Seasonic M12-700 Coil Buzz

student · Post by **student** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:40 am

Confirming the M12-700 review on this site... my Seasonic M12-700 has coil buzz too... so it isn't isolated so SPCR's particular review PSU .

Mine is also about the same loudness as the recording on the review. I don't find it obtrusive and only notice if I listen out for it, so I am still happy with my Seasonic. However, I know PSU coil buzz will be a deal breaker for some of the more obsessive on this forum.

Engineer · Post by **Engineer** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:27 pm

Have you tried placing a larger load (perhaps a full CPU and video test) on the supply to see if it goes lower or disappears? My S12 Energy Plus 550 had a buzz and I placed a 30 ohm (30W rated resistor chain running at about 4.8W) load onto it and the buzz was eliminated completely. The resistor chain became warm and heated the case so I placed it on the outside of the case strapped to the fan grill. No more noise at the expense of a little energy.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:40 am

I don't have a coil buzz on mine (at least one that I can discern) on my 600W M12 unit, but I do have a fan whirrr (fast ticking like sound). It's not very loud, but it distracts from a good fan sound (which should be just swoosh, like on my slowly running Nexus & amber fans).

BTW, this is my second made by seasonic (other was NeoHE 430W) which has a fan whirring additional sound. The whirr on NeoHE was clearly audible and developed so bad after a while that I just had to dump that PSU (I thought I'd rather dump it to another not so noise sensitive owner than open/fix it and void the warranty).

So, while the M12 looks otherwise very nice, be aware that the fan noise may not be best in class in terms of sound signature. If you are really tight about noise, a fan swap or lube might have to be done.

This is addition to possible coil buzz (which should be fixable by 'coil glue' type electronics spray, btw, but again voids the warranty).

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:32 pm

halcyon wrote:This is addition to possible coil buzz (which should be fixable by 'coil glue' type electronics spray, btw, but again voids the warranty).

Have you got any links to the correct sort of glue please?

student · Post by **student** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:34 am

@ Engineer:

Just like SPCR's review m12-700, the coil buzz disappears when the psu is put under a higher load, eg. when gaming. I think it gradually gets quieter along with increasing load, but haven't measured anything so thats subjective.

It doesn't bother me as I don't find it intrusive, and I think it will disappear completely when I upgrade to a dual or quad core cpu and dx10 graphics card in a year or so.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:32 am

Hello,

It sounds like anybody who can't put a significant load on the 700watt unit, should buy one of the smaller models instead?

700watts is more than twice as much capacity as most people need, fer cryin' out loud!

Engineer · Post by **Engineer** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:56 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,

It sounds like anybody who can't put a significant load on the 700watt unit, should buy one of the smaller models instead?

700watts is more than twice as much capacity as most people need, fer cryin' out loud!

My unit is 550W and I got it for $117 shipped (well below normal prices of a few weeks ago), and it whines. I purchased it for the idea of future upgrades and also a good solid price at the time. It's not just the 700W models whining.

zepper · Post by **zepper** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:58 pm

I have noticed on Antec PSUs made by Seasonic and probably others that antec (or Seasonic on thier behalf) has the fan makers put their labels on the rotor of the fan so Antec can put their label on the side that shows. Most often the label on the rotor will be off-center. I noticed this on other fans (Yate Loon, Silverstone, etc.) and I can always feel and hear the added noise this "unbalance weight" causes. I now always remove any label on a fan rotor. The engineers carefully design their molds to produce well-balanced rotors and then the marketers proceed to mess it upl

Anyway, has anyone found out what causes this buzz. I have a theory and would be interested to find out if I'm in the ballpark.

.bh.