Making a "bare psu" fan noise and air volume comparison

[imported_Kiwi]

Because it's going into a PC that will be in the BR, and I leave my main system units running most of the time, I'm hoping for at least comparatively low amounts of noise, without also having to accept a relative minimum of air movement, from a psu.

Someone on a forum somewhere posted a trick of (momentarily) connecting two of the pins in the MB connector while the bare psu is plugged into a hard drive, to get the psu running. My recollection is that "pins one and two" were what were supposed to be connected, but on the psu's I was just looking at, I have no way to know which two those would be. Anyone know this trick and how to ID the right pins?

:beer:

 

[wisdomtooth]

Silent PC Review tests their PSUs bare, using a test rig instead of a computer. They already did all the work for you.

(hint: Just get a Seasonic PSU.)

 

[imported_Kiwi]

You have misunderstood me. I already have an Nspire 350, an Antec 350, and a Thermaltake 420, all of which are either new or almost new (if the referenced web site has ever tested those three, they left no tracks I could follow). I also have a new case from Directron that was not sold with an included psu. It is a fact that I shared my bedroom with some PC's in the earlier desktop computing years, while I still had teenage children at home here, but the PC's we had then were relatively quiet when idling compared to many of today's noisy machines.

My overall experience with matters such as degrees of loudness/quietness is that a great deal of the perception is actually individually subjective. Pitch is often as important as dB level. Thus, I still am interested in knowing how to identify those elusive "pins one and two" I read about, probably in a thread here at AT, so I can judge for myself.

 

[wisdomtooth]

That's easy... The Antec would probably be the least obnoxious of the bunch.

(hint: Just get a Seasonic PSU.) :laugh:

 

[ExpertNovice]

That has been my "problem" with the reviews as SPCR. They are great but then stop. The fan review started in late 2003 and was apparently done around October 2004. It was stated that new reviews would be done as they get new fans.

Instead of asking for fans from the manufacturers or resellers to review they request dontations from their readers. That is fine, but neither SilenX nor Yate Loon's have been reviewed at this point.

The same with PSU's. Newer PSU's have not been reviewed.

Thus, we come here to ask for others opinions.

That said.... from everything that I have read indicates the Seasonics to be the better and quieter PSU's.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Along those lines, for all of the discussion that has been generated by the ATX standard on psu's that added a second 12 Volt "leg", I have not yet run into a psu in a brick and mortar retailer's store that I could tell had met that new requirement.

MEANWHILE, I started by asking how to identify the specific leads in the connector that react to the case's power button.

I know it's early in the day on the west coast, but the good geeks on the east coast are arriving at home by now (by my definition this moment, "good geeks" try to avoid using employer PC hardware for personal use during working hours).

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Kiwi
Along those lines, for all of the discussion that has been generated by the ATX standard on psu's that added a second 12 Volt "leg", I have not yet run into a psu in a brick and mortar retailer's store that I could tell had met that new requirement.

MEANWHILE, I started by asking how to identify the specific leads in the connector that react to the case's power button.

I know it's early in the day on the west coast, but the good geeks on the east coast are arriving at home by now (by my definition this moment, "good geeks" try to avoid using employer PC hardware for personal use during working hours).

HAHA,

It's the green wire and any black (ground).

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Thanks. Also, I did find a photo online with a Google Search.

http://www.thedebug.com/images/psucon.jpg

That one shows a black line connected on the second row. The one on the top row is the green one, and there is a black one adjacent to it. I also note that I was probably (yes, I was) incorrect to refer to the connection as being momentary (I had in mind a setup of bare MB, without an on switch from a case).

When I did perform my noise tests, just now (it's Thursday morning now, in edit), none were spinning up to much speed with just a single HD as a load. It was difficult to judge the quietest between the Nspire and the Antec (SL350 "Smartblue" model), but the Antec was the one. All three have twin fans, with both the Antec and Nspire using a 120 as the intake on the bottom. None made very much noise at all in my tests, and the Thermaltake's minimal sound (it was the 80 mm intake on it that was louder by a fraction) would have been insignificant across the room next to the TV . .


:thumbsup: