Need PSU advice, silence is important =D

[B00M123]

Hi there.
I'm in the market for a new PSU to replace my Corsair TX650W. The main reason for this is that my current PSU has a loud fan and whistles a little
I actually bought a Corsair AX860 about a month ago. It was perfect, but after a day it began to coil whine whilst on idle which is unacceptable and which drove me mad (I have very sensitive hearing.) So I sent it back to Amazon and got a refund. Its a shame because it had everything I want in a PSU which is:
-Silent operation with a hybrid fan mode
-FULL black braided modular cables (without the nasty coloured end on the 24pin)
-Very good quality components and high efficiency

Now I can either risk it again and buy the AX860 for £137 here in the UK which is a great deal, or find another PSU that suits my needs. The only other PSU I have seen is the new Seasonic 760w '80 Plus Platinum' (the new XP2 version). I'm mainly interested in this because its exactly the same as the Corsair unit but maybe it doesn't coil whine. That's the big question, coil whine. Has anyone heard of these new XP2 units coil whining? Anyway, hopefully you lot can help.

This is my current system, I know an 860W PSU is very overpowered, but why the hell not and I like to future proof myself. Also there's a greater selection of PSU's available at a higher wattage.
AMD 955BE OC 4GHZ
AMD 6970 OC
CORSAIR XMS3 8GB RAM
1TB WD HDD
CORSAIR TX650

I'm planning on upgrading to a 3770K and a new mobo soon or wait until Haswell.

Thanks =D

 

[Deders]

The BeQuiet range are so silent you won't notice they are on. Reliable too.

 

[Demo24]

I effectively have a 600w version of that Seasonic, on hybrid fan mode I hardly ever notice it on. Just browsing around, long as room temps aren't too high, afaik the fan never kicks in, and my 7970 easily overpowers it with noise during gaming. Significantly quieted my computer over the OCZ Modstream I had before. If my 7970 weren't so loud I'd probably never notice the computer was on.

 

[gpse]

I had this and it was silent:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817151095

 

[lehtv]

where are you buying from

I have an X660 myself, it's perfect. The X650 KM3 with ribbon cables is even better

 

[B00M123]

Because I'm in the UK I usually order from Amazon or Ebuyer. Thanks for the recommendations. I figured it was either Corsair or Seasonic for me, and being that they are both practically the same I went for what had the best features for me. Took a gamble and ordered another Corsair AX860
Ill report back whether or not this has any dreaded coil whine.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm in the UK as well. I normally go with Antec HCG models (the modular ones have 'M' on the end of the model number), though I don't know how far up they go in terms of how much power they can deliver. I've used the 400 and 520 models and they're pretty quiet (my baseline for a quiet PSU is from the old Corsair VX450W). Since the VX450W I haven't been that happy with Corsair's offerings (reliability and noisiness in the CX range, noisiness of a lot of the 'V2' models).

I tend to build Intel systems without graphics cards these days, and as the stock HSF runs virtually silent, so the chassis fan and PSU needs to as well.

 

[lehtv]

XFX 750W Black Edition £112 @ ebuyer

It's based on the Seasonic X750. Same hybrid fan control (with a switch to turn it on/off), same caps, same efficiency etc.

AX860 is too powerful for your system. Even the X750 is a bit overkill, your setup would run on a passive Seasonic X460 without any trouble but I figured that it'd be nice to have support for dual GPUs. The Corsair AX860 probably cost you over £150. You have chance to save £40+ if you cancel the order

 

[cubby1223]

I have this power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371044

I'm nuts about reducing fan noise, like for instance I have a 500rpm 120mm fan cooling the ginormous cpu heatsink. This power supply is stupid crazy quiet. But it's not modular, sorry.

 

[B00M123]

Thanks for the helpful replies. Even though I ordered the AX860 with next day delivery it still didn't arrive :twisted:
That XFX does look very nice lehtv, is the same as the Seasonic's. That's the thing though, it would have just a high a chance of having coil whine as the Corsair because theyr'e both pretty much the same Seasonic PSU. It would have saved some money your right, but I bought the Corsair for only £136, so not a massive amount. Also I dont believe there is such thing as an overpowered PSU if you plan to upgrade soon, which I definitely want to do =D
Ill update when the Corsair AX860 arrives hopefully tomorrow!

 

[lehtv]

Also I dont believe there is such thing as an overpowered PSU if you plan to upgrade soon, which I definitely want to do =D

Depends entirely on what you're planning to upgrade to. If simply more modern versions of the same components (midrange CPU with OC, high end GPU), then you're not going to be using any more power than currently.

 

[B00M123]

Yes that's true, but only if I was planning to stay with mid range components. This is my first build and its already a few years old. Soon Ill be getting either a 3770k or a high end Haswell chip as well as a 780 or 8970 (whenever they come out). So I'd prefer to spend just that little bit more and get a higher wattage PSU, and have plenty of power to spare when I come to upgrade to high end components. Also, there are no negative effects to a rig with a overpowered PSU. So why not in my case =D

 

[tweakboy]

Because I'm in the UK I usually order from Amazon or Ebuyer. Thanks for the recommendations. I figured it was either Corsair or Seasonic for me, and being that they are both practically the same I went for what had the best features for me. Took a gamble and ordered another Corsair AX860
Ill report back whether or not this has any dreaded coil whine.

Get the Corsair 600w with multi 12v railings.

I got my thermaltake toughpower and I dont hear nothing coming from it, all fans are silents for me,,,,, I can h2o with fans spinning at 25 percent , at 100 percent feels like a Jet F16 is about to come crashing in my room. And I leave it at 30 percent auto for desktop non gaming,, and auto for gaming which gets loud but I wear HPs. The PSU has seen x800 days so its still working nicely quiet. It has not died got it in 2007. I dont know why people shrug off thermaltake they make great products for the enthusiast OCer. gl

Also another point,, non of my fans from Tt have never died or led go out.

Their the top tier people need to start understanding that. When you have more money you put out a great product right,, gl

 

[GAO]

Yes that's true, but only if I was planning to stay with mid range components. This is my first build and its already a few years old. Soon Ill be getting either a 3770k or a high end Haswell chip as well as a 780 or 8970 (whenever they come out). So I'd prefer to spend just that little bit more and get a higher wattage PSU, and have plenty of power to spare when I come to upgrade to high end components. Also, there are no negative effects to a rig with a overpowered PSU. So why not in my case =D

I don't know what you currently have, but I expect the Ivy or Haswell consumes less power. The trend in both GPU and CPU is less power. A GTX 780 with a Haswell or Ivy probably would suffice with a 550W PSU. Unless you are going to go with 3 graphics, a 650W-750W should suffice you even for SLI - even OC.

 

[lehtv]

Yes that's true, but only if I was planning to stay with mid range components. This is my first build and its already a few years old. Soon Ill be getting either a 3770k or a high end Haswell chip as well as a 780 or 8970 (whenever they come out).

The Intel CPU will consume less power than your current CPU, and the high end GPU will consume the same amount of power as your current GPU which was high end in its own generation. As I said, you won't need any more power than for your current rig

Also, there are no negative effects to a rig with a overpowered PSU. So why not in my case =D

There are negative effects. The main one being that you pay a lot more for a more powerful unit. Less importantly, efficiency especially at idle will be drastically worse with a 850W unit than a 500-600W unit, all other things being equal.

 

[Maximilian]

The Intel CPU will consume less power than your current CPU, and the high end GPU will consume the same amount of power as your current GPU which was high end in its own generation. As I said, you won't need any more power than for your current rig

There are negative effects. The main one being that you pay a lot more for a more powerful unit. Less importantly, efficiency especially at idle will be drastically worse with a 850W unit than a 500-600W unit, all other things being equal.

Its not that bad. I used a 400w seasonic fanless for a while and am now on a 1200w antec PSU, both gold rated, 95w at the wall for the seasonic, 100w with the antec. Same components. I was expecting much worse but the efficiency difference between them at low loads is pretty small.

 

[B00M123]

Again thank you for the help everyone. But to be honest it wasnt the wattage of PSU I was asking, more about the silence.

lehtv -

The AX860 is only about £20 more than Seasonic 650W PSU's, so that's not paying a lot more. And even then, I dont mind paying more. Strangely the AX760 was a lot more at the time of ordering than the AX860 =D

Also, from looking at various reviews of the AX860, at only 20% load the efficiency is still 90-92%. So its hardly drastically worse. And at even lower loads the efficiency is still good.

In conclusion. In the future who knows what I might upgrade my rig with. I could end up going with a Titan sli if I really wanted to. The extra watts are nice to have with only a little more expense and a very slightly lower efficiency at low loads =D

 

[lehtv]

Its not that bad. I used a 400w seasonic fanless for a while and am now on a 1200w antec PSU, both gold rated, 95w at the wall for the seasonic, 100w with the antec. Same components. I was expecting much worse but the efficiency difference between them at low loads is pretty small.

That's an exception rather than a rule.

 

[lehtv]

Also, from looking at various reviews of the AX860, at only 20% load the efficiency is still 90-92%. So its hardly drastically worse. And at even lower loads the efficiency is still good.

Your idle power consumption will be much lower than just 20%. And even lower after you upgrade to Haswell. The reason that unit, or any unit for that matter, is efficient at 20% load is because 80 Plus certification requires it. 80 Plus tests units at 20%, 50% and 100% loads - which means that below 20% and above 100% it's completely irrelevant how efficient the unit is. Typically, a Gold rated unit will be only a bit over 80% efficient at 10% load.

In conclusion. In the future who knows what I might upgrade my rig with.

You're trying to justify buying overkill components with what-if's rather than will-be's. Which is what everyone who buys overkill components does.

I could end up going with a Titan sli if I really wanted to. The extra watts are nice to have with only a little more expense and a very slightly lower efficiency at low loads =D

If you ended up going to Titan SLI, it would hardly matter if you had to replace the PSU. $1800 spent on GPUs versus $1900 spent on GPUs plus a PSU - insignificant difference.

 

[B00M123]

leh tv - No offence but why do you care so much about my PSU being overpowered? I never questioned what size PSU to buy. Im not justifying anything. I had the money to buy a high wattage PSU. Its irrelevant that my reasons are "what if's". Id rather not have to spend another £130 pounds on a new PSU if I go crossfire/sli with very high end cards. £130 pounds is not a insignificant difference.
You seem more worried about it being overpowered than anyone else and you seem like you have a real problem with people buying overpowered PSU's! Are you the overpowered PSU police? =D

Anyway... I now have the AX860 in my rig with no coil whine and its very quiet indeed =D But now I can hear my ASUS 6970 DCU2 buzzing and the fans on it! Put my old 6870 in and its very quiet. The game of the pursuit of silence has begun. Next it'll be my noisy WD HDD that I need to replace.

Thanks again people!

 

[lehtv]

None taken. I don't care at an emotional level... I'm just having a discussion here, is this a problem? I'm not criticizing you, I'm just responding to what you say about why you bought the PSU. Despite what you said, you are trying to justify it, at least that's what it looks like.

I know you had the money to buy it but so what? It doesn't make sense to buy something just because you can afford it, I'm sure this is a concept you're familiar with.

£130 is firstly not what you'd have to pay for an upgrade because you could sell the existing unit and recoup most of the cost of the new unit. And yes the difference is insignificant compared to $1800 on graphics cards. You're also forgetting that the XFX 750W could run two Titans just fine.

I'm not worried about your PSU one bit, it's a great PSU and you'll have zero trouble with it. You're not interpreting me right... I honestly couldn't give a rat's you-know-what whether your PSU has bad efficiency or not. But I do give plenty about what's fact and what's fiction. Let me recap our discussion:

You: there are no cons to using an overpowered PSU
Me: incorrect: a) cost of the unit itself and b) lower idle efficiency
You: a) I can afford it; b) the unit is still very efficient at 20% load
Me: a) so what, it's still a con; b) idle load is much lower than 20%
You: waahhh mommy help, lehtv is worried

 

[B00M123]

ME: I don't care about those cons, they really do not affect me! The 860 is cheaper than the 760 in UK a lot of the time and was when I ordered it. I was pretty set on that Corsair line of PSU's for efficiency, reliablility, quality, looks, silence and the option of using corsair braided cables. So 760 was the smallest I could get but 860 was cheapest. I went for 860. So the con of it being a waste of money is not true now, for me.
Efficiency wise at different loads, I really couldn't care less as long as its platinum. Your are correct there because obviously the efficiency at low loads will be worse than a lower wattage PSU.
I have had the AX860 for a few days now so this is pointless. Lets be clear I am not saying your wrong, just that those cons do not apply to me. They may be to you, but not to me. And obviously you feel strongly about them.
It seems you were the one with your knickers in a twist, I couldn't care less that your worried.
And no I wasn't calling for my mummy :biggrin:

Anyway. One more thing. After the first day I heard that glorious sound of coil whine! Either my luck is bad or its my system, My 6970 is dieing I think (shitty ASUS) and I think that could be the issue.

 

[lehtv]

It seems you were the one with your knickers in a twist

I can't help but sense a lot of irony here.

I couldn't care less that your worried.

Did I say I was worried? No. Please learn to read what people post before replying.

 

[Sleepingforest]

I was pretty set on that Corsair line of PSU's for efficiency, reliablility, quality, looks, silence and the option of using corsair braided cables.

Err... why did you not just say this in the beginning? It would have been helpful to know that you already had an idea of what you wanted...

Anyway, the cons still do apply to you--you will still pay higher electricity costs, still had to pay an extra 20£, and it offers no benefits over XFX 750 (in fact, Corsair is consistently rated worse in efficiency, reliability, quality, and quietness than the Seasonic X750, which the XFX unit is a rebadge of--plus the 750W XFX unit comes with braided cables anyway). You just happen to not care about the waste, which is not evil or anything, but it does irritate the less wealthy among us, since that money could have gone to actually getting a new graphics card or something.

On the topic of your coil whine: it could be your PSU--googling for "corsair 860 issues" shows that coil whine is a common problem for that unit (and indeed, most very quiet fan units without potted coils).

 

[lehtv]

You just happen to not care about the waste, which is not evil or anything, but it does irritate the less wealthy among us

Not really that. It's nothing to do with anyone's wealth, but with honesty and appreciation for what makes sense and what doesn't. It's not the fact that someone buys an overkill component that irritates, it's that as he does so, he goes on to justify his decision with senseless rationalizations, and when corrected, says he doesn't care anyway.