Help me select a power supply

Toth · Post by **Toth** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:15 pm

So I've done some more reading, and would like to finally get a new power supply. I put it off 6 months ago because I wanted to wait for very efficient non-Seasonic PSUs to hit the market, and my PC's noise is hardly an issue when I have a box fan running in my room to keep cool

However, as winter is approaching, I'd like to quiet my PC down a bit further.

Currently I have the Antec SL350S which comes included with the SLK3700-BQE. The PSU is nice and stable, but it is incredibly hot and loud. Even when my computer has been idling all night, the air coming out of the PSU is warm while the air exhausted by my 120mm rear fan is cool (regardless of whether or not the fan is running at 5V or 12V -- the PSU is not just hot because it's exhausting warm air from the CPU). Considering how hot the Antec PSU runs, I think replacing it with a better more efficient PSU will both bring down case temps and reduce noise.

All that said, I've narrowed my decision down to four PSUs. My primary concern is efficiency, followed closely by noise. As a college student, cost is also a major factor...it's hard to justify spending alot of money on a PSU when I could go buy a game, book, or extra storage space. Here are the four I've narrowed it down to (all prices are shipped from newegg):

$67 Seasonic Super Tornado 300W (350W = $77)
$55 Enermax NoiseTaker 320W EG325P-VE SFMA (420W = $73...it's cheaper on newegg than the 370W)
$42 Coolmax Taurus CX-350B 350W
$47 Fortron-Source Aurora 350W

I am a bit partial to the the idea of a 120mm PSU, but the efficiency of the Enermax according to the SPCR review is unquestionable. Considering the small price difference between the Fortron and the Enermax, the Enermax seems to be the way to go. Or is it worth the extra $12 for the Seasonic? The Coolmax is tempting because of its low price, but I've heard little of the brand except that a few forum goers here have had good experiences with them.

Finally, I am quite sure that a 300W PSU is sufficient for my current system (see signature). However, I think it's likely I'll be putting a second hard drive and probably a newer video card (6800GT+ level) within the next two years. Would you be comfortable purchasing a 300W PSU knowing this? Is it worth it to get a 350W+ PSU for that reason?

I'm always very cautious (and indecisive) when it comes to spending money, so thanks to anyone who read through all that and can give me some advice

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:46 pm

You can get a better price on a Seasonic if you look elsewhere and if you look at Super Silencers, rather than Super Tornados.

I'm inclined to say that 300W should be more than sufficient for your needs since Edward Ng has been brewing something with similar power requirements. But I won't be definitive on this statement yet, until I find out more.

msm_zgok · Post by **msm_zgok** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 10:29 pm

Didn't know newegg had Seasonics. Anyway, I just installed my ST 300W yesterday and it was a huge difference compared to the noisy generic 350W sucker. However, I remember seeing some posts that claims the ST to be extremely loud. I can't hear it over the whisper quiet whirr of the Antec 80mm LED fan.

Got mine at Silicon Acoustics BTW. UPS ground took two days to deliver (minus the weekend).

Pauli · Post by **Pauli** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:30 am

I went through the exact same thing as you have with the 3700BQE -- the PSU fan ramped up too quickly and became very loud under any kind of load at all. It did get a bit warm, but I wasn't too concerned about that.

Anyway, I purchased the Rev A3 Seasonic ST-300 and am very pleased with it. The fan speed usually hangs around 750-800RPM under light usage and has only gotten as high as ~1100RPM when running Prime95 for a few hours. It is very quiet and it runs cool. Check my sig for what I have running off of it.

Toth · Post by **Toth** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 10:23 am

Thanks Pauli. It's reassuring to see your system running perfectly fine on a 300W PSU as it is very similar to mine.

That pretty much leaves it down to the ST and the Enermax. To complicate matters, my Evercool Aluminum fan has just recently begun making an annoying clicking sound from time to time, so it looks like I'll need to replace that as well

Didn't know newegg had Seasonics.

Neither did I. I happened to be checking newegg for prices on the Enermax after reading the recent review and noticed they sold Seasonics now.