Comparison of 3 quiet PSUs – Corsair, Be Quiet, BitFenix

[tszyn]

Hi,

In 2012, I tried to find a PSU that would at least equal my Corsair HX520 in terms of coil and fan noise. Unfortunately, all of the PSUs I tried back then (I tried five, including some expensive ones) had coil whine. In the end, I stuck with my Corsair HX.

Now I've decided to revisit the topic. Has the electrical noisiness of PSUs gotten better? I've written a blog post in which I compare three quiet PSUs – the Corsair RM650x, the Be Quiet! Pure Power 10 600W and the BitFenix Whisper M 550W – with a focus on fan and electrical noise.

The short version: Yes, it appears that PSU manufactures have gotten their act together! This time around, all of the tested PSUs are better than the HX520. What a difference five years makes. I had to consider secondary features to choose one of them, and ended up picking the BitFenix Whisper. The semi-passive fan on the Corsair RMx made it run too hot and radiate unnecessary heat into my case, and the Be Quiet's Teapo 85°C capacitors didn't inspire my confidence.

[yakuman]

Thanks for the detailed reviews. I like the temperature and cable comparisons too. These are relevant to my decision on my next purchase.

[Abula]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hope in sometime you PSU desire comeback and you test higher end psu like sea sonic prime, EVGA t2 or be quiet dark pro11, would be interesting to see your thought into if the money spend have any gains on the noise department.

[tszyn]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hope in sometime you PSU desire comeback and you test higher end psu like sea sonic prime, EVGA t2 or be quiet dark pro11, would be interesting to see your thought into if the money spend have any gains on the noise department.

Well, since the three units I tested are already inaudible from 1 meter away, I'd say any further gains would be insignificant in practice. I feel the only practical reason to splurge on something like the Prime or the Dark Power would be more reliable components, which is hard to imagine given the quality of the Corsair RMx and BitFenix Whisper M (well, apart from the sketchy fan).