Help with chosing low power PSU

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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kiwijunglist
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:18 am
Location: Chch, NZ

Help with chosing low power PSU

Post by kiwijunglist » Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:38 pm

Hi

Having trouble choosing a relatively quiet PSU for my HTPC build, I am using the following

Lian Li PC-C60B w. Stock Fans (140mm x2 - rated 17-17db @5V / 20db @ 7V)
Intel I3-2100 w. Stock Intel Cooler
Either HD4670 or onboard HD2000 video
750GB system drive, eventually to be replaced with an SSD
2x 3TB WD Greens (Eventually plan to have 5-6 of these in the case)
Even though I have lots of HDDs they will be relatively quiet, because I will use a snapshot RAID system, so only 1x HDD will be used at a time.

Eventually I will probably switch out the Graphics card for a passive card or a card with a low spinning fan. I intend to run the stock case fans at their lowest setting. PSU prices and availability is quiet different in NZ. The Lian Li PC-C60B recommends 140mm (5'5") sized PSU if using both HDD bays, altho I could probably just adapt the bays to only use the front bay which gives me 5x 3.5" HDDs and I can palce a 6th HDD in the 5.25" bay, thus letting me use a larger 160mm PSU.

This page shows the PSUs available in New Zealand - http://pricespy.co.nz/category.php?k=436

These are the PSU's I was thinking of, as well as the prices in New Zealand Dollars

Earthwatts EA-380D (Bronze) - $70
Antec HCG-400 (Bronze) - $80 to $100
Antec HCG-520 - $95
Seasonic S12-II 430W - $125
SilverStone Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W (Bronze) - $120 to $135
Antec TruePower New Series 550W (Bronze) - $120 to $140
Seasonic S12-II 520W - $140
Seasonic S12-II 620W - $150
Seasonic M12-II 620W (Bronze) - $160
Corsair TX550M (Bronze) - $155
FSP Group Aurum 650W (Gold) - $170
Corsair HX650 (Bronze) - $180
Seasonic X-400FL 400W (Gold) - $180
Seasonic X-660 660W (Gold) - $220 <-- Too expensive

Antec EA-380D - may be too loud as it only has an 80mm fan, also the design means it has to draw air from inside the case, rather than having an air intake on the side to take in fresh air.

Antec HCG-400 - might be a good buy, it is 160mm in length so I couldn't use the 2nd HDD bay, it has the same fan as the HCG-520W, ADDA ADN512MB-A90 135mm which is rated at 18db @ 20% Load, 20db @ 50% Load, max rpm 1700 - see here

Antec HCG-520 - 160mm length, Fan = ADN512MB-A90 (135mm, 12V, 0.27A, 1700RPM max, 30 dBA)

Silverstone Strider ST50F-P - Small size 140mm length + modular. Some people say the fan is too loud, yate loon d12bh-12 max rpm 2300, some reviews said it was quiet, but it seems they changed the fan. Fan noise is 20db at idle up to 50% then jumps to 26db. Ideally I'd like to choose this PSU but I'm worried about the fan noise.

Antec TruePower New Series TP-550 - size 150mm length. Fan is 120mm ADDA AD1212HB-A7BGL max 2200 rpm; 20% Load 18db 50% Load 20db 80% Load 23db

Seasonic S12-II 520W - 140mm length, Fan 120mm ADDA AD1212HB-A70GL max2050 rpm , Fan Speed 600pm up to 150W, 800 rpm @ 200W, 1100 rpm @ 250W, No comments on the fan noise. Another review stated the fan speed was only 800rpm up to 70% load - here

Seasonic S12-II 620W - 140mm length, if it is the same fan as the M12-II 620W then the fan stays below 1000rpm up to 300W

Comments, which PSU should I buy, I'm leaning towards the Antec HCG-520 @ $95 , Antec TP-550 @ $120 to 140 , Seasonic S/M 520/620W @ $140 to $160.

HAS ANYONE GOT ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THE ANTEC HCG-520, it's almost half the price of the seasonic.
Last edited by kiwijunglist on Mon Apr 30, 2012 1:59 am, edited 5 times in total.

lodestar
Posts: 1683
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:29 am
Location: UK

Re: Help with chosing low power PSU

Post by lodestar » Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:13 am

Like a lot of other people I have bought Seasonic PSUs and had absolutely no problems with them. I don't think you can go wrong with something like the Seasonic S12-II or M12-II, they are quiet at low loads and the S12/M12 price differential only reflects whether you want a modular power supply or not. I see that your local supplier has the Seasonic X-400 for 179 NZD, that's a very good price and as a fanless model it would be completely silent. It pushes your budget a bit but it might be worth considering.

kiwijunglist
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:18 am
Location: Chch, NZ

Re: Help with chosing low power PSU

Post by kiwijunglist » Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:43 am

Not sure if the fanless X-400 would suit my case design.

ImageImage

It would have to be mounted on it's side. So it would either have;

Vent facing outside of case, no fan assited airflow, and probably no thermal airflow due to the fact it is on it's side.
Vent facing inside the case, a very small amount of fan assisted airflow from the two 140mm intake fans on the opposite side of the case (+ve pressure case)

Also it's 160mm so larger size cf the 140mm 520/620W seasonics.

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