Zalman 400w PSU quieter than my Antec 550w Truepower?

[Kenny]

I bought a 550w truepower refurb from newegg a while back, and this is a pretty silent PSU. I have a 20dba cpu fan, and a 21dba 3d card fan. I'm planning on getting the zalman heat pipe cooler to shut the video card up, and possibly looking for a silent cpu hsf as well. I'm running an overclocked 1700+ (@ ~2.0ghz) with a ti4200.

Other than the cpu and the video card fans, the only thing making noise now is the antec truepower. Are there any psus quieter than this? Maybe even silent? I have looked into a zalman 400w "silent" psu, but those go to about 21dba which is the same as my 550. I don't need 550w of power, so I can change it to a 400w if I wanted to. Is the zalman worth a try?

 

[GnomeCop]

In my experiance, it is quieter, but compared to your antec not by much. Your PSU is already a very nice one, not worth the upgrade. If you were in the market for a new one or if your old one broke then the zalman would be a good choice.

 

[OverVolt]

20dB too much for your sensitive ears eh?

I know OEM rigs that have noisier PSU's than that when it's hot n the fan is on fullblast.

BTW it's not worth the upgrade in my opinion unless u have wads of $$$ to burn in that case send some to me plz !

 

[Kenny]

Well I guess it doesn't get any quieter than the True550. I'm thinking about selling it and getting a zalman though, because I got the 550 really cheap. Just gonna get the vga heatpipe cooler first and see how it goes from there.

Thanks for the input.

 

[dragfree]

I'm about to replace two Truepowers, a Fortron, and an HEC. Every one pumps out plenty of current, and the Antec Truepowers are quiet enough. But none of the four has Active PFC.

Without active PFC, a 70% efficient PSU supplying 200 watts consumes about 570 watts. With active PFC, the same 70% efficient unit uses about 300 watts. At $0.20/kW (what I pay in California, thanks to Gray Davis) an active PFC PSU saves me about $10/month over the operating cost of a non PFC PSU. Yes, active PFC units are a bit more expensive initially, but it doesn't take long for them to pay for themselves and start saving you money.

The Zalman 400W PSU is quiet, puts out 235W on the +3.3v and +5v rails, and it has active PFC. Right now it's at the top of my short list. Even though I dread forking out $400 to replace 4 perfectly good PSUs, if I don't replace them I'll be spending the money anyway--at PG&E!

 

[render]

I have a fortron, which has Active PFC with full range AC input.
Most of their higher watts models have that feature.

 

[LiqwudIce]

I have a truepower too and the zalman heatpipe for my ti4400. Don't become obsessed like i did because all that will happen is you will notice your hard drives are the loudest parts in the system and it becomes annoying with nothing to do about it.