've been running a semi-passive X-650 with a GTX 780/i5-4570 with no issues.

 

[DigDog]

Is it totally foolish to use a fanless psu for a gtx780/haswell rig?
How about SS semipassive?
Thanks

fanless doesnt mean without a fan. it means it will not spin unless it reaches a set temperature, but it still has a fan.

if fan noise is what concerns you, PSUs make almost zero noise, even when spinning.

 

[_Rick_]

fanless doesnt mean without a fan. it means it will not spin unless it reaches a set temperature, but it still has a fan.

No.
Fanless means it has no fan.
Semi-passive means that the fan will only spin up at a certain load.

I would recommend a 140mm fan class PSU over a passive one, especially beyond 500W.

 

[996GT2]

Fanless should be totally fine, especially if it's a high quality PSU like a Seasonic.

My X-750's fan rarely ever comes on, even during gaming. I have a heavily overclocked i7 and a GTX 670. A GTX 780 is has a higher TDP than my 670, so you should make sure your case has good airflow.

However, one question you should ask yourself is whether your other components are actually quiet enough to justify a fanless PSU. In most cases, the PSU fan is far from the loudest fan in the system. Graphics card fans, CPU fans, even hard drives can be louder than the power supply fan. If you want to truly get the full benefit of a fanless PSU, you will have to be running a watercooling loop with a very quiet pump and radiator fans. Otherwise, having a fanless PSU is not going to make a difference in perceived noise.

 

[DigDog]

AFAIk the highest rated fanless SS makes is 520W. a rig with a 770 and the usual stuff will run it at 90% ... and they are expensive too.

So yeah, maybe there's fanless PSUs out there, but they shouldn't even be considered, when they cost more and perform less.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

AFAIk the highest rated fanless SS makes is 520W. a rig with a 770 and the usual stuff will run it at 90% ... and they are expensive too.

So yeah, maybe there's fanless PSUs out there, but they shouldn't even be considered, when they cost more and perform less.

I'd seen so-called fanless PSUs appearing on the market some years back.

I only use Seasonic PSUs right now. They all have fans. And since the PSUs don't even use half their rated power when my computer system is under extreme load (stressing -- to a lesser degree gaming), I don't think those fans in the PSUs have ever spun up at all since they were shipped to me.

With 80+Gold and Platinum models available, I don't think it makes a hilla-beans difference anymore.

 

[thedosbox]

AFAIk the highest rated fanless SS makes is 520W. a rig with a 770 and the usual stuff will run it at 90% ... and they are expensive too.

So yeah, maybe there's fanless PSUs out there, but they shouldn't even be considered, when they cost more and perform less.

For some people, the absence of noise has value.

I'd seen so-called fanless PSUs appearing on the market some years back.

I only use Seasonic PSUs right now. They all have fans.

http://www.seasonicusa.com/NEW_X-series_Fanless.htm

Higher capacity models in the X series have fans, but don't need to spin them up until the load exceeds 250-300W due to their high efficiency.

 

[lehtv]

AFAIk the highest rated fanless SS makes is 520W. a rig with a 770 and the usual stuff will run it at 90% ... and they are expensive too.

90%? Not even close, more like 60%. A typical system with a GTX 770 consumes 300W with full GPU stress, from the wall. Add in some CPU load and it should be about 300W when adjusted for efficiency

However I don't advocate fanless PSUs in general because there are practically silent actively cooled PSUs as well, like Seasonic G series. I can't hear my rig (in sig) over the slight background buzz made by a refrigerator 4 meters from me.

 

[_Rick_]

Yeah, but OP has a 780, so we're looking at around 350-375W. At 90% efficiency, this means around 40 Watts thermal output of the PSU.
If the PSU has plenty of access to cool air, that's not a problem, but otherwise convection may not be enough.

 

[fleshconsumed]

I went with a fanless 500W rosewill/kingwin PSU in my main rig. It's powering 4770K and R9 290X without any issues. Yes, it is expensive, but like thedosbox has said, silence has its value for people like me. Personally, I think most of the current PSUs are practically silent when idle, and very quiet under load. However, the problem I have with them is that they still have fan, and after a few years those fans inevitably degrade and start getting noisy. Over the past 15 years I have had numerous PSUs mainly from Seasonic and Enermax, and in every single instance the fan started getting clicky/grindy/noisy after 2-3 years of continuous operation. Now, if that was the case fan, I'd just replace and forget. However, replacing PSU fan will most likely void warranty, plus they often use mini power connectors, so you would have to solder proper power plug to a fan. It's just a pain. I decided to solve the problem once and for all and just got a fanless PSU. Yes, a little pricy, I got it for $118 on sale, but so far so good and it was worth it for me knowing I won't ever have to deal with a noisy PSU fan.

 

[biostud]

No reason to choose a fan less over a semi passive. The fans in the case/CPU/GPU will be much louder than the fan in a semi passive PSU in any scenario. When you are surfing, the PSU fan is off, when you game the fan will spin up, but so will the GPU and CPU fan, and they make more noise than the PSU.

 

[DigDog]

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Power
or any other you can find.
300w draw from a i7 and a 770. really. PLEASE. the card itself can draw 260w at load, and thats w/o any OC, not counting fans and other peripherials, AIO pumps, leds, and any other bs.

"oh, i went with a 350w PSU and i was fine; just bad luck that the psu went bad after 2 years, shows that it was poor quality and you can go even lower with a better psu."

if you have a haswell rig the minimum psu wattage you should look at is 700w. if you want to make a sensible choice. otherwise, feel free to go with anything.

personally, i recommend the Hercules
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=324

 

[bononos]

Is it totally foolish to use a fanless psu for a gtx780/haswell rig?
How about SS semipassive?
Thanks

Kindof. Because psu fans aren't typically noisy and any noise will be drowned out by the louder case fans and the much noiser 780, in the usual psu at the bottom case design.
A silent/semi-fanless would be more expensive due to the larger heatsinks to compensate for the lack of fans or better more efficient design that needs less cooling. And I think having a fan is better for psu that has to power systems with large graphics cards like the 780 for longevity.

 

[bononos]

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Power
or any other you can find.
300w draw from a i7 and a 770. really. PLEASE. the card itself can draw 260w at load, and thats w/o any OC, not counting fans and other peripherials, AIO pumps, leds, and any other bs.
.......

Outervision overstates the power consumption.

300W for an i7+770 is reasonable if you take a look at the reviews-
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_770_review,5.html
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6994/nvidia-geforce-gtx-770-review/16
The AT review is using a heavily overclocked 3960X.

 

[thedosbox]

bononos is correct, outervision aren't accurate. They have deals with various PSU brands, and their job is to convince people they need "MOAR POWAH".

Heck, it takes system with an overclocked i7-3970X and GTX 770 SLI to draw more than 700W from the wall.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/gr...stream-zotac-gtx-770-amp-edition_6.html#sect1

 

[DigDog]

and if you had a system which draws 500W from the PSU,what size PSU would you buy?
(just want to have a giggle, humour me pls. we'll talk efficiency at load later on)

 

[ElFenix]

and if you had a system which draws 500W from the PSU,what size PSU would you buy?
(just want to have a giggle, humour me pls. we'll talk efficiency at load later on)

750 probably.


it takes a monster system to draw 500 watts from the supply

 

[DigDog]

if you have a haswell rig the minimum psu wattage you should look at is 700w. if you want to make a sensible choice.

so, something like this, for card, mobo, cpu, fans and drives, and peripherials?

 

[thedosbox]

and if you had a system which draws 500W from the PSU,what size PSU would you buy?

Um, you know well and good that PSU's are rated on their output. Hence, power draw at the wall is always going to be higher than the PSU capacity.

At least, I hope you do, otherwise you're giving advice based on a subject you know nothing about.

Having said that, all of the links provided thus far measure power at the wall - i.e. for an entire system. And none of the single GTX 770 systems will bother a 500W PSU.

 

[ehume]

I have a Seasonic X-460 gold-rated PSU for my test bench, where I measure fan noises in open air. I like it a lot because there is no fan in it. But if I was going to put it in a rig, I'd put a 500 RPM fan on the top, outside the unit -- slower if I could get one. That would assure a bit of airflow while also assuring that I would never hear any noise.

I have other units that are very quiet at idle, sometimes not running their fans. But they spin up when the PSU begins putting out 300 Watts or so, and you can hear them even though they are quiet. Hence the fanless unit; and hence my plan to use a very low speed fan if I ever use the unit in a rig.

YMMV.

 

[Torn Mind]

DigDog, you know what PSU calculators are? What they are are PROGRAMS, with algorithms coded in whatever language, probably Javascript. The components of the sum of wattages are arbitariarly chosen through some "estimate" of what the component will pull and then coded from "paper" to a language such as Javascript. What they are NOT are watt meters. The chosen estimated values are NOT EMPRICALLY VERIFIED through a WATT-METER.

What the hell are you smoking saying that a Haswell system needs 700 watts or else it isn't enough. Do you even know an bare IGP-only Haswell system is idling at 25-30 watts DC and your statement includes those systems?

PSUs are rated for DC power and they leave the customer to find out AC power draw at some DC power draw level.

For 80 Plus Gold units, 400 watts DC in a 500 watt unit requires that the PSU be able to dissipate about 45 watts of heat.

 

[DigDog]

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Power


personally, i recommend the Hercules
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=324
funny how after this, i get links for the forum sent to me in the mail.

i generally like to take a minimalistic approach to my systems, but, given that this is an ENTHUSIAST' forum, i tend to assume people have - you know - enthusiast level hardware in their rigs.
So right now my rig contains two HDD, a SSD, mouse/webcam/2 chargers/, 5 fans + a pump and led, a 1.3V CPU, 1.8V CIV, soon-to-be-voltmodded 770 (which also has 3 fans on it, funny, uh?), DVD, all of which like to work at full load. (ofc the guy above wants a 780, and who can blame him).

i'd also like my PSU to run at - shall we say - 70% load MAX, since i like to keep it within reasonable efficiency. i actually like to keep it at 50%, but for the sake of argument, we'll keep it at 70%.

Which means that, with a theoretical draw of 450W at the PSU, you'd want a 680W PSU (drawing 490W at the wall).

Yes, i can do basic math. And build systems too.