I have a quiet system that draws 75W at the wall at idle, 145W under load. Excluding the power supply, it's got two Recommended hard drives, and two low-speed 12cm fans. So it's easy to hear even faint coil whine, and that high-pitched squealing is annoying.
I modded both my Antec SmartPower 500 and my Enermax NoiseTaker 350. I was hoping the Enermax was going to work. Alas, once I replaced its fan with a lazy 12cm fan in a duct, a high-pitched whine became plainly audible.
The last PSU I have that meets my requirements for amperage and connectors is a "Channel Well Technologies ISO-P350S". A generic 350W ATX 2.01 PSU. What's the chance that this one's going to whine, too?
Do generic PSUs whine?
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You will only find out if you try it.
I use loads of "Generic" PSU's at work (when I say generic, they are either "Sansun", or "Hiper") and none of them whine.
There are only 3 reasons (usually) why a PSU whines, its either crap, it has a loose coil often caused by physical damage, or it has a fault which is nearly always the +5VSB (+5 Volts Stand By).
I have a PSU tester and the vast majority of duff PSU's, or PSU's that still work but whine have a failing or failed +5VSB line.
It could of course be any number of other components in your PC that is causing the whine.
Its a case of trial and error, I would try that other PSU, if that whines as well, then its not your PSU's. Disconnect the network cable, and all drives, then fire up the PC.
Andy
I use loads of "Generic" PSU's at work (when I say generic, they are either "Sansun", or "Hiper") and none of them whine.
There are only 3 reasons (usually) why a PSU whines, its either crap, it has a loose coil often caused by physical damage, or it has a fault which is nearly always the +5VSB (+5 Volts Stand By).
I have a PSU tester and the vast majority of duff PSU's, or PSU's that still work but whine have a failing or failed +5VSB line.
It could of course be any number of other components in your PC that is causing the whine.
Its a case of trial and error, I would try that other PSU, if that whines as well, then its not your PSU's. Disconnect the network cable, and all drives, then fire up the PC.
Andy
Re: Do generic PSUs whine?
CWT is the former OEM for Antec... So, that 'generic' you have is actualy a decent supply.Brian wrote:I have a quiet system that draws 75W at the wall at idle, 145W under load. Excluding the power supply, it's got two Recommended hard drives, and two low-speed 12cm fans. So it's easy to hear even faint coil whine, and that high-pitched squealing is annoying.
I modded both my Antec SmartPower 500 and my Enermax NoiseTaker 350. I was hoping the Enermax was going to work. Alas, once I replaced its fan with a lazy 12cm fan in a duct, a high-pitched whine became plainly audible.
The last PSU I have that meets my requirements for amperage and connectors is a "Channel Well Technologies ISO-P350S". A generic 350W ATX 2.01 PSU. What's the chance that this one's going to whine, too?
The CWT PSU is unimpressive. It's got tiny little heatsinks. The top third of the PSU is vacant (enough room for a 120mm fan in there!). The cables are only just long enough for my purposes, and there are arguably too few of them. Worst, it's rated for 68% efficiency at full load.
Nevertheless, I tore out the Enermax PSU, which was a project.
Mission accomplished: the PSU can not be heard. Not even at 1cm.
The stock fan in the CWT was rated for 27CFM, which is what I estimate a Yate Loon at 7V puts out (neglecting the pressure drop due to the duct and PSU, which are significant). Coupled with the fact that my system can't draw more than 120W DC (of the 350W the PSU is supposed to be able to produce), I consider the risk of fire and exploding capacitors to be minimal.
Nevertheless, I tore out the Enermax PSU, which was a project.
Mission accomplished: the PSU can not be heard. Not even at 1cm.
The stock fan in the CWT was rated for 27CFM, which is what I estimate a Yate Loon at 7V puts out (neglecting the pressure drop due to the duct and PSU, which are significant). Coupled with the fact that my system can't draw more than 120W DC (of the 350W the PSU is supposed to be able to produce), I consider the risk of fire and exploding capacitors to be minimal.