My Fortron FSP400-60PFN is LOUD

[Judd]

OK, so as a result of reading the reviews on Anandtech, I decided to replace my existing PSU with a Fortron.

The thing made a LOT of noise. (Regular old air rushing noise, not like there was a defect or something.)

Sooooo, I am wondering what the deal is. Why is it so loud? Here are some of my system characteristics with comments:

- Athlon 1200 MHz, Asus A7V133 motherboard with 1GB: I have heard that AMDs run VERY hot. Could it be that the PSU is needing to turn it's fan on high because of the demands of supplying the CPU? Would a new 2.4GHz Pentium 4 MB put less stress on the system, and use less power (and run at a lower fan speed?) I don't overclock at all.

- My case also has an additional exhaust fan just under the PSU.

- Reviews of the Fortron say that it has something called "Motherboard Monitoring" or something like that. Hmmm, what is THAT all about, and is there anything I need to do for that? Is there a connector for that? What is that 2x2 connector coming out of the supply? My PSU didn't seem to have any documentation with it.

- My other fans are all fairly quiet, so I am sure the noise is from my PSU.

Anyway, I am interested in any comments and/or ideas anyone might have.

Thanks,

Judd

 

[touchmyichi]

I just ordered one too...... Thats odd anandtech mentioned it wasn't that loud in their review. How is it working for you besides that though?

 

[pelikan]

I have the Fortron 350W and it was loud too. I replaced the fan and now its nice and quiet. Since its unlikely you'll even come close to using the potential power of this psu, I think its perfectly saft to use a quieter fan. I've been running mine with a quieter fan for nine months with no problems and have heard reports from many others who have safely used quieter fans.
Most people use a panaflo L1A. But to be on the safe side, and since my Fortron has a temperature controlled fan regulator, I put in this 28dB, 32CFM fan. The Fortron runs it at probably 7V unless the system is under load and its dead silent. A minute or so after starting up a game, the fans bumps up to full speed. I only run panaflo L1A's for my case fans and cpu hsf so I can definately hear this fan at full speed. But I wear headphones while gaming so its no problem.
Also, I must say that I am very happy with my Fortron. I have measured its output under load with a digital mutlimeter and the rails are solid and show no fluctuation at all.

 

[ahfung]

I've tried 2 and both of them are extremely quiet, I don't even know it's powered up. You might have got a bad one.

 

[wluk]

I was going to order a Fortron as well after reading anandtech's review. but now I think I will stick with enermax.

 

[Judd]

I am assuming that the fan noise is not due to bad design or a defective unit, but perhaps that my motherboard is using so much power that the unit is forced to crank up the fan. I was hoping someone might have some info which might shed some light on this.

I may try an experiment, hooking the PSU up to an old MB that I have, that I believe to use very little power, if it still makes a lot of noise, then I guess it is a PSU issue.

Judd