SPCR

I heard that new upgraded 400w version of fortron zen psu is comming to the store. I was wondering if anyone has any links regarding this information.

Currently, I have seasonic s12-600w PSU, which is awesome, however audible for my completly silent PC, therefor, I am thinking of buying new passively cooled PSU. Since fortron zen PSU got highest scores in tom'shardware, as well here and on any other test site for that matter, I was considering that buy.

If you find any more info.....post about it. My 300w Zen has been working perfectly. My only complaint is the blue color. I'm looking to buy another Zen for my next project.

Nice to hear blessings from the first hand user

I think we need to be very careful in attempting to extrapolate the results of the 300W model to the 400W one -in all the pictures I have seen the 400W Zen has an exposed heatsink, which makes it likely that this is a quite different electrical design, as the heatsinks in the 300W model beneath the mesh are live (hence why they are beneath the mesh I imagine) and this is very ulikely to be the case with the 400W model.

Having said this, I think the 300W Zens are great. I have 4 of them running around the clock and have no cause for dissatisfaction so far (the oldest has been running for about 18 months, but I have a fan pointed at it. The others are all about 6-8 months and don't have any auxillary cooling)

I hope that new version is similar to the old one, wtih exception of some improvements, that offers higher power consumptions. If not, I'll just buy old zen, since it's flawless anyway

Well I don't know about flawless...... But you'd think more people on SPCR would be using the thing. After-all it's totally noiseless, and has sufficient power for most users.

Still, few people here seem to be using it.....

Perhaps because the FSP Zen 300W has problems starting with some low-powered systems, like mine. I did buy one to replace my audible S12 430W only to find that it wouldn't start. I did manage to start it by connecting two high-power fans. It would continue to run even after the fans were disconnected. It had to be RMAd and replaced with a Phantom 350W, which just died the other week. I've heard reports of other people having the exact same problem as me.

Ackelind wrote:Perhaps because the FSP Zen 300W has problems starting with some low-powered systems, like mine. I did buy one to replace my audible S12 430W only to find that it wouldn't start. I did manage to start it by connecting two high-power fans. It would continue to run even after the fans were disconnected. It had to be RMAd and replaced with a Phantom 350W, which just died the other week. I've heard reports of other people having the exact same problem as me.

The Phantom sucks badly. Two have failed for me. Did the Zen have enough cable length for the P180 btw?

I had a Phantom fail, but the second has been going steady for two years now.

Bluefront wrote:Well I don't know about flawless...... But you'd think more people on SPCR would be using the thing. After-all it's totally noiseless, and has sufficient power for most users.

Still, few people here seem to be using it.....

I've seen your case setup-and it makes great use of a fanless. Sticking a fanless in a relatively low-flow Antec 180 box would be pretty pointless,however,and so then the price vs a 300w with a fan becomes quite a factor.

A Zen..or any fanless,will use bigger better heatsinks to get heat out of its innards but that heat can't just stay inside the case. If you end up adding another fan-or more RPMs to compensate....logically you just lost the silence factor.

A fanless can be sweet mounted outside or in a seperate chamber. I'd wonder about a case like Ark makes that is mostly mesh. Stick a 200 mm Antec Big boy on the door,have an undervolted Sempy/Ninja and perhaps that big fan at 400 rpm or less can be all the airflow. A mesh case won't block sound---or airflow--much,so making a HDD SILENT will be crucial.

Fortron Zen 400W fanless

It's at newegg...how much airflow does a fanless psu need?

ryboto wrote:Fortron Zen 400W fanless

It's at newegg...how much airflow does a fanless psu need?

It will depend on your case. If you have a huge, tall case then I think you could place the PSU up there and not have much to worry about airflow (as long as it gets some) but if your case is smaller then the heat from the PSU may affect the temp of everything else so you may need either an extra fan or to spin your current fan(s) faster.

In my case, a S12-430 was a better solution than a ST30NF because I had to spin my case fan to 800+, which is the point at which most 120mm fans become inaudible to me.

DonQ wrote:
It will depend on your case. If you have a huge, tall case then I think you could place the PSU up there and not have much to worry about airflow (as long as it gets some) but if your case is smaller then the heat from the PSU may affect the temp of everything else so you may need either an extra fan or to spin your current fan(s) faster.

In my case, a S12-430 was a better solution than a ST30NF because I had to spin my case fan to 800+, which is the point at which most 120mm fans become inaudible to me.

well, my decision has come down to this, or the Corsair HX520, which is nearly $40 cheaper than the Fortron at zipzoomfly. One's fanless, but non-modular(given the need for ventilation, I can understand that), the other has a fan, has much more power than I'll even need, but it's modular. My case is small, but I definitely have room for a few degrees increase in case temperatures. Passive parts make me giddy.

DonQ wrote:In my case, a S12-430 was a better solution than a ST30NF because I had to spin my case fan to 800+, which is the point at which most 120mm fans become inaudible to me.

Sounds wrong... A fan spinning at 800+ is more silent then S12 fan at the lowest rpm, so how can S12 be better solution?

Bluefront wrote:But you'd think more people on SPCR would be using the thing. After-all it's totally noiseless, and has sufficient power for most users.

I once tried to look for one, but the availability is downright stinky in Europe or at least here in Finland.

The review at dirkvader really praises the PSU. Very slight electronic noise, and very efficient. It's advertised as > 85 %. Just have a look at this picture of the power draw of the test system.
Idle: Seasonic S12-380 74 W, Silverstone ST40EF 72 W, Fortron Zen 400 W 66 W.
Load: Seasonic S12-380 121 W, Silverstone ST40EF 114 W, Fortron Zen 400 W 108 W.

http://www.dirkvader.de/frame.php?site= ... %26a%3D492

so, mine arrived today. I installed it, and sure enough, coil buzz. I noticed some coil buzz from my old enermax the other day as well, not sure if they're both related to some component in my system, regardless, it shouldn't be happening, right? I think I'll call Fortron tomorrow, see if they have a friendly return policy.

@jojo4u

Idle: Seasonic S12-380 74 W, Silverstone ST40EF 72 W, Fortron Zen 400 W 66 W.
Load: Seasonic S12-380 108 W, Silverstone ST40EF 114 W, Fortron Zen 400 W 120 W.

Doesn't really look like it's more efficient @ load
- thought PC's are in idle 99% of their time

actually, you'll probably find that your replacement will have buzz as well. i find that to be the case with most power supplies.

s_xero wrote: Load: Seasonic S12-380 108 W, Silverstone ST40EF 114 W, Fortron Zen 400 W 120 W.

Doesn't really look like it's more efficient @ load

Sorry, fixed.

This PSU looks like a winner. According to few reviews I read about it anyways

Here's a link to a nice review.
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=574

jaldridge6 wrote:actually, you'll probably find that your replacement will have buzz as well. i find that to be the case with most power supplies.

is it normal that it buzzes even when the system is turned off? I haven't tried unplugging all of the components yet, I will as soon as I get home. But it was buzzing last night after everything was powered down. I doubled checked again this morning, and sure enough a buzz. Its fairly quiet, but still, never used to happen on my older power supplys.

the replacement arrived, and also buzzed, so, it's going back. No sense tearing up the pc again. I'm really hoping SPCR can do a review of this power supply, I'm curious about it's efficiency at low load. I chose this over the 300W because of the more refined "grilled" design, the 300W zen looks to have a finer screen, which I imagine has greater impedance to airflow.

s_xero wrote:@jojo4u

Idle: Seasonic S12-380 74 W, Silverstone ST40EF 72 W, Fortron Zen 400 W 66 W.
Load: Seasonic S12-380 108 W, Silverstone ST40EF 114 W, Fortron Zen 400 W 120 W.

Doesn't really look like it's more efficient @ load
- thought PC's are in idle 99% of their time

Considering the Zen has way higher temps inside, it's okay. It means that the Zen reaches it's efficiency maximum later, at higher consumption I think. I had a Micase LR350 (Fortron OEM fanless) and it was great. I think i'll buy one again or a Zen 400 ...

Dont RMA a buzzing power supply. This is a golden rule I have learned. It is the not going to be fixed with a new one. I went crazy trying to solve this a few months back. you have to find a PSU that doesnt buzz. i ended up having to buy a used, older PSU to get rid of my buzz problem. I am still unaware of any model of PSU that doesnt have coil buzz which is currently available for retail sale.

jaldridge6 wrote:Dont RMA a buzzing power supply. This is a golden rule I have learned. It is the not going to be fixed with a new one. I went crazy trying to solve this a few months back. you have to find a PSU that doesnt buzz. i ended up having to buy a used, older PSU to get rid of my buzz problem. I am still unaware of any model of PSU that doesnt have coil buzz which is currently available for retail sale.

yea, it's not audible from more than 5 inches away, even getting that close you have to listen hard, it's getting within an inch that you can definitely hear it. It's intensity doesn't change with load, and it happens even if the pc is off and the power supply is in standby.

I am still unaware of any model of PSU that doesnt have coil buzz which is currently available for retail sale.

this must be caused by your specific combination of components. I have Seasonic S12-330/380/430, no buzz, even my generic ColorsIT £5 psu doesn't buzz (from about 50cm, I'm not going to shove my ear right up to the grill as that's not my normal operator position).