Silent PSU question??

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
R

robisc

Platinum Member
Oct 13, 1999
2,664
0
76
I am trying to severely silence one of my main systems, I have already installed 2 Nexus 92mm Real Silent Case Fans and a Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu cooler, it is much quieter, now what is left is my THERMALTAKE Silent Pure Power TT-420AD(DUAL FAN) and it isn?t ?silent?. I have been doing a lot of research and have settled on a Seasonic PSU, I have read the review of the Super Silencer 400 and the energy efficiency as well as the quietness impress me, but when doing some price shopping I also ran across the Super Silencer 460, now my dilemma is that since the cost of the 460 shipped is $79 and the 400 is $94 shipped, one?s first inclination would be to go with the ?bigger? one for less $$ but since I don?t see a review of the 460 I wonder is it as efficient as the 400 and as quiet? The specs for my system are below; also note I don?t over clock or game. The final things I need to hush will be the little fan on my video card, it is an ECS Radeon 9200, I am not sure of the fan size, but any recommendations on a fan change on this is appreciated. And finally the WD Raptor HDD, though it is probably impossible to quiten this, so I guess I will have to deal with it. I posted this over at SilentPC boards but I'm not sure what kind of traffic they get so I put it here as well.

Specs:

CASE: Kingwin aluminum full tower
PSU: THERMALTAKE Silent PurePower TT-420AD
Motherboard: SOLTEK SL-K8AN2E-GR
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000
Cooler: Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu
RAM: 2 x512MB Geil
Video: ECS Radeon 9200
HDDs: WD Raptor 72GB, WD IDE 7200 120GB, WD IDE 7200 200GB
Audio: Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS
TV: Hauppauge 250 MCE
Fans: 2 Nexus 92mm Real Silent Case Fans

 
M

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
8,808
0
0
1) The Seasonic Super Tornado, and the new Seasonic S12 series, are quieter than the Super Silencer models (stupid naming, I know).

2) You have somewhere between 100 and 150W worth of stuff in that system. Unless you are pondering some *huge* upgrades in the near future, a Super Tornado 300 or 350W would be more than enough for you.

3) www.silentpcreview.com has reviewed most quiet power supplies and done a bang-up job of it.
 
W

wisdomtooth

Golden Member
Dec 21, 2004
1,155
0
0
Robisc:

The Seasonic Super Silencers are nice and quiet, but the 80mm fan does not vent that good. You want the Seasonic Super Tornado or S12 as Matthias said. These have a 120mm fan and vents much better (and even quieter). The Super Tornado 400 and S12-430 both cost about $80 at PC Alchemy.

I can sympathize with your situation-- I also bought a not-so-Silent Purepower thinking that it might be quiet. Thing moans like a frankenstein. Got rid of it after a month and picked up a Seasonic Super Tornado instead, and couldn't be happier.

HTH.
 
R

robisc

Platinum Member
Oct 13, 1999
2,664
0
76
thanks guys, good stuff, and as for silentpcreview, theydo have a lot of reviews, but just not the 460 version, that's why I was asking. Also agreed about the naming convention, the Tornado series, according to the name "should" be loud.
 
F

Fisher999

Golden Member
Nov 12, 1999
1,670
0
0
Originally posted by: wisdomtooth
Robisc:

The Seasonic Super Silencers are nice and quiet, but the 80mm fan does not vent that good. You want the Seasonic Super Tornado or S12 as Matthias said. These have a 120mm fan and vents much better (and even quieter). The Super Tornado 400 and S12-430 both cost about $80 at PC Alchemy....
Click to expand...

Wisdom is wise. He and silentpcreview.com have me convinced that the Seasonic S12-430 would be an excellent choice for you. :)
 
F

Fisher999

Golden Member
Nov 12, 1999
1,670
0
0
Originally posted by: deanx0r
Probably the best bang for the buck right now.
Fortron 460W PSU 'BlueStorm'
12cm fan, sleeved cables.
$69 shipped

http://www.actbuy.com/details.asp?item=FS17500-2.0
Click to expand...

Ironically Dean, Wisdom and I were discussing the pros and cons of the very P/S you mention versus the Seasonic S12-430 in a thread of mine that he was so kind to voice his excellent recommendations. Wisdom really suggested that it was in my best interest to go with the Seasonic but because of my stubborness I went with the Fortron Source AX-500A for $97 delivered over here at NewEgg.Based on the price I paid I feel I should have gone with Wisdom's recommendation on the roughly $82 Seasonic S12-430 from over here at PCAlchemy.

However, based on the EXCELLENT price you found at ActBuy ($69 delivered) for the Fortron Source AX500A the decision gets tougher.

2 points:

1) I hadn't heard of actbuy.com so I went to Resellerratings.com and looked them up. There have only been 16 reviews for them so far but they are rated VERY HIGH ar resellerratings.com with a PERFECT 10 !!!

2) Check out this review of the Fortron Source AX-500A at silentpcreview.com and this one at Toms Hardware and you will see that the Fortron Source AX-500A has some very positive attributes.

The Fortron Source AX-500A, according to silentpcreview.com, "...has an extremely flat efficiency curve, and its peak efficiency is between 150W and 250W: right in the typical power range. There are other power supplies that have a higher peak efficiency, but these units typically reach this peak at wattages that are beyond what most systems draw. Furthermore, the difference between the highest and the lowest measured efficiency for the whole 460W range was just 3%. Our measurements place the Blue Storm well above its rated efficiency of >70%..."

However, the Fortron Source is a little bit noisier than it's counterparts.

The Seasonic S12-430 that Wisdomtooth recommends not only is a very EFFICIENT power supply but also has very good airflow characteristics and is VERY QUIET.

It's a tough call since you found the Fortron AX-500A so cheaply from a seeminly reliable internet vendor but the Seasonic has a lot going for it even at $82 !!! :)
 
F

Fisher999

Golden Member
Nov 12, 1999
1,670
0
0
Originally posted by: ribbon13
If you're budget minded this would do as well, though Seasonic has my full blessing (A Seasonic S12-600 can run my workstation)
Click to expand...

Thanks ribbon for the seeminly EXCELLENT recommendation on the reasonably-priced XClio 450W P/S. :D

One of the reviewer at your link to Newegg (Rad777) states that the Xclio P/S are manufactured by "...the makers of ...Zalman, Sparkle, Fortron, and PC Power & Cooling..." power supplys. To your knowledge, is this a fact ??? :confused:
 
D

deanx0r

Senior member
Oct 1, 2002
890
20
76
I am currently doing some search to build my next rig, and I have to admit it: case and PSU are among those parts that will torn you apart to achieve a decision.

All the PSU I was considering were 120mm single fan type. I had my eyes on the OCZ modstreamm for a while. It was looking very good, excellent construction, modular conneciton, LED and all the purty extra but xbitslabs in a recent PSU roundup determined that it was unstable.

The CoolerMaster RS-450-ACLY was also a top choice along with the Seasonic units that everyone at AT has been praising. I had that Fortron on actbuy bookmarked for a few weeks, and it was priced for $80 bucks for a while. And it was only today when I checked that site again that I saw it for $69.

I think it all depends of your priorities.

I really liked the LED fan of the CoolerMaster in addition of the very in deep review xbits did on it with a favorable opinion.

The Seasonic was in my list but IMO ultra low noise level wasn't my first priority.

As for the Fortron, I think the sleeved cables almost sold me, but finding it for $69 shipped was a steal IMO. :)


Originally posted by: Fisher999
Originally posted by: deanx0r
Probably the best bang for the buck right now.
Fortron 460W PSU 'BlueStorm'
12cm fan, sleeved cables.
$69 shipped

http://www.actbuy.com/details.asp?item=FS17500-2.0
Click to expand...

Ironically Dean, Wisdom and I were discussing the pros and cons of the very P/S you mention versus the Seasonic S12-430 in a thread of mine that he was so kind to voice his excellent recommendations. Wisdom really suggested that it was in my best interest to go with the Seasonic but because of my stubborness I went with the Fortron Source AX-500A for $97 delivered over here at NewEgg.Based on the price I paid I feel I should have gone with Wisdom's recommendation on the roughly $82 Seasonic S12-430 from over here at PCAlchemy.

However, based on the EXCELLENT price you found at ActBuy ($69 delivered) for the Fortron Source AX500A the decision gets tougher.

2 points:

1) I hadn't heard of actbuy.com so I went to Resellerratings.com and looked them up. There have only been 16 reviews for them so far but they are rated VERY HIGH ar resellerratings.com with a PERFECT 10 !!!

2) Check out this review of the Fortron Source AX-500A at silentpcreview.com and this one at Toms Hardware and you will see that the Fortron Source AX-500A has some very positive attributes.

The Fortron Source AX-500A, according to silentpcreview.com, "...has an extremely flat efficiency curve, and its peak efficiency is between 150W and 250W: right in the typical power range. There are other power supplies that have a higher peak efficiency, but these units typically reach this peak at wattages that are beyond what most systems draw. Furthermore, the difference between the highest and the lowest measured efficiency for the whole 460W range was just 3%. Our measurements place the Blue Storm well above its rated efficiency of >70%..."

However, the Fortron Source is a little bit noisier than it's counterparts.

The Seasonic S12-430 that Wisdomtooth recommends not only is a very EFFICIENT power supply but also has very good airflow characteristics and is VERY QUIET.

It's a tough call since you found the Fortron AX-500A so cheaply from a seeminly reliable internet vendor but the Seasonic has a lot going for it even at $82 !!! :)
Click to expand...

 
F

Fisher999

Golden Member
Nov 12, 1999
1,670
0
0
Originally posted by: deanx0r
As for the Fortron, I think the sleeved cables almost sold me, but finding it for $69 shipped was a steal IMO. :)

Originally posted by: deanx0r
Click to expand...


You aren't kidding there !!! As you know, I just paid $97 delivered for it ! :disgust:
Click to expand...
 
A

aatf510

Golden Member
Nov 13, 2004
1,811
0
0
For your video card, I would suggest getting a fanless heatsink for it as the 9200 is not suppose to give out much heat.
Also, getting a fanless PSU is not a bad idea since your system will use very little power.
 
F

Fisher999

Golden Member
Nov 12, 1999
1,670
0
0
Originally posted by: robisc
went with the Seasonic S12-380, thanks for all the info.
Click to expand...

You're welcome for the info and congradulations on the Seasonic S12-380 purchase.
Best of luck to you !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom