I need a recommendation for a silent PSU...

[Piuc2020]

I'm looking for a good balance between reliability, performance and silence without really sacrificing either but silence is the main priority I guess, so any suggestions? The topic summary contains the main specifications of the system the PSU will have to drive, I'll likely keep this PSU in the future so I'd like to have a little headroom since I'll be overclocking and adding a quad core later on.

Anyways, I'd like to keep it in the $100-$150 area or less preferably, I don't want something with massive wattage, I just want a good, silent PSU that'll be enough for my system with a little bit of headroom for upgrades.

Suggestions?

 

[Piuc2020]

Stupid me pressed quote instead of edit...

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
I don't want something with massive wattage, I just want a good, silent PSU that'll be enough for my system with a little bit of headroom for upgrades.

More of some general suggestions... your setup can probably run on any good 450W+ PSU. The problem is you want it as quiet as possible. Most PSU fans start ramping up in speed once they hit a certain output. This means you probably want about double what you need, thus at idle you are using less than 25% capacity and at load around 50%. This keeps the PSU below the fan ramp-up, plus gives you a bit of overhead for future stuff. Anyways, just a suggestion.

 

[imported_Scoop]

You said silent? Silverstone ST45NF. A quality 450W passive PSU that will run your system with ease. Many other options stand for 'quiet' PSUs that you might or might not hear depending on various variables.

 

[EvilBob]

The enermax 525 would power the components you list just fine, probably without running up its fan, and falls within your price range (at least with the current rebate). it's pretty quiet - heck, with a 4870 in there, you'd be hard pressed to hear much else when that winds up

(I have that 525 on my wish list for a htpc i'm hoping to build for me at xmas! LOL)

Enermax 525 at Newegg