Does anyone have this PSU?
What are your experiences? Suitable for single Athlon XP system?
Looks like an open frame 1U PSU.
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/tkpow300wfan.html
Pretty damn expensive. Ouch.
-Ed
Experiences with TKPower fanless PSU?
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RickStrobel
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2002 9:10 pm
Experiences with TKPower fanless PSU?
After 8 months of living with the TKPower 300, I have just one word for this PSU: Wonderful. (See the article on TKPower + VIA C3 on the main site: http://www.silentpcreview.com/goto.php?t=s&id=18&a=1 )
Using a PIII Tualatin-S 1.1 cpu and 3 very low-speed Panaflo 80mm fans (FanMate'd) inside the case, cpu temps are always 49-52, hard drive temps 36-39. The system never crashes, and does everything I ask it to do very quickly. It is dead quiet.
This system is only drawing about 67W, total. Even at that level, the top of the case directly above the PSU is fairly hot to touch.
I suspect that the TKP 300 could run with much higher wattage systems, but better heat dissipation would be essential. As a first step, a low flow fan inside the case blowing across the PSU could be tried.
If you can get along with a processor which does not generate a great deal of heat, and if you don't mind a bit of installation hassle, the TKP 300 is a great choice.
Using a PIII Tualatin-S 1.1 cpu and 3 very low-speed Panaflo 80mm fans (FanMate'd) inside the case, cpu temps are always 49-52, hard drive temps 36-39. The system never crashes, and does everything I ask it to do very quickly. It is dead quiet.
This system is only drawing about 67W, total. Even at that level, the top of the case directly above the PSU is fairly hot to touch.
I suspect that the TKP 300 could run with much higher wattage systems, but better heat dissipation would be essential. As a first step, a low flow fan inside the case blowing across the PSU could be tried.
If you can get along with a processor which does not generate a great deal of heat, and if you don't mind a bit of installation hassle, the TKP 300 is a great choice.
Compare to a normal PSU?
I can't help wondering: is this really any better than a normal ATX PSU with the fan removed? I suspect that most would behave the same way at a low power like that: hot, but surviving (for eight months, anyway).
Bear in mind that there are three fans in that case. Is this better than having a Nexus 3000 PSU and no (or fewer) other fans?
Bear in mind that there are three fans in that case. Is this better than having a Nexus 3000 PSU and no (or fewer) other fans?
Compare to a normal PSU?
This is a very good question.
The 3 fans in the case are barely turning and are essentially inaudible. The difference between no airflow and low airflow is critical, and these fans stir up the air in the case just enough to avoid severe overheating.
I stripped down an inexpensive ATX PSU, removing the protective cage. It looked a lot like a TKP 300. This device was mounted normally, and a low-speed fan was placed in the front of the case, blowing across the PSU, toward the rear grill.
This arrangement worked pretty well, but was (inevitably) noisier than the TKP 300. The setup ran for hours and hours without any apparent thermal strain. Room air temp is about 21°C.
The heat dissipation of the TKP 300 through the case (which acts like a very large heat sink) cannot be achieved with an ordinary ATX PSU which is not designed to be bonded to the roof of the case. In addition, the components in the TKP 300 are apparently designed to work in a low airflow environment.
The bottom line would seem to be that an inexpensive ATX PSU could probably be used without a fan in a low-power system, but that there would be increased risk of PSU failure.
The 3 fans in the case are barely turning and are essentially inaudible. The difference between no airflow and low airflow is critical, and these fans stir up the air in the case just enough to avoid severe overheating.
I stripped down an inexpensive ATX PSU, removing the protective cage. It looked a lot like a TKP 300. This device was mounted normally, and a low-speed fan was placed in the front of the case, blowing across the PSU, toward the rear grill.
This arrangement worked pretty well, but was (inevitably) noisier than the TKP 300. The setup ran for hours and hours without any apparent thermal strain. Room air temp is about 21°C.
The heat dissipation of the TKP 300 through the case (which acts like a very large heat sink) cannot be achieved with an ordinary ATX PSU which is not designed to be bonded to the roof of the case. In addition, the components in the TKP 300 are apparently designed to work in a low airflow environment.
The bottom line would seem to be that an inexpensive ATX PSU could probably be used without a fan in a low-power system, but that there would be increased risk of PSU failure.
Re: Compare to a normal PSU?
Of course it is also possible to use electrically isolating, thermally conducting tape (such as 3M adhesive transfer tapes, http://www.3m.com/converter/product_doc/101092.pdf ), and use it to connect safely a big heatsink to inexpensive atx psu's small heatsinks. For 20 euros you can get a heatsink that lowers temperatures and risk of failure, compared to fan-cooled psu's.johnc wrote:This is a very good question.
The bottom line would seem to be that an inexpensive ATX PSU could probably be used without a fan in a low-power system, but that there would be increased risk of PSU failure.