Quiet 400-500W PSU for a very small Micro ATX case
Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 3:50 pm
Hi everyone.
I have the following box:
Noname μATX case, 18x36x32cm (WxHxD)
Tacens Radix V 450W PSU
Phenom 1090t
GTX 560Ti (not installed yet)
Soundcard with Molex power input (no significant power draw, but needs to be connected)
2 SATA HDDs
Zalman CNPS10X Performa CPU cooler
14cm 700RPM front intake fan
10cm 1000RPM rear exhaust fan
There are two problems with the current PSU:
1. I want to add a GPU (GTX 560Ti, maybe better) but currently it would need to be powered from one 12V wire of a single Molex cable, I don't think it's a good idea.
2. It becomes loud under CPU loads.
The temperature at PSU intake reaches 37-39°C under CPU load. Is it reasonable to expect a PSU to stay quiet in such conditions or do I need to improve cooling in this area? I think it is reasonable, few PSUs reviewed at SPCR seemed to maintain low RPM at 200W loads and similar intake air temperature.
So is it possible to find a PSU which stays silent at 200W/40°C, has two PCIe plugs and satisfies following size constraints:
- at most 15cm long
- modular or has as few unnecessary cables as possible?
Unfortunately, it seems that 15cm and two PCIe plugs are pretty much mutually exclusive. The stuff I've found so far:
1. Chieftec CTG-550C. 14cm, modular. Does anybody know if it's quiet up to ~200W?
2. Enermax Modu82+. 14cm, tight fit due to position of modular sockets. It was very quiet in SPCR tests, but only at lower temperatures.
3. Seasonic S12 Energy+ 550. This one has been reviewed at SPCR and ran at low RPM at 200W/40°C, but wasn't it quiet only by 2006 standards?
4. Used Antec NeoPower HE550. Modular. Has rear air intake, so it wouldn't suck hot air from CPU. But it's quite old. How loud were these?
Which one seems to be the best fit? Any other suggestions?
I have the following box:
Noname μATX case, 18x36x32cm (WxHxD)
Tacens Radix V 450W PSU
Phenom 1090t
GTX 560Ti (not installed yet)
Soundcard with Molex power input (no significant power draw, but needs to be connected)
2 SATA HDDs
Zalman CNPS10X Performa CPU cooler
14cm 700RPM front intake fan
10cm 1000RPM rear exhaust fan
There are two problems with the current PSU:
1. I want to add a GPU (GTX 560Ti, maybe better) but currently it would need to be powered from one 12V wire of a single Molex cable, I don't think it's a good idea.
2. It becomes loud under CPU loads.
The temperature at PSU intake reaches 37-39°C under CPU load. Is it reasonable to expect a PSU to stay quiet in such conditions or do I need to improve cooling in this area? I think it is reasonable, few PSUs reviewed at SPCR seemed to maintain low RPM at 200W loads and similar intake air temperature.
So is it possible to find a PSU which stays silent at 200W/40°C, has two PCIe plugs and satisfies following size constraints:
- at most 15cm long
- modular or has as few unnecessary cables as possible?
Unfortunately, it seems that 15cm and two PCIe plugs are pretty much mutually exclusive. The stuff I've found so far:
1. Chieftec CTG-550C. 14cm, modular. Does anybody know if it's quiet up to ~200W?
2. Enermax Modu82+. 14cm, tight fit due to position of modular sockets. It was very quiet in SPCR tests, but only at lower temperatures.
3. Seasonic S12 Energy+ 550. This one has been reviewed at SPCR and ran at low RPM at 200W/40°C, but wasn't it quiet only by 2006 standards?
4. Used Antec NeoPower HE550. Modular. Has rear air intake, so it wouldn't suck hot air from CPU. But it's quite old. How loud were these?
Which one seems to be the best fit? Any other suggestions?