Power Supply Recommendation (quiet one)

[CubicZirconia]

As I sit here and try to write a paper, the noise my psu is producing is driving me crazy. I've been wanting to get a new one for a long time, and I think now is the time. So does anyone have any psu recommendations? It will be running an athlon 1800+ setup for the time being, but I may switch to a p4 setup late this year or early next year. My primary concern is noise; I want it to be silent (or nearly so). I'm willing to spend up wards of 50 bucks, but it would be nice if it wasn't too spendy.

 

[beatle]

You want one of these. I have one that will likely be going in my HTPC rig. If cotton balls could reproduce sexually, they would make more noise than this PSU.

 

[Dug]

Fortron.
I have one and it is completely silent. I can hear my Seagate hd over it, and that's the quietest hd out there.



It can handle my p4 2.4 oc to 3.3, ati 9800, 2 hd's, 2 120mm fans, cdrw, nic better than my Antec 380w.
Fortron

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: beatle
You want one of these. I have one that will likely be going in my HTPC rig.

And if you really want it to be quiet you could put a 120mm Panaflo L1a in it. But that looks like a really cool PSU. Wish I didn't spend upwards of $50 on my Antec. Plus this PSU has a massive fan to take air away from the CPU.

-Por

 

[beatle]

Originally posted by: PorBleemo

Originally posted by: beatle
You want one of these. I have one that will likely be going in my HTPC rig.

And if you really want it to be quiet you could put a 120mm Panaflo L1a in it. But that looks like a really cool PSU. Wish I didn't spend upwards of $50 on my Antec. Plus this PSU has a massive fan to take air away from the CPU.

-Por

I know how you feel, Porbleemo. I also have an Antec (True330) and while it's not noisy, it's not nearly as quiet as the inexpensive Fortron.

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: beatle

Originally posted by: PorBleemo

Originally posted by: beatle
You want one of these. I have one that will likely be going in my HTPC rig.

And if you really want it to be quiet you could put a 120mm Panaflo L1a in it. But that looks like a really cool PSU. Wish I didn't spend upwards of $50 on my Antec. Plus this PSU has a massive fan to take air away from the CPU.

-Por

I know how you feel, Porbleemo. I also have an Antec (True330) and while it's not noisy, it's not nearly as quiet as the inexpensive Fortron.

So if the Fortron is plenty reliable, what the heck is the point of buying an Antec? Brand name? And I'm assuming if a buy a 400 watt version fo the same psu it should be just as quiet, right? Same fan and everything.

Edit: Or some higher wattage version, if one is made.

 

[Lyfer]

From what I've read that Fotron 300W can be tricky to install thanx to the "non flush" design of the fan grill. But you could try to remove the fan grill.

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: Lyfer
From what I've read that Fotron 300W can be tricky to install thanx to the "non flush" design of the fan grill. But you could try to remove the fan grill.

That's what the reviews said at newegg. Hmmmm...

I've got a dremel, I can just cut it off. As long as snakes don't start crawling in there, it will be ok.

 

[Dug]

So if the Fortron is plenty reliable, what the heck is the point of buying an Antec? Brand name? And I'm assuming if a buy a 400 watt version fo the same psu it should be just as quiet, right? Same fan and everything.

There is no point in buying an Antec. The only reason I have an Antec is because it came with the Antec case I bought.

The grill on the Fortron would only be a problem in very few cases. I personally don't see how it could be a problem at all. It's only the thickness of the grill that's different from other power supplies. If you don't have that much room in your case for 2mm thickness grill, I would think you have a bad case design.

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: Dug

So if the Fortron is plenty reliable, what the heck is the point of buying an Antec? Brand name? And I'm assuming if a buy a 400 watt version fo the same psu it should be just as quiet, right? Same fan and everything.

There is no point in buying an Antec. The only reason I have an Antec is because it came with the Antec case I bought.

The grill on the Fortron would only be a problem in very few cases. I personally don't see how it could be a problem at all. It's only the thickness of the grill that's different from other power supplies. If you don't have that much room in your case for 2mm thickness grill, I would think you have a bad case design.

I have a lian-li pc-65, I don't think I need to worry about bad case design. I'll probably end up buying the Fortron, looks like what I'm looking for.

 

[slaves123]

Only one thing, Thermaltake Silent PurePower, best of all around this little world I recommend it to everyone, believe when I tell you it is not cheap, but it value its weight in gold. Sorry if my english is not too natural, as you can asume i'm not an english speaker, greeting from Argentina, see you!!

MFP

 

[Pothead]

http://www.svc.com/se40wsmandsi.html

http://www.svc.com/za40wtecocof.html

http://www.quiet-pc.com

 

[PrinceXizor]

I'll give you one guess as to what actual company manufactures the guts of the quiet PSU's from Zalaman et al....(hint: it starts with an 'F')

The reason MOST people have antec PSU's is

1. They are nice PSU's in general
2. They're a really good deal when you get them with your case.

P-X

 

[Nebor]

Quiet = Zalman. They use massive heatsinks in there, and only ONE fan. I believe it's a 120mm. But a Zalman will cost you a lot more than a cheapie. The one I'm wanting is $150, presleeved.

 

[VansTheMan]

<rant> fyi, Enermax is gay. I bought a new/used power supply from a guy and it worked for about an hour. I called to RMA it since it's less than a year old and the RMA guy spoke to me like I was retarded and it was a big chore for him to take time out of his schedule to talk to me. Also, because I don't have a copy of the original invoice, they won't give me an RMA#. </rant> It's the EG365P-FC model and it was extremely quiet while it was running. The dual fans were nice and one fan is controlled by the mobo for even quieter operation.

 

[CubicZirconia]

So is it worth going Zalman over Fortron? And there is no way I'm spending 100 bucks on a power supply. That's crazy talk. Even 85 for the 400 watt unit at Newegg is pretty expensive.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: CubicZirconia
So is it worth going Zalman over Fortron? And there is no way I'm spending 100 bucks on a power supply. That's crazy talk.

Fiiiine, but don't come whining to me when your motherboard is firing 2 capacitors an hour through the side of your case. And get some goggles.

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: CubicZirconia
So is it worth going Zalman over Fortron? And there is no way I'm spending 100 bucks on a power supply. That's crazy talk.

Fiiiine, but don't come whining to me when your motherboard is firing 2 capacitors an hour through the side of your case. And get some goggles.

Yeah, I'll get right on that. I guess after spending just 25 bucks on my current psu it's hard to see spending so much more. Granted, my current unit is extremely loud, but still. I'm considering the 400 watt zalman at newegg, I'd really like to know if it's any better than the Fortron unit though.

 

[Nebor]

I believe it's based off the Fortron, but has zalman circuitry and different fans in it.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Originally posted by: Nebor
I believe it's based off the Fortron, but has zalman circuitry and different fans in it.

Fortron supplies most of the guts for the Zalaman, Thermaltake, SilenX quiet PSU's. I don't about different circuitry, but usually the two major differences are the size and configuration of the internal heat sinks and the type of fan used.

Here's the link to the Fortron base model that is used for the other units (as far as I am aware) for $59.00 plus shipping at Directron.

http://www.directron.com/fsp40060pfn.html

Its quite (maybe not as quiet as the others, but quiet).

P-X

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: PrinceXizor

Originally posted by: Nebor
I believe it's based off the Fortron, but has zalman circuitry and different fans in it.

Fortron supplies most of the guts for the Zalaman, Thermaltake, SilenX quiet PSU's. I don't about different circuitry, but usually the two major differences are the size and configuration of the internal heat sinks and the type of fan used.

Here's the link to the Fortron base model that is used for the other units (as far as I am aware) for $59.00 plus shipping at Directron.

http://www.directron.com/fsp40060pfn.html

Its quite (maybe not as quiet as the others, but quiet).

P-X

Now the question is whether or not I should buy that or spend another ~30 bucks for a zalman. Hmmmm...

 

[Blastman]

Those Fortron 300w and 350w psu?s units at Newegg are the new psu units and have been redesigned. The fan has been moved from the back of the psu to the top. Installing them is no longer going to be a problem.

fortron old design psu

fortron new 300W

fortron new 350W

 

[PrinceXizor]

Ok...now you've got me really confused.

Honestly, these look totally differnt. Are you sure they are marketed under the same p/n? The Directron link shows the "old" style as well for the p/n I was talking about. Edit: Further looking at Directron seems to indicate different p/n's. That's not a redesign but a whole different concept for High CFM throughput. Further, part pics can be wrong sometimes.

Different fan, no direct venting to the outside? I haven't seen the Zalamn PSU, but the SilenX one looks like the "old" design.

P-X

 

[Nebor]

BTW, the Zalman is black. Sexah.

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: Blastman
Those Fortron 300w and 350w psu?s units at Newegg are the new psu units and have been redesigned. The fan has been moved from the back of the psu to the top. Installing them is no longer going to be a problem.

fortron old design psu

fortron new 300W

fortron new 350W

So it just vents the air back into the case? That doesn't sound like a great idea.